Adductors, All the Difference?


Hello,

I saw this pic in my gym.
I know it is different era BUT it seems like Ronnie adductors are soooooo over developped than Arnold. And his legs look monstruous in comparison.

Do you think it is all about adductors ?
Or is it as simple as different genetic, era and pharma ?

Mat’

Clearly just adductors…

Monsieur Ronnie a un tres grande penis n’est-ce pas?

His adductors? THAT is what stands out to you? How about his quads maybe? Or hammies? I don’t see adductors being the thing that stand out here.

Going to take a shot in the dark and say Ronnie being about 3 inches shorter while weighing about 50+ more lbs the Arnie might be why his legs were bigger…

[quote]hungry4more wrote:
His adductors? THAT is what stands out to you? How about his quads maybe? Or hammies? I don’t see adductors being the thing that stand out here. [/quote]

lol! This.

And pharma.

But IMO adductor work and strengthening are vastly underrated, especially for those who can’t rely on squatting consistently.

In any case, Arnold looks a ton better overall, in my opinion.

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]hungry4more wrote:
His adductors? THAT is what stands out to you? How about his quads maybe? Or hammies? I don’t see adductors being the thing that stand out here. [/quote]

lol! This.

And pharma.

But IMO adductor work and strengthening are vastly underrated, especially for those who can’t rely on squatting consistently. [/quote]

And adductor work can also be useful for those of us that DO rely on squatting consistently…obviously more useful for wider stance though.

problem with adductor work is I need to wear under-armor so my legs don’t get sore rubbing together, my legs are small time as well.

Anyone also notice how ronnie has bigger lats, biceps, forearms, deltoids, quads, hamstrings, glutes, ect? AND is shorter by a few inches? What do you guys mean by adductor work/it’s usefulness for wide stance squatting?

[quote]DSSG wrote:
Anyone also notice how ronnie has bigger lats, biceps, forearms, deltoids, quads, hamstrings, glutes, ect? AND is shorter by a few inches? What do you guys mean by adductor work/it’s usefulness for wide stance squatting? [/quote]

Do you know what your adductors do?

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

Do you know what your adductors do?[/quote]

I don’t, but they sound important! Could you tell me please?
I played football with some of my friends today and the only part that’s sore is my inner thigh-ish area. Is that the part that the adductor machine things work?

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

Do you know what your adductors do?[/quote]
Well, I know they are used for adduction which is pulls the legs inwards, or an example would be the knees towards each over. I am also aware that some of the adductors in the legs function as hamstrings.

[quote]DSSG wrote:

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

Do you know what your adductors do?[/quote]
Well, I know they are used for adduction which is pulls the legs inwards, or an example would be the knees towards each over. I am also aware that some of the adductors in the legs function as hamstrings.[/quote]

So if you’re squatting with a wide stance, and you have weak adductors, your legs won’t be able to produce maximum force due to that weak link. Abductors and adductors are basically working in synergy to force your body upwards, if one of them is substantially weaker (again, especially with wide-stance squatting and deadlifting), the rest of your body isn’t able to function as efficiently.

^ don’t they also function in keeping the knees out when squatting?

I know there is a link between tight/weak adductors and the hernias I had around when I joined this site. My tight hips also led to great quads and injured knees lol. I’ve been stretching and foam rolling my hips, which, along with ab and back work, has helped my squatting move forward without knee/hip/back pain. I wish I paid attention to my hips and didn’t wait until now to get an understanding of how they work. Hopefully going through all of mobilityWOD will allow me to keep progressing without pain.

[quote]browndisaster wrote:
^ don’t they also function in keeping the knees out when squatting?

I know there is a link between tight/weak adductors and the hernias I had around when I joined this site. My tight hips also led to great quads and injured knees lol. I’ve been stretching and foam rolling my hips, which, along with ab and back work, has helped my squatting move forward without knee/hip/back pain. I wish I paid attention to my hips and didn’t wait until now to get an understanding of how they work. Hopefully going through all of mobilityWOD will allow me to keep progressing without pain.[/quote]

Sorry for the delayed reply…

But yes, that’s a big function. As we know, if you can’t push your knees out and keep them out during a squat, your quads will generally take over…and as nice as big quads are, once your knees are done, good luck with keeping the big wheels. There’s a reason you don’t see many older high-level oly lifters, and this certainly is one of them imho. As cool as oly lifting is, it’s generally hell on the knees.

no worries, thanks for the response

My knees still feel horrible from doing smolov with caved knees on half the sets like an idiot. I’ve been focusing on keeping the knees out while squatting, which gives my adductors a pump after a few sets lol. I’ll try doing more lunges and single leg work, as I know those hit the adductors pretty well.

would you recommend direct hip work on the good girl/bad girl machines? or is that just a way to irritate the hips with no benefit to squatting strength/form

[quote]hungry4more wrote:
There’s a reason you don’t see many older high-level oly lifters, and this certainly is one of them imho. As cool as oly lifting is, it’s generally hell on the knees. [/quote]

Hmm, I would think there are many more important factors here at play but I understand that this doesn’t invalidate your general point.

Oops, just realized my last post was talking about adductors, meant abductors. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both important…and having weak adductors can certainly weaken squatting stability, but you need to be working abductors if you have trouble specifically keeping your knees out.

Take a light resistance band, loop one end around something stable (squat rack or something), put your leg through it and push your leg out to the side…hold the contraction for a second, repeat. Also, monster walks with bands.

thanks! I tried the monster walks today before squatting. I’ll give the bad girl band exercise a try tonight as well