by Trevor Thieme C.S.C.S.

There are more than 650 muscles in the human body, but only a handful of them are targeted in most guys workouts. Pecs, biceps, triceps, delts, lats, traps, abs, quads, gluts, hams, calvesthese muscles hog the spotlight while hundreds of others are given short shrift. Thats a problem if your goal is to build functional strength and optimize athletic performanceespecially when it comes to the hip adductors.

Located on your inner thighs, the hip adductors are a group of five musclesadductor brevis, adductor longus, adductor magnus, pectineus, and gracilis. Their primary function is to adduct your thighs at your hip joints (or, more simply, to bring your legs inward), but thats not all they dothey also help stabilize your pelvis and extend and rotate (both internally and externally) your hips.

That makes your hip adductors incredibly important for squatting, running, sprinting, multi-directional movement, and generally just being more powerful and athletic. But not everyone is exactly sure about how to build them, especially outside of a big box fitness club full of machines.

Good news: You dont have to resign yourself to your gyms awkward hip adductor machine/glorified Thigh Master to build them. Adding just a few adductor-focused bodyweight and free-weight exercises to your weekly regimen will give these oft-neglected muscles the attention they deserveand the performance you demand.

Your move: Focus on exercises that force your adductors to perform their primary job: Pulling your thighs toward the midline of your body. Squeezing a medicine ball between your knees during the wall sit is an <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19533937/wall-sit-variations/" id="3fe2f959-9f96-36a3-a1f0-e6593bcf6970"> ideal adductor exercise </a> . Others include the sumo squat, lateral squat, and <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/uk/workouts/g32608877/home-workout-lean-muscle-six-pack/" id="723d3195-62de-323b-ac6d-d099d0b70b92"> adductor side plank </a> .

Your adductors will be worked in just about any movement that involves extension, rotation, or adduction of your hips and thighs, but the above exercises hit them particularly welland the payoff will be greater strength and power in just about everything else you do.

This is Your Quick Training Tip , a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.

How to Work Your Inner Thigh Muscles to Build a Better Body

Monthsperhaps even yearsof dedicated work in the gym and kitchen have finally paid off. Youve whittled your body fat down to almost single digits. Youve pushed, pulled, curled, squatted, lunged, and crunched your way to a physique that looks like it was chiseled from marble. At its center is a set of abs so cut and defined that they cast six individual shadows in the sun. Theres only one problem: Those shadows dont line up properly.

Much to your dismay, you realize that you have uneven absso now youre searching for ways to get them a bit more balanced.

First the good news: Youve achieved a goal that eludes most menwashboard absand exactly no one else on the planet but you cares that they dont line up in two impeccably symmetrical columns. When you shed your shirt at the beach, you will turn heads. And you know what? You deserve the attention. Youve earned it through dedication, sacrifice, and incredibly hard work.

Now the not-so-good-news: Odds are your unevenness is genetic, and theres not a whole lot you can do about it. The <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a29759018/rectus-abdominis/" id="dac5cc74-305b-327a-a627-8a24894dcbec"> rectus abdominis </a> , from which a six-pack is sculpted, is a sheet of muscle divided into sections by tendons. Those sections define your abs, and your genes determine how well they line up.

If those sections aren't Photoshop-perfect, you arent alone. Uneven abs are common even among physique athletes. Indeed, if you watch a bodybuilding competition, youll see plenty of staggered absand if those men and women can show them off without a worry on stage, you can certainly do the same at the beach (or in the bedroom).

Uneven abs can also be caused by certain medical conditions, such as scoliosis, which results in a sideways curvature of the spine. Athletes that predominantly use one side of their body (e.g., tennis players, golfers, pitchers) occasionally develop a bit of lopsidedness as well. But whatevers causing your unevenness, you can minimize its appearance by making a few key changes to your routine.

Your move: Include more <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a27020045/unilateral-strength-training/" id="ed98fb41-354b-37e8-a03f-10b59647fb59"> unilateral (single-sided) training </a> and <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a28412266/mobility-wod-stretching-tips/" id="d313ed89-f440-3e92-a547-4fa5b25e4e38"> mobility work </a> in your weekly workouts to iron out muscle and strength imbalances and to improve your posture and functional range of motion.

And if all of that doesnt square up your abs, dont sweat it. The fact that you can see them at all is an accomplishment that should make you proud.

This is Your Quick Training Tip , a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.

Why Your Abs Might Look Uneven

Good form is almost everything in the gym. Its more important than how much you lift. Its more important than the type of equipment you use. And its certainly more important than how many reps you do.

Prioritizing proper lifting technique isn't just important to unlock greater strength and power-you'll also reduce your risk of injury if you're making sure that every movement is as efficient and safe as possible. But if the only thing you're paying attention to is how you execute an exercise, youre actually ignoring an equally important factor for maximizing your gains: How the exercise feels.

Research shows that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323740477_Differential_effects_of_attentional_focus_strategies_during_long-term_resistance_training" id="a4ede7ae-bd56-3f1f-a181-8a6b60250268"> focusing intently on the target muscle </a> as you contract it can lead to greater increases in size. Known as <a href="https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a26868483/internal-training-method/" id="d7aa51bc-2e0b-3df7-a36a-69861a943b4d"> attentional focus </a> (or more commonly, the mind-muscle connection), the simple act of consciously feeling a muscle work through a full range of motion can enhance muscle fiber recruitment and activation. And the more fully and effectively you engage your muscles, the more theyll grow.

Your move: Face away from your gyms mirrors. By doing a 180, youll be forced to pay more attention to how the exercise feels than how it looks, and the resulting biological feedback youll receive can be even more valuable for assessing and correcting your form than what you can glean from watching your reflection.

The caveat: The benefits of the mind-muscle connection apply only to strength training and muscle building. If youre a power athlete or are doing an explosive exercise like the barbell snatch, dont worry about how the exercise feels-just focus on performing it correctly. When it comes to power-based exercises, <a href="https://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1763003375.html?FMT=ABS" id="9f3e9453-e406-3d10-aced-3a427da5d080"> focusing on the movement outcome </a> will result in a more efficient lift.

This is your Quick Training Tip, a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.

How Thinking Harder Can Grow More Muscle

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by Trevor Thieme C.S.C.S.

Articles written by the author

How to Work Your Inner Thigh Muscles to Build a Better Body

Why Your Abs Might Look Uneven

How Thinking Harder Can Grow More Muscle