A lot of runners will be familiar with the dreaded groin strain: a tenderness around the groin area or inner thigh that can feel like a sharp, twinging pain. Although not a serious injury, groin strains can impact your performance or put you out of action all together.
Summer running gear sale abdominal muscles, the iliopsoas muscles (which connect your spine to your legs), and the adductors (six muscles in your inner thighs and hips). An issue in any of these areas can seriously affect your running form and ability.
Groin strains typically happen when one of these muscles is overstretched, injured or torn – often due to inadequate warm-ups or tightness. Sudden direction changes or bursts of speed can also trigger a strain if the area isn’t properly loosened. Symptoms include groin or inner thigh pain, stiffness, muscle spasms or trouble moving the leg or hip.
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The good news is that this kind of injury is straightforward to treat. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) is often the prescribed treatment for a classic groin strain. With rest and proper treatment, most people can expect to heal in around four to eight weeks. But that can feel like a long time away from training. To help avoid this kind of setback, it’s important to include targeted exercises in your warm-up that support and protect the groin area.
‘Groin tightness or pain can be a real nuisance for runners, especially when it starts to impact your mileage or training consistency,’ says Mehmet Gem, A guide to the best groin stretches for runners.
However, if your groin discomfort is persistent, it’s worth checking in with a medical professional. ‘Pain, stiffness, or tightness at the front of the hip and groin can sometimes seem like a soft tissue issue, but may actually be joint-related or even a bone stress reaction, particularly in high-mileage runners,’ Gem warns.
If you’re simply looking to loosen up your groin before a run, Gem recommends a few go-to stretches to get things moving safely.
1. Adductor side lunge
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, keeping your core engaged and your chest up. Place your hands on your hips or hold them together in front of you for balance. Bend your right knee, push your hips back into a side lunge, keeping your left leg straight and foot planted. Feel the stretch in your inner thigh, then push off to return. Repeat on other side.
Gem says the adductor side lunge is a ‘great way to not only loosen up the groin muscles but also the hips’.
2. Opening the gate
Keep your hands on your hips or out to the side for balance, and stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Shift your weight onto your left leg and lift your right knee to hip height. Slowly rotate it out to the side like you’re opening a gate. Return and switch sides.
‘I tend to favour dynamic movements when it comes to stretching and preparing for running or any sports for that matter,’ says Gem. ‘This exercise is a great way of working the adductors dynamically.’
3. The frog-leg stretch
Begin on all fours in a tabletop position, making sure your hands are under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Slowly widen your knees out to the sides as far as is comfortable. Keep your feet in line with your knees, with the inner edges of your feet flat on the floor (toes pointing out slightly). Lower onto your forearms and let your hips sink back to feel the stretch.
‘This is more of a passive static stretch that you would hold under tension for 30-45 seconds, rather than the ones above that you would do for reps,’ says Gem.
