lower

Adductors Exercises

54 movements train the adductors. Browse by difficulty below, or see the How to Choose guide.

28 beginner · 18 intermediate · 8 advanced, computed across all tagged exercises.

54
Exercises
28
Beginner-friendly
40
Compound lifts
9
Equipment-free

Adductors exercises by equipment

According to the open Free Exercise DB and wger.de datasets, the 54 adductors movements split across equipment types as below - other leads, and 9 need no equipment at all.

Adductors movements by equipment

Other27 exercisesBarbell14 exercisesBody only9 exercisesFoam roll1 exercisesBands1 exercisesKettlebells1 exercisesMachine1 exercises

What the Adductors Exercise Data Reveals

The PlainExercise database catalogues 54 movements that list the adductors as their primary target. Within that cohort, 28 are tagged beginner, 18 intermediate, 8 advanced, and 0 carry no explicit level classification. Every record is sourced from the public-domain Free Exercise DB and is grouped below by the upstream difficulty tag rather than by a PlainExercise-imposed ranking, so the distribution reflects what practicing coaches and federations have historically classified rather than a synthetic opinion.

This level spread has a practical signal: when a muscle group is dominated by advanced-level records, it typically means the movement patterns require coordination, loaded stabilizers, or technique built across months of practice, and that substitutions at the beginner level are limited. When beginner and intermediate records dominate, practitioners can generally enter the muscle group with bodyweight or light-load variations and progress through the list. For the adductors, the beginner-accessible pool is at least as deep as the advanced pool, meaning new trainees have a clear on-ramp.

Context matters: this database tracks exercise taxonomy, primary muscle, equipment, mechanic, difficulty, but does not account for individual anatomy, joint history, or programming context. "Primary muscle" is a taxonomy label, not a claim that the listed movement exclusively isolates the adductors. Compound lifts trained for the adductors necessarily recruit stabilizers and secondary movers. This page is general educational information, not medical or personal-training advice. Consult a physician, physical therapist, or certified trainer before adding or modifying exercises, especially if you have pre-existing injuries, chronic pain, cardiovascular conditions, or are pregnant.

Beginner (28)

Foundational movements to learn the pattern.

Intermediate (18)

Movements that require basic strength and coordination.

Advanced (8)

Complex or highly loaded movements for experienced lifters.

Training the adductors

54 catalogued adductors movements, here's how to pick from them.

  • Start with the 28 beginner-friendly options to groove the pattern before adding load or complexity. How to choose
  • 40 of these are compound lifts that train the adductors alongside other muscles, anchor your session around one before isolation work. Compound vs isolation
  • No gym? 9 adductors movements need no equipment at all, filter to body-only and train anywhere. Body-only exercises

General information only, not medical or training advice. Stop any movement that causes sharp or joint pain.

Other muscle groups

Source: Free Exercise DB (CC0) + wger.de (AGPL), 2026. See the methodology page.

Disclaimer: General information only. Consult a physician or certified trainer before starting any new exercise program.

Data sourced from official open-source exercise reference databases (wger.de, public exercise repositories). See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainExercise Editorial

Every figure on PlainExercise is compiled from public exercise-science and biomechanics references, no number is typed in by an editor. Muscle-group data is compiled directly from the Free Exercise DB and wger.de, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.