Medial thigh muscles

Adductors

Musculi adductores femoris

Your inner-thigh muscles bring your legs together and help control your hips — when walking, squatting or changing direction.

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Front view of the human muscular system with the adductors highlighted
Front view · inner thighs

At a glance

Region
Inner thigh
Movement pattern
Hip adduction and lower-body stability
Joint
Hip joint and pelvis

Exercises

Exercises for the adductors

Seated adductor machine with pads against the inner knees, feet supported and legs moderately apart.

Machine · Seated

Seated hip adduction machine

Bring your thighs together against machine resistance. The seated support makes the load easy to adjust for your adductors.

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Person lying on their side with the lower leg straight and slightly lifted, and the bent upper leg planted in front.

No equipment · Mat

Side-lying hip adduction

Lift the lower leg a short distance while the upper leg supports you.

View technique
Supine adductor squeeze with bent knees, feet flat and a small cushion between the knees; hips remain on the mat.

No equipment · Pillow and mat

Adductor pillow squeeze

Press a pillow between your knees while your body stays supported on the mat.

View technique
Wide-stance squat with feet flat, knees following the toes and one vertical dumbbell held in both hands between the legs.

Dumbbell

Dumbbell sumo squat

A wide-stance squat trains the inner thighs together with the glutes and quadriceps.

View technique

Understand the muscle

Several muscles along the inner thigh

Most adductors connect the pelvis to the thigh bone. The gracilis continues past the knee to the shin. These muscles share the task of bringing the thigh inward, with additional roles depending on their attachments.

Long and short adductors

Adductor longus and brevis

Musculus adductor longus · Musculus adductor brevis

Both run from the pubic bone to the femur and pull the thigh inward. The shorter brevis lies deeper than the longus.

Exercises for this region

Largest muscle in the group

Adductor magnus

Musculus adductor magnus

This broad muscle has adductor and hamstring portions. Its hamstring portion also helps extend the hip.

Exercises for this region

The listed exercises involve this region alongside other parts of the muscle. A muscle head or deep portion is not necessarily trained in isolation.

Simply explained

What does the muscle do?

In simple terms, the adductors pull your leg inward and help control your hips during squats, lunges, running, and side-to-side movement.

Front view: a leg moves from a sideways start (1, dashed) toward the body's midline (2, teal).
Front view · toward the midline

Bring the leg inward

Hip adduction

The thigh moves toward the body's midline. In side-lying adduction, lifting the lower leg creates this movement against gravity.

Front view: one foot lifts from a two-foot stance (1, dashed) into a step (2, teal), while the pelvis above the supporting leg stays level.
Front view · supporting leg stays steady

Control the pelvis

Hip stability

With a foot planted, the adductors help control the thigh and pelvis. They work with the glutes and other muscles as you shift weight or take a step.

Side view: a thigh moves from a forward-raised position (1, dashed) back beneath the pelvis (2, teal).
Side view · from a flexed hip toward neutral

Help straighten the hip

Hip extension assistance

The hamstring portion of adductor magnus helps extend the hip. The adductors contribute more than simply squeezing the legs together.

Often works with
Sources & illustrations

Anatomy and technique: the references below. Region boundaries and movement diagrams are schematic. Exercise images are AI-generated illustrations.