Loaded Adductor Frog Hold
Deep abduction and adductor length held long enough to change it — the base position for guard work, low blocks and wide bases
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
Start on hands and knees on a soft surface. Slide the knees wide apart and turn the feet out so the ankles sit in line with the knees and the shins point straight back. Lower onto the forearms.
The rep
Rock the hips back slowly towards the heels until you feel the inside of the thighs lengthen, then stop and stay there for forty seconds. Breathe slowly into the groin rather than pushing deeper with each breath. For the loaded version, a partner rests a plate on your lower back. Rock forward to come out.
On the exercise card
- Knees wide, shins in line with the thighs
- Rock the hips back and stay there
- Breathe into the groin, do not bounce
- Tempo
- rock back slowly
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| Bouncing at the end | Hold still. A bounce at the end of the range is the opposite of what the hold is for. |
| The feet drifting in behind you | Keep the ankles in line with the knees. Feet tucking in shifts the stretch away from the adductors. |
| Arching the lower back | Keep the back flat and the ribs down as the hips go back. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- Knees narrower, or a pillow under the hips.
- Harder
- Wider knees, a plate on the lower back, or a longer 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.
It is the base position for guard work, low blocks and wide stances, and a deep turn-out depends on the same range. The dance and bodyweight programs both hold it for forty seconds in the prehab block, long enough to change it.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dance | Lower Power + Landing | 2 × 40s hold | BW / plate on the low back |
| Bodyweight Athlete | Athletic Power + Core | 2 × 40s hold | BW / plate on the low back |
What it trains, and who trains it
- Muscles worked
- Groin / Adductors
- Region
- Lower body
- Classified as
- Mobility
- Prescribed in
- dance · 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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