Abduction and adduction workouts: Know all about these movements for fitness

If you are a regular at the gym or watch a lot of workout videos, you must have heard terms like abduction and adduction workouts. Now, don’t go feeling lost because we are here to help you! Abduction and adduction workouts are those that help you in strengthening your abductor and adductor muscles respectively. Still confused? Well, let’s hear more on this from a fitness expert to know exactly what abduction and adduction workouts are.

What are abduction exercises?

Digvijay Singh, Health Coach and Personal Trainer, explains that a limb is abducted when it is moved away from the body’s midline. Abduction may be simply demonstrated by raising your arms to the side, twisting your wrist, kicking one leg out to the side, separating your knees, and spreading your fingers and toes. He further adds on that these exercises are the foundation of functional exercises and help you gain muscle strength. By strengthening connected muscle groups, these workouts can help you accomplish daily chores more easily while also enhancing your fitness.

Here are some abduction exercises, as suggested by Singh, that you can practice:

1. Lateral Raise

By abducting your shoulder while lifting dumbbells with your arms straight out from your sides, you are working your deltoid muscles.

2. Standing Leg Lift

Standing and kicking your leg out to the side, trains your hip abductors and improves your balance. Attempt using a resistance band to make it challenging.

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3. Bent Over Leg Lift

This is a version of bending your torso forward and performing leg lifts, while standing. Your glutes get exercised and activated by doing this.

4. Squat with Abduction

Standing with your feet hip-width apart, stoop down while maintaining your knees directly above your feet. Separate your knees from one another in a sideways motion, as you regulate the movement in and out.

5. Step Up to Knee Raise

Put your left foot on the top of the bench as you step up to start the action. To stand up on the box, extend your left leg through the hip and knee. Flex your right knee and hip, raising your knee as high as you can, as you stand on the box with your left leg.

6. Curtsy Lunge

When your left leg crosses back and around the right leg, the gluteus medius on the right leg fires up. The hip abductors, which bring your thighs together are also engaged.

Benefits of abduction workouts

1. Great for targeted workouts for example glutes.
2. It improves muscular strength and increases lean muscle mass.
3. Activates your core and pelvic muscles. Improves balance and steadiness and overall stability of the body.
4. Helps in preventing knee and hip pain, by enhancing your functional activity tolerance.
5. Improves flexibility which correlates to improved performance in activities, reduced risk of injuries, promotes better movement of joints and increases muscle blood flow.

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This was all about abduction workouts. Now let us take a look at what adduction workouts are and how they are helpful.

What are adduction workouts?

“It is the opposite of abduction. This is the movement of bringing the limbs closer to the midline of the body,” says Singh. Every muscle, every action, and every plane of motion are addressed by adduction workouts in a holistic routine.

Types of adduction workouts

Simple adduction workouts can be pull-ups or Jumping Jacks, but here are some other adduction workouts as suggested by Singh:

1. Single-leg lateral lunge

Step your left leg out sideways and squat on the same. Meanwhile keep your right leg straight. Then return to your original position and repeat.

2. Chest Fly

Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Raise your hands up at chest level. Extend your arms on the side until they are fully extended. Bring your arms back to the original position and repeat.

3. Side Plank Raises

Lie down on your side in a plank position and use a bench to put your leg on. Then lift the other leg to decrease the gap.

Benefits of adduction workouts

1. It improves strength and stability as it’s working on the big and small muscle groups which support the big movements of the body.
2. Help to boost body balance and give you better control over your body’s movements.
3. Improves sports performance and helps with better recovery after an injury. This is a workout that even professional athletes pay emphasis to.
4. This also helps in increasing the strength of your joints.