While most of us are familiar with the alignment issues created by tight hamstrings or weak abdominals, the adductors create their own host of alignment issues, which most yoga teachers are not aware of.
In this course yoga teacher and physical therapist Julie Gudmestad takes a closer look at the hip adductors, one of the more important muscle groups in yoga, but also one of the most overlooked.
Made up of five muscles on the inner thighs, the adductors are larger than the hamstrings, and about as large as the quadriceps. Their action includes squeezing or pulling the thighs together, as in e.g. horseback riding or swimming the breaststroke. But these are activities many of us never or rarely pursue, so why are the adductors such a well developed muscle group?
In reality, the adductors contract every moment we stand on one leg, as we do (however briefly) with every step we take. The adductors keep the body aligned along the centerline of gravity during the gait cycle, and work together with the abductors to stabilize the leg and pelvis and assist with balance. For this reason, the adductors are critical for retaining a normal gait cycle and for maintaining balance and mobility as we get older.
In yoga postures too, the stabilizing function of the adductors plays a key role in a surprising number of postures. The adductors are responsible for key actions in inversions, arm balances, and balancing postures. In addition, tight adductors limit range of motion in standing poses like Trikonasana and the Warrior poses, as well as numerous seated poses like Baddha Konasana and Upavistha Konasana.
The adductors hold an important key to understanding what’s holding some yoga students back in certain yoga postures and the limitations that preclude proper alignment in many postures. For yoga teachers, it’s essential to understand the adductors, their actions and how to pinpoint students with limited range of motion in this important muscle group.
What You Will Learn
- Key role of the adductors, and why they are fundamental to most types of movements
- Why the adductors are key to maintaining normal gait and retain mobility as we get older;
- How to spot students with tight and/or weak adductors in a class setting
- How to help stretch and strengthen this important muscle group
- How to understand the actions of adductors in different groups of yoga postures
- How to help students engage the adductors consciously in different types of yoga postures.
This Course Also Includes:
- Yoga Practice: Enjoy a guided yoga practice that Julie has created especially for this course.
- Recordings of All Webinar Sessions: It’s generally acknowledged that many people only retain 10-20 percent of what they learn in a workshop. You will get access to the recordings of both webinar sessions (both MP3 and MP4 – streaming), enabling you to go back and listen to the workshop as many times as you like.
- Transcripts of Both Sessions: Ever wanted to refer to a certain part of a course? Even the best note takers miss a point every so often. With the transcripts of the sessions, you can go back and refer to particularly important passages or clarify sections you were in doubt about.
