Tip: Fix Your Adductors with this Mobility Move

The Problem and the Solution

Most people have lost the ability to stabilize their pelvis and lumbar spine. This is a problem since the lower portion of the spine is anatomically designed to be stable; it functions best under low amounts of relative movement.

Creating super-stiffness at the pillar is nonnegotiable if you're a lifter. It starts with positioning the pelvis and lumbar spine together synergistically. But achieving a position is vastly different than maintaining a position, especially when there's a heavy barbell on your back.

That's where this movement comes in. It'll help you brace your core by creating tension in a controlled environment. You'll relearn what stability should actually feel like.

Single-Leg Adductor Rock Back with T-Spine Rotation

How To Do It

1. Drop down on all fours with your joints stacked (shoulders above elbows above wrists).
2. Extend one leg out to the side with a straight knee in line with your hip.
3. Grip the ground and co-contract your pecs and lats together.
4. Stabilize the pelvis by co-contracting the glutes and adductors together.
5. Tense the abs and core while maintaining the tension and torque at both the shoulders and hips.
6. Slowly rock your hips back while maintaining a neutral spine, placing a stretch through the adductor that's extended.
7. Move deliberately back and forth slowly in a controlled non-compensated range of motion.
8. Complete 10-15 slow reps before sitting back and holding the end range actively. Maintain tension throughout.
9. Place your hand on your head (side of the extended leg) and rotate slowly up through the shoulder and thoracic spine.
10. Complete another 10-15 slow reps here, exhaling at the top of each rep fully.

When To Do It

Use this drill in any warm-up before squats or deadlifts, which require the pillar to be active to create stability before getting into the big lifts for the day. Don't have a warm-up? Add it to the third phase when you do my Perfect 6-Minute Warm-Up.

The execution quality needs to be the focus here to yield positive results. This one will be a challenge to do smoothly. When in doubt, make sure your spine and pelvis remain in neutral with active tension created around them.