FUN WAYS TO WORK ON INNER THIGH MUSCLES WITH KIDS!

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Inner thigh muscles? 

That's an unusual subject to have in the heading of this blog!

When we consider core strength and stability, most people usually jump straight to the abdomen, pelvis and back as areas to develop.  These are important but did you know that the inner thigh muscles (adductors) are seen as the "pedestal" for the spine to rest upon? The five muscles of the inner thigh work to pull the legs across the midline (the imaginary line dividing our bodies into left and right).  Read more about inner thigh muscles here and here. 

As adults, we can jump on the adductor machine at the gym and work on our inner thigh muscles.  We can stand on one leg and move our leg in and out.  We can lunge and do all sorts of things to help our inner thigh muscles.  How do we make exercises fun for kids? 

PLAY! 

We find ways to make exercise novel and fun!

Here are three fun ways we can work on strengthening inner thigh muscles and build core stability with lots of variations for each one too. 

​1. Ball between the knees.
Place a ball between your child's knees whilst they are standing.  Ask them to walk, waddle or jump squeezing the ball with their knees but not too much otherwise the ball will pop out.  Some children may have difficulty moving with the ball so one step back is simply to stand with the ball between their knees and hold it there for a few seconds. 

• Try different size balls or other objects (eg. bean bags, foot pods, potato, small hand weights). 
• Try doing this as a group in a relay.
• Try aiming for a target (eg. dropping the ball into a bucket).  I recently shared this on my Instagram account and Facebook page; although my little friend didn't quite make it. 
• Try adding an imaginary component (eg. the ball is a egg that the bird is delivering to a nest, the ball is food for a baby penguin, the ball is poop for the toilet).​

2. Butterfly Wings
Whilst sitting on the floor, ask your child to place the soles of their feet together and hold them with their hands. Their legs and are making "butterfly wings" which can move towards the floor with a little bit or pressure from your child's hands or elbows to "flap".  Encourage your child to take a deep breath in and out.  

• Try holding the knees as close to the floor as possible for a few seconds.
• Try asking your child to bring their heads to their feet at the same time to stretch their backs. 
• Try asking your child to reach their arms up above their heads and stretch their spines upwards.
• Try placing a large ball in between their legs and bringing their knees right up to touch the ball before stretching back down to the floor. 

3. Squat to stand elevators!
Squats are a wonderful exercise for kids of all ages (adult kids included). Make it fun for kids by making them "elevators".  Get your child to deliver items from the floor to a table by squatting down to reach the item and lifting them onto a table. 

• Try squatting to lift objects like fruit, balls, puzzle pieces, books etc onto a table.
• Try squatting to pick up magnets and stand to place on them on a fridge.
  
• Try squatting to pick up balls and standing to throw at a target or to a friend.
  
• Try squatting to dip a sponge into a bucket and standing to wash a window or car.
  
• Try finger or hand painting by dipping fingers/hand into paint onto a table and squatting to paint onto paper on the floor. (You could do this the other way around too).​
  

Strengthening your child's inner thigh muscles will help them to become more aware of these muscles. I'm not too concerned about isolating just the inner thigh muscles and I expect that they will usually tighten their abdominals and bottom muscles at the same time during these activities. This all works towards stronger postural and core stability. 

The inner thigh muscles (adductors) are connected to the pelvis. An extra bonus to working on these muscles is that this also helps the pelvis to be stable which is needed for toiletting. It is very difficult to help kids to work on "pelvic floor muscles" like adults do; however working on surrounding muscles can often help children to be more aware of their "bottoms". Don't forget to check out the new book "The Toilet Training Book" which is available NOW with special launch prices for both hard copy and e-copy editions.  Read more about "The Toilet Training Book" HERE.
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What are your favourite ways to work on core stability with kids? Have you considered inner thigh muscles too? 

​Cindy is a registered occupational therapist practising in Sydney, Australia.  She has two growing children who are a constant source of inspiration and learning.  Cindy loves working creatively to help children to reach their potential, finding opportunities in everyday living and making learning fun. She is also addicted to making printables (even when they take a long time to complete).  Cindy is the author of the Occupational Therapy blog Your Kids OT.  Read more articles from Your Kids OT at https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog

Cindy is a member of the Functional Skills for Kids Therapy Team.  They have together published THE HANDWRITING BOOK, THE SCISSORS SKILLS BOOK and THE TOILETING BOOK.

​The information on this site is general in nature. The activities are safe for most children, however, you should consult an Occupational Therapist or health professional to address specific movement, sensory or other medical conditions.