Weekly Hip Stretch – Peter Pan For the Adductors
This is the last of the adductor stretches.
At least for a while.
I like to have a variety of stretches for different muscle groups because you never know what a client needs on any given day or what’s going to resonate with them.
Illuminate me…
The adductors are the muscles on the insides of your thighs, and they’re very important to hip health. They play a big part in stabilizing your hips, which means you can walk straight, stand tall, kick a ball and quickly pivot when you realize you forgot your phone.
Pretty much anything that involves hip stabilization is going to be aided by the adductors.
Try it…
For this stretch, you’re going to be lying on the floor, on your back with your legs straight up against a wall. If you don’t have a wall that’s wide enough, you can also do this on a bed against a wall or headboard. But, try not to lie on something too soft. You want the pelvis to have firm support. Being on the floor limits its ability to move around too much and you want the pelvis to be stable and in a neutral position (think tailbone on the ground and a slight curve in the low back).
You’re going to be in external rotation in the hips. Make sure you’re really turning the legs out at the top of the thigh (hip joint) and not just at the feet. We want to start and maintain that external rotation because it starts the adductors in a longer position (they shorten in internal rotation), as we begin the stretch.
This is also a great position for your nervous system. So feel free to hang out for a little while with your legs up the wall. And just breathe.
Here’s the exercise. Try it and let me know how you like it!
As always, go slowly and listen to your body.
Wishing you happy hips!