The Best Exercises for
Adductors and Abductors
By
Tom McCullough MEd.
This study investigated which exercise caused the most activation of
the adductors and abductors. As seen in Figure 7, the adductor and
abductor machines won. Cable adduction and abduction was a close
2nd.
Figure 7: Relative EMG activity of the
adductors and abductors during selected exercises in comparison to
the respective machines (since the exact value for the abductor
machine was not given by the authors, the latter is an estimation
based on the rank of the exercise) data adapted from
Boeckh-Behrens & Buskies. 2000
What this study didn’t look at was the stabilizer action of the
abductors and adductors used in the squat. Researchers did however,
recognize that when you are squatting, only the adductors are
significantly involved in stabilizing the movement. To further
increase their activity, you can do your hack squats with a wider
stance and your toes facing slightly outward (30°), which will
increase the load on your adductors and intensify the exercise by
+3%.
