The adductor muscles make up the muscles of your inner thighs. These include the Adductor Brevis, Adductor Longus, Adductor Magnus, Gracilis and Pectineus. All of these muscles originate on the pelvic bone and attach at different points along the femur between your pelvis and knee. As a group, they work together to draw your leg into your body and stabilize your hip.
Some exercise equipment is designed to isolate the adductor muscles, but because most leg exercises like squats and lunges also work the inner thighs, you can use equipment like squat racks and leg presses to work the adductors as well.
Adductor Machine
Your gym may offer the adductor machine as a stand-along piece of equipment or it may be combined with the abductor machine to work both the inner and outer thighs. Most adductor machines offer a padded seat and two movable leg rests with padding at the knees.
After sitting on the machine, select a weight amount from the weight stack and adjust the width of the leg rests so that you spread your knees out and away from your body as far as you comfortably can. Target your inner thighs by pressing your knees against the pads and pushing your thighs together against the resistance of the chosen weight. After pushing your thighs together, slowly return to the starting position.
Cable Pulley System
Most facilities offer some sort of cable pulley machine. Sometimes it may come as part of a large, multi-gym set up, while other times it may be a stand-alone piece of equipment. In either case, the machine can function as a standing adductor machine. You will need to drop the pulley system to the lowest possible point, so that the pulley originates close to your feet.
Clip an ankle attachment onto the pulley's carabiner. Place one of your ankles inside the strap and turn so that side of your body is next to the pulley. Place one hand against the machine for balance and pull the ankle and leg that's strapped to the pulley across your body in front of your opposite leg. Complete a set of 15 repetitions then repeat the exercise on the opposite leg.
Smith Machine
A Smith Machine functions as a multi-purpose piece of equipment that you can use as an assisted squat rack or lunge station. Squats and lunges target your entire leg, including the muscles of your inner thigh. Use the machine to help you perform the exercises and make small adjustments to your body position in order to target your inner thighs even more. For instance, after placing the desired weight onto the Smith Machine bar, stand under the bar and adjust your lunge stance so that you perform a lateral lung, stepping out to the side at an angle rather than doing a forward lunge.
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