Adductor Strain Rehab: Evidence-Based Treatment, Exercises & Return to Sport
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In today's video we go over Adductor Strain Rehab: Evidence-Based Treatment, Exercises & Return to Sport:
Adductor strains and adductor-related groin pain can be frustrating injuries—especially when you're trying to safely progress an athlete from early rehab all the way back to sprinting, cutting, and sport.
In this video, we break down an evidence-based approach to adductor strain rehabilitation for physical therapists, athletic trainers, strength coaches, and other rehab professionals.
We'll cover how I think through the entire rehab process, including:
- Early-stage loading and pain monitoring
- How to progress from isometrics to heavier adductor strengthening
- Exercise selection for the different hip adductors
- Copenhagen adduction progressions
- Squats, deadlifts, lunges, and kinetic-chain strengthening
- When and how to reintroduce running
- Sprinting, cutting, change-of-direction, and sport-specific progressions
- Return-to-sport testing and criteria
- Strategies that may help reduce future groin injuries
The research supports an active rehabilitation approach emphasizing hip/groin and trunk strengthening, and the program in this video progresses from lower-intensity early loading toward heavy strength work, running, and eventually full-speed sport-specific activities.
We also discuss some of the newer research on which exercises create the greatest forces through the different adductor muscles, including Copenhagen variations, deadlifts, squats, lateral lunges, and more. Later in rehab, the goal is to prepare the athlete for the actual demands of sport—including high-speed running, cutting, change of direction, kicking, and other mechanisms relevant to their injury.
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This type of content is also available inside Fitness Pain Free Insiders Academy, where you can take evidence-based continuing education courses designed specifically for rehab and fitness professionals—and earn CEUs while you learn.
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**TIMESTAMPS**
- 0:00 Adductor Strain Rehab Overview
- 0:33 Evidence-Based Rehab Principles
- 2:37 Best Exercises for Adductor Strength
- 7:34 Phase 1: Early Adductor Strain Rehab
- 11:41 Phase 2: Progressive Strengthening
- 13:27 Return to Running After Adductor Strain
- 19:06 Managing Adductor Strains In-Season
- 22:46 Phase 3: Heavy Strength & Sport-Specific Rehab
- 25:55 Sprinting, Cutting & Return-to-Sport Preparation
- 27:14 Can Adductor Strains Be Prevented?
- 31:58 Copenhagen Adductor Exercise Progressions
- 34:40 Return-to-Sport Criteria After Adductor Strain
- 38:40 Key Clinical Takeaways
Super groins,
- Dan Pope DPT,OCS,CSCS
Show Notes / Relevant Articles:
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Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS
References:
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