Abduction vs adduction what’s the difference?

We all know correct technique is imperative to your progress. And to understand technique, you also need to understand what your body is actually doing when you perform an exercise. We asked Aquanation trainer Lachlan Kewley for his take on how learning the difference between abduction and adduction can you strengthen and tone your muscles.

So, what is the difference between abduction and adduction? 

“Abduction refers to your body part moving away from the midline of your body, adduction is coming towards the midline of your body,” explains Kewley.

The trainer uses the example of an abduction exercise would be band walks or monster walks. And for adduction, he references a Copenhagen exercise where one foot on the bench in a plank position and you’re trying to bring your other leg up.

Now you’ve got that picture painted, let’s get into the benefits. “Typically, abduction exercises improve coordination, functional strength and stability of joints, whereas adduction will work to improve the stabilisation of joints,” explains Kewley. The trainer clarifies that two types of movements are the yin got each other’s yang. “They are synergistic, so they tend to work together to coordinate efficient movements.”

Knowledge is power and Kewley is certain understanding abduction and adduction will power your workouts. “Exercise technique improvements come with understanding abduction and adduction, this knowledge can lead to muscle strength symmetry between the two movements, and you can get better body composition as well,” the trainer reveals. He points out that “if you think about it, if you’re always working abduction and not working adduction you’re not actually working any of your adductors in your body.”

The trainer also says understanding the technique of both movements can help with Injury prevention too. “One of the biggest risks is strength imbalance between what we call antagonist and agonist muscle groups, so if you think about abduction and adduction muscles, one will always be an antagonist and the other an agonist in that movement,” cautions the trainer.

 Kewley breaks it down for us with the example of hips, “Research has shown that an imbalance of strength in abductor and adductor muscle can increase groin injuries, but equalising the strength of both the abductor and adductor you reduce the risk of groin injuries,” warns the trainer.

He’s not wrong, a study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that soccer players who strained an adductor muscle had exhibited 18% less hip adduction strength in the preseason, as compared to players who did not get injured .

So when you consider both the muscle building benefits along with injury prevention it’s definitely worth doing your homework and understanding the difference so you can incorporate one of each into your workouts.