# Hip Adduction (Machine): how to do it

- Main muscles: adductors
- Equipment: machine
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/hip_adduction_machine/a7415a6ec9/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit tall with your back against the pad and feet on the footrests.
2. Set the pads on the inside of your knees, legs comfortably wide.
3. Hold the handles and squeeze your knees together.
4. Pause, then let your legs open slowly to the start.

## Cues

- Sit tall; only your legs move.
- Squeeze through the inside of your knees.
- Let the legs open slowly.

## Common mistakes

- Setting the start so wide it strains the groin.
- Letting the weight pull your legs apart fast.
- Rocking forward to snap the pads together.

## Starting position

Seat top about 48 cm above the floor; the back pad is near upright, reclined about 10° from vertical. Sit tall with the hips back against the pad and the hands on the handles beside the seat. Knees bent about 90°, feet on the footrests, thighs level on the seat. The leg pads press on the inside of the knees. Set the start lever so the legs begin wide, about 40° out each side, at a stretch that feels firm but not painful, with the weight stack lifted just off its rest.

## The movement

Only the hips move. Squeeze the knees together against the pads in a smooth arc, both legs at the same speed, until the pads nearly meet. Pause briefly, then let the legs open slowly against the load back to the wide start. The feet ride on the footrests with the legs, the knees stay at 90° and the hips stay on the seat. The trunk stays still and tall.

## End position

Start: each thigh about 40° out from straight ahead. The wide start sits at the edge of normal active hip abduction (mean about 38° in [4]); the machine's start lever sets it, and it should not be forced wider.

## Tempo

1.4 s in, 0.5 s pause with the pads nearly together, 1.9 s out, about 0.5 s at the wide start (stack still off its rest).

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Back pad recline from vertical | 10° | 0–20° (machine) |  |
| Knee flexion, held | 90° | 80–100° | [1] |
| Each thigh at the start, from straight ahead | 40° out | 30–45° out | [1] [4] |
| Each thigh at the end, from straight ahead | 6° out | 0–10° out | [1] |
| Left–right difference in thigh angle | 0° | ≤ 3° |  |
| Pause at the end | 0.5 s | 0.5–1 s | [2] |
| Trunk rock over the rep | 0° | ≤ 3° | [2] |

## Sources

1. [ExRx, Lever Seated Hip Adduction](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/HipAdductors/LVSeatedHipAdduction)
2. [ACE, Standing Hip Adduction](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/104/standing-hip-adduction/)
3. [ACE, A Pro's Guide to Muscle Mechanics: The Hip Adductors (2025)](https://www.acefitness.org/continuing-education/certified/july-2025/8898/a-pro-s-guide-to-muscle-mechanics-the-hip-adductors/)
4. [Siriraj Med J, "The Range of Motion of Normal Hips in Thais"](https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sirirajmedj/article/view/247002)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/hip-adduction-machine