Is The Adductor Magnus Muscle Really An Adductor?

Picture from Getbodysmart

Our adductor magnus muscle is a very large muscle in the medial (inner) part of the thigh. It has long been thought to be a hip adductor. If you are standing with your feet wide apart and you bring your left leg in towards the midline, you will be adducting your left leg. 

Think about that movement, we do not always actively adduct a lot do we? Even while walking or running, we do not need to adduct much. Why is the adductor magnus muscle so big if we do not adduct a lot? Unless you ride horses, donkeys or ponys, what do we need such large hip adductors for?

Adductor magnus also helps with flexion and medial rotation of the hip. And if were to read about group of Japanses researchers work, it is actually a very strong hip extensor. 

A group of Japanese researchers (Takahashi et al, 2025) tested the hypothesis that the adductor magnus is actually a hip extensor more than a hip adductor.

Picture from Takahashi et al, 2025

The researchers utilized advanced diffusion tensor imaging and reconstructed the entire muscle in 15 young adults pictured above. Adductor magnus is divided into 3 portions based on fascicle insertion. The posterior (back) and anterior-distal portions comprised over 80 percent of the whole muscle volume and cross-sectional area. These 2 portions demonstrated that hip extension was more commonly being activated rather than hip adduction.

Because of this, the maximal force generating capacity of the whole muscle was over 2 fold greater for hip extension than adduction. These results support the authors' hypothesis that adductor magnus is actually a major hip extensor rather than hip adductor, challenging the traditional view of this muscle as a hip adductor.

Those of you who have read this far (thank you) must be wondering what is the big deal? Or how does this help? Consider the following pictures that show a more 3D view of the adductor magnus.

Picture by John Hull Grundy

Look at the right leg in the picture on the left. The top part is actually adductor longus. See the twist below rarely seen in 2 dimensional anatomy books? This twist allows adductor magnus to be a major stabilizer of the pelvis (hip). If you bend down to pick something off the ground, the large muscles on the front, side and back of your pelvis are doing most of the work while adductor magnus prevents them working together to throw you off balance. It is uniquely positioned to resist too much hip flexion, extension, lateral rotation of the hip, swaying side to side and hip abduction. 

Many therapists may not know that adductor magnus' squarish shape and twisted nature makes it a very important pelvic stabilizer. One that we cannot ignore when patients come in with hip or back pain.

Yes back pain included. The longest part of adductor magnus is at the back (pictured above from Anatomy Trains). It almost looks like a separate muscle with its fibers going straight down from the ischial tuberosity (just like the hamstrings) and finishing at the medial epicondyle of the femur (inner part of the knee).

 

This part of adductor magnus keeps the pelvis and your upper body from falling forward. This is done much more efficiently by this part of adductor magnus compared to the hamstrings. So when patients or other therapists tell you that you have "tight" or "short" hamstrings, it is because your hamstrings are working too hard to stabilize your pelvis and upper body from falling forward.

The next time you have low back pain or hamstring pain, consider getting your adductor magnus checked!

Reference

Takahashi K, Tozawa H, Kawama R et al 92025). Redefining Muscular Action: Human "Adductor" Magnus Is Designed To Act Primarily For Hip "Extension" Rather Than Adduction In Young Living Individuals. J App Physiol. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00600.2024

Can Faith Kipyegon Run A Sub 4 Minute Mile?

Picture from Nike

Remember Nike's Breaking 2 project where Eliud Kipchoge went under 2 hours for the marathon? Nike is at it again, this time with Kenya's Faith Kipyegon, who will attempt to make history by becoming the first woman to go under 4 minutes for the mile.

Kipyegon already holds the mile and 1500 m world records and has worn 3 Olympic gold medals in the 1500 m. Her current world record for the mile is 4:07.61 min. Can she take more than 7 seconds off the world record? It is definitely an audacious attempt, but she wants to push boundaries and "dream outside the box".

The Breaking 4 project was announced by Nike in partnership with Kipyegon last week with Nike pledging to create a "holistic system of support that optimizes every aspect of her attempt".

This is good news as Nike had fallen behind their competitors during the Covid-19 years. Then Nike CEO John Donahoe who was appointed in January 2020 for his digital chops so he could help Nike cut out retailers (like Foot Locker and Macy's) by improving their e-commerce operations. As Nike cut off their wholesale partners, it paved the way for other upstart competitors like On Running and Hoka to take over crucial shelf space and grab market share.

Personally, I felt that Donahoe (former eBay and ServiceNow CEO), lacked the deep understanding required for the sneaker culture and industry that Nike required. Donahoe went too much into releasing different editions of Nike's classic sneaker lines (Dunks, Air Force 1's and Air Jordans). He  neglected the innovation section which led to Nike developing the Alphafly's that help Kipchoge break 2 hours  for the marathon.

Am glad he was replaced by Elliot Hill as CEO in October, 2024. Hill had retired from Nike in 2020, prior to Donahue being appointed. Hill was previously with Nike for more than 32 years. He will be better at getting back to the fundamentals that made Nike the market leader in sneakers and athletic apparel previously.

Kipyegon currently trains in Kenya with Kipchoge (who else) while Nike has a team at its headquarters in Oregon crafting her spikes and apparel while analyzing her scans to help her. 

She will only make 1 attempt on June 26, 2025 at the Stade Charlety in Paris, where she previously set world records for the 5,000 metres in 2023 and the 1,500 metres in 2024.

Can she break the world record? Da Silva and colleagues (2025) recently published an article suggesting that with "greatly improved" yet "reasonable" aerodynamic drafting off pacesetters, Kipygeon can break the barrier. 

Let's see if she can do it.

Reference

Da Silva ES, Hoogkamer W, Kipp S et al (2025). Could A Female Athlete Run A 4-Minute Mile With Improved Aerodynamic Drafting? Royal Soc Open Sci. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.241564