Copenhagen Hold (long)
Adductor strength at full length — groin strain is a top-three injury in every cutting sport, and this is the position it happens in
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Lie on your side next to a bench, propped on the bottom elbow. Place the inside of the top leg on the bench, at the ankle for this long-lever version. The bottom leg hangs underneath.
The rep
Drive the top leg down into the bench and lift the hips until the body forms a straight line from head to feet, with the bottom leg lifting to meet the bench. Hold for thirty seconds with the hips high. At the end, lower the hips over four seconds, under control, to the floor. Swap sides.
On the exercise card
- Lower under control to the bottom
- Hips high, top leg drives down
- Stop when the hips drop, not when it burns
- Tempo
- 4s to lower
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| The hips sagging during the hold | End the set when the hips drop, not when it starts to burn. A sagging hold loads nothing useful. |
| Rolling forward or back | Stack the hips and shoulders so the body stays side-on. |
| Starting on the long lever | If the long version is too much, support the leg at the knee instead and build up to the ankle. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- The short lever, with the knee on the bench instead of the ankle, or the bottom foot touching the floor.
- Harder
- Longer holds, a light dumbbell on the top hip, or lifting and lowering the bottom leg during the hold.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
The Copenhagen adductor programme reduced groin problems in football, and the trial is on the sources page. That is why AFL, rugby league, soccer and the bodyweight program all prescribe it. The long-lever hold loads the adductors at full length, the position a groin strain happens in.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFL | Lower Power | 2 × 30s/side | BW or DB on the top leg |
| Rugby League | Max Strength (Lower) | 2 × 30s/side | BW or DB on the top leg |
| Rugby League | Power & Collision | 2 × 30s/side | BW or DB on the top leg |
| Soccer | Lower Strength + Plyo | 2 × 30s/side | BW or DB on the top leg |
What it trains, and who trains it
- Muscles worked
- Groin / Adductors · Abs / Core
- Region
- Lower body
- Classified as
- Mobility
- Prescribed in
- AFL · rugby league · soccer · bodyweight training
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Copenhagen Plank | The evidence-backed groin exercise — start short-lever, build to full |
| Copenhagen Plank (short lever) | Knee-supported version — where everybody should start |
| Adductor Slider | Slide the leg out and pull it back under control — eccentric groin work |
| Cable Hip Adduction | Loadable adduction you can actually progress week to week |
| Adduction Machine | Machine: simple to load, easy to dose |
| Copenhagen Side Plank Hold | Isometric hold — the entry point after a strain |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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