My 5 Favorite Adductor Stretches
Tight adductors can sneak up on you.
Your groin pain and inner knee pain are likely due to tightness in this area, and I have the best stretches to fix the problem.
Of course, these stretches are best when paired with foam rolling techniques or a trigger point ball, but you can learn how to put it all together in my Ultimate Guide to Adductors.
For now, here are all the best stretches for your adductors A.K.A. your inner thigh muscles.
Jump to:
- What are adductors?
- 5 best stretches for your inner thigh
- Quick tips
- Super charge your recovery and relief
What Are the Adductors?
Your adductors are a group of five muscles that run along the inner thigh. Their job is to bring your legs toward the centerline of your body — a movement called adduction. These muscles include:
- Adductor longus
- Adductor brevis
- Adductor magnus
- Gracilis
- Pectineus
When tight or overactive, they can cause:
- Groin pain
- Restricted hip movement
- Inner knee tension
- Compensation patterns that affect your glutes, quads, hamstrings or core
Before you jump to foam rolling or massage, try these simple stretches to lengthen and relax the adductors.
The 5 Best Groin & Adductor Stretches
I’ve arranged these from “easiest” to “hardest”.
This just means that number 1 is easier to access for most people. I still use #1 even though I’m quite flexible already.
So, don’t feel like you need to get to number 5 to get the most out of the stretch. All of them are extremely effective.
1. Butterfly Stretch
How to do it:
- Sit on the floor, bring the soles of your feet together, and let your knees fall open.
- Sit tall either on your own or against a wall and gently press your knees down toward the floor.
- Hold for 30–60 seconds.
Other variations
- Try adding weight to your knees and doing an activation to both strengthen and lengthen at the same time.
- To improve your passive flexibility, rotate your hips inward and outward while pushing your knees towards the ground.
2. Frog Stretch
How to do it:
- Get on all fours, then slide your knees out wide.
- Turn your feet outward and keep ankles in line with knees.
- Lower your forearms to the ground and gently push hips back and down
- Hold for 30–60 seconds with 5 second activations.
3. Leg-Extended Frog Stretch
How to do it:
- Get on all fours, then slide your knees out wide.
- Turn your feet outward and keep ankles in line with knees.
- Take one leg and extend it straight out to the side
- Lower your forearms to the ground and gently push hips out and down towards the extended leg.
- Hold for 30–60 seconds.
This will focus the stretch on one side at a time, allowing you to breathe into one side and change the location of the stretch up and down one leg depending on the angle you push at!
4. Deep Straddle
How to do it:
- Sit on the ground with legs extended wide, but not so far that you already feel the stretch without leaning forward.
- Inhale to lengthen your spine, then exhale as you fold forward.
- Hold for 30–60 seconds.
Pro tip: Extend as far as you can while maintaining a flat back. As soon as your back “breaks”, the stretch will shift to your back and become less effective.
Add in active range of motion by rotating at the hips in a controlled fashion.
5. Middle Split From Above
How to do it:
- Start standing with your legs extended wider than normal.
- Using support at each level, slide your legs further to the side as you sink into a split.
- Lower until you feel mild discomfort, using your arms to support yourself.
Bulletproof your adductors by doing this stretch in the form of an active exercise.
Allow your legs to slide out as far as you can while still being able to slide them back in towards your midline.
This builds resilience in the muscles and range of motion at the same time.
An easier variation of this stretch is:
Lying down against a wall. It’s easier to do but you need to be careful getting out of the stretch.
I recommend rolling to one side and using your arms to support your leg as you lower it to meet the other.
Tips for Safe and Effective Groin Stretching
Start slow: Doing a light activation of the hips will prevent injuring your groin while stretching.
Breathe deeply: Holding your breath creates tension — exhale slowly to release. This is super important.
Don’t force it: If you feel sharp or pinching pain, back off immediately. Your pain level should be somewhere between 4 and 7 on a 10-point scale..
Need more help? You might benefit from foam rolling your adductors first or using trigger point therapy to reduce inner thigh sensitivity.
What’s Next?
Now that you know the 5 levels to stretching your adductors, being consistent is what matters most.
Want to go deeper? Explore how tight adductors may be causing your hip or knee pain and what to do about it.
Or learn more about stretching the rest of your body with my Ultimate Guide to Stretching!
Good Luck!
-Nick