Abduction is a word that describes the movement of the hip joint when bringing the hip and leg away from the center of the body. If you were to lie sideways on the floor and lift your leg toward the ceiling, this would be called hip abduction. Abduction is done with the help of a muscle group called the abductors. The opposite movement of lowering the leg to bring it back to the center of the body is called adduction. Standing up and moving your leg out to the side is also abduction.
Hip Abduction
Lying on your side to raise your leg and abduct your hip is the simplest way to do abduction. You can have your knees bent, but the exercise is usually done lying on your side with your legs straight and stacked one on top of the other. You can either bend your elbow and rest your head on your arm or prop yourself onto your forearm to create an angle with your upper body that will increase the challenge of the exercise. The top arm is either placed on your hip or it may be placed in front of your body on the floor to help you maintain your position. It is important to keep your entire body straight throughout the exercise and not to let your pelvis roll forward or backward.
Abduction with Resistance
Wearing ankle weights is the easiest way to up the difficulty level of abduction from a side-lying position. Wrapping a resistance band around your ankles is another way. The exercise is done the same way, but when you lift your leg you will have to press against the resistance of the band. The other end of the band is trapped between your bottom ankle and the floor. A circular band or figure-8 cable is needed for this exercise.
Bosu Side Plank
The Bosu side plank is done lying sideways on a Bosu ball. The Bosu ball should be on the floor with the round side up. You will lie on the ball with one hip on the ball and your forearm on the ground for support. The top arm may hold onto the front of the ball for balance and the top leg will squeeze together with the bottom leg. Your body will be in a straight line. The legs will start on the floor and then be raised together toward the ceiling. This will require abducting the hip of the top leg. You will lower your legs back to the floor. It is important to roll over and do the desired number of reps on both sides.
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