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When we think about working out our legs, we tend to think about the bigger muscles—quads, glutes, and hamstrings. After all, these are the muscles that power us through the big moves, like squats and deadlifts, that shape our lower-body.
It’s only at the end of a long, tough workout (if ever) that we think about the smaller muscles in our legs, so usually we plop down on the hip adductor machine and absentmindedly butterfly our legs in and out while we scroll through Instagram. But that’s a big mistake. If you want strong, defined legs, you need to show your inner thighs way more love than that. Comprised of six distinct muscles, the inner thigh or ‘hip adductor’ muscles are responsible for pulling your thigh bone (femur) toward the mid-line of your body and stabilizing your hip joint.
While strong, balanced hip adductors improve lower-body performance and reduce your risk of injury, neglected or imbalanced hip adductors can contribute to a range of lower-body injuries, especially in your knees, explains celebrity trainer Kyle Brown, C.S.C.S. One study published in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine linked imbalances in the hip adductors to lower-body injuries in runners—especially ligament strain and injury that leads to pain and stiffness in the outside of the knee.
The best way to strengthen your inner thighs isn’t with the hip adductor machine, but with functional movements that’ll get you up off your butt and get the rest of your legs in on the action, too, says Brown.
The following four moves emphasize your lower body’s natural movement patterns (squats, hip hinges, lunges, and step-ups) and fire up your inner thighs to strengthen your entire lower body—and even engage your core.