We all know about upper and lower body separation as
the key to advanced skiing. Those terms, however, lock us into
thinking about a body divided into two parts. So bear with me for a
moment as I divide our skiing body into three parts: legs, abdomen,
and hips. After all, our center of mass (COM) is located in our
hips, or pelvic girdle. With this model, we have an upper control
(abdomen) and a lower control (legs) to keep our COM steady as we
move down the slope. Our hips and COM are now independent from both
our legs and our abdomen--skiing is now more than just keeping our
shoulders facing one way and our feet another. Those hips become a
dual actor: an anchor for our shoulders AND the pivot for our legs.
Are we ready for exercises?
The hip adductors (adductor brevis, a. longus,
a.magnus, pectineus, and gracilis), are located along the posterior
and inner sides of the femur and move the leg closer, or in toward
the body. Remember the old style of skiing where we kept our legs
and feet touching each other? We really worked our adductors to
squeeze our legs together to accomplish that dated technique.
With our modern stance, we strive to keep our legs a
hips' width apart, but we still need our adductors to keep our legs
from opening up too widely. That very wide, “desperate to stop”
braking wedge that we made as a beginner doesn't make much use of our
adductors, because those are the muscles we would use to close that
wide wedge into a more balanced and comfortable stance.
So here's the workout:
Hip adduction.
Start with an athletic stance. Lift one leg to the side. Work up
to 3 sets of 10 reps.
Side hip adduction.
Lie on one side and lift the upper leg. Be sure to point your toe. Your adductors work as you recover the leg. After you exercise the upper leg, cross that leg over the lower leg and lift the lower leg.
Plie. A
great exercise from ballet. Simply, a squat while keeping an erect
spine and functional tension on all the leg muscles. Toes are
pointed out.
Lunge.
Wall squat.
Leg raise.
While lying our your back with your knees comfortably bent, lift your
legs toward your chest. Please perform this slowly and be mindful of
hyperextending your back.
The hip adductors (the muscles of the area commonly referred to as the “groin”) is another area that can lead to tightness in your hips when you’re on the mat or performing various lower body movements like squats, lunges, or deadlift variations.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I’ve found it to be a common area for injury, especially in wrestlers (in fact, there’s a good chance that at some point you’ve been injured with a groin tear/strain).
Maximizing the movement and mobility of these muscles will not only help you on the mat in a number of areas and increase your range of motion in the weight room.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, by increasing your range of motion/flexibility in this region, you’ll also cut down on your risk of injury to this commonly injured area.