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How to do it.
To heal a pulled groin, you need to understand why it happens. Your groin region—the area between your stomach and thighs—is comprised of five muscles that work together to help you move your legs with a full range of motion: the pectineus, gracilis, adductor magnus, adductor longus, and adductor brevis.
If you’re young and active, you might start feeling groin pain if you skip a warmup and jump directly into your workout. Overuse, injuries, or pulling a muscle can all cause aches, soreness, and pain down there.
The fix? Stretching these muscles out help relax the pulled groin and hip flexors when they’re especially tight, explains Mark Vorensky, P.T., D.P.T., S.C.S., physical therapist at New York University’s Langone’s Sports Performance Center. At the same time, “strengthening will allow the groin muscles and region to be more resilient,” he says.
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Here, Vorensky offers up five pulled groin stretches to get you going, all of which help to release the hip flexors and groin muscles. Incorporating these into your routine twice weekly will teach these muscle groups how to relax and prepare you for other effective strengthening exercises Why it helps.
Upper-Thigh Foam Rolling Stretch
RW+ Membership Benefits: “Foam rolling is a nice way to relax the adductor muscle group, which attaches into the groin, to allow for more relaxed stretching and motion,” says Vorensky.
How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain: With the foam roller placed on the inside of your thigh, slowly rock forwards and backwards using your elbows and your opposite knee. Roll from just above your knee to the groin for 30 seconds. Do three sets on each side.
Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch
RW+ Membership Benefits: “Often with hip pain, the hip flexors can be guarded and tight,” says Vorensky. Using trunk rotation (your chest, abdomen, and back), this stretch will target the hip flexor and groin muscles to ease groin pain.
How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain: Start in a half kneeling position. You are aiming to stretch the back leg’s hip flexor and groin muscles. Rotate the trunk (upper body) to the same side as your front leg. Squeeze your glute on the rear leg to increase the stretch of the hip flexor and groin muscles. If you do not feel a stretch, add a gentle lean forward. Complete for 15 seconds. Rest for 15 seconds. Do four to six times per side.
Side Lunge Groin Stretch
RW+ Membership Benefits: Lunges will strengthen and stretch your muscles at the same time. “Exercises that work on strengthening while the muscle is lengthening is effective in helping with flexibility,” says Vorensky.
How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain: Start standing with both feet together. Take a step to the side with your right foot, slowly lowering into a lunge. Keep the toes of both feet pointed straight forward; this will make sure you are targeting the groin muscles. Press back to start for one rep. Complete 6 to 10 reps and repeat on opposite side. Do two to three sets, resting 30 to 60 seconds between each.
Simple Isolated Short Groin Stretch
RW+ Membership Benefits: This relaxing isolated groin stretch is great for the end of your workout as a cooldown. As a whole, these challenging-but-comfortable stretches just feel good and help your body relax, so incorporate them into your routine after your sweat session is finished, says Vorensky.
How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain: Sit up straight with the soles of your feet touching in front of you, creating a butterfly-like shape. Using your elbows, gently push down on your knees to really deepen the stretch in your groin region. Don’t push hard—this should be gradual, increasing the range of motion over a 30-second period. Rest 30 seconds. Do three to five sets.
Simple Isolated Long Groin Stretch
RW+ Membership Benefits: Another great cooldown exercise, use this stretch to target the groin and hamstring muscles, suggests Vorensky.
How Run/Walk Intervals Can Improve Back Pain: Sit up straight with your legs forming a wide “V” shape. Gradually lean your trunk forward, reaching straight out toward your toes, to create a gentle stretch for 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Do three to five sets.
Emily Abbate is a freelance writer, certified fitness trainer, and host of the podcast Hurdle. You can find her work in GQ, Shape, Runner’s World, and other health and fitness publications.
