When we think about core recovery after pregnancy, we often jump straight to the abdominals and pelvic floor. While those are essential areas to address, there’s another muscle group that deserves a front-row seat in your postpartum rehab plan: the adductors – aka your inner thighs.

These muscles do more than help you squeeze a ball or stabilize during a lunge. During the postpartum period, adductor strength plays a powerful, often underappreciated role in core coordination, pelvic stability, and functional strength. If you’re dealing with lingering core disconnect, pelvic floor symptoms, or just want to feel stronger and more aligned in your body, it’s time to focus on this important inner chain.

Why Adductors Matter Postpartum:

During pregnancy, your body goes through massive structural and hormonal changes. The pelvis widens, posture shifts, and muscle imbalances develop as your body adapts to the growing baby and changes in weight distribution. Many women experience decreased stability through the pelvis and hips postpartum – especially if they had a long pregnancy, C-section, or experienced pelvic girdle pain.

The adductors attach to the pelvis and influence how stable, supported, and aligned that structure is. When they’re weak or not firing properly, your body may compensate by overusing the hip flexors, low back, or upper abs – all of which can interfere with true core engagement and delay healing.

Strengthening the adductors can help:

1. Improve pelvic stability and alignment
2. Support more effective core and pelvic floor activation
3. Reduce compensations and movement dysfunction
4. Enhance control and strength during functional movements like squatting, walking, or lifting your baby

Key Postpartum Adductor Exercises

These exercises are gentle yet powerful ways to restore connection, strength, and function in the early postpartum window (typically 2–6 weeks onward with medical clearance):

Glute Bridge with Adductor Squeeze + Single Leg Extension

Purpose: Core-pelvic coordination, adductor & glute co-activation
How:

• Lie on your back with a block or ball between your knees.
• Bridge hips up while gently squeezing the ball.
• Extend one leg without letting hips drop.
• Hold briefly before coming back to the floor and switching sides
• You can perform a rep on each side and then lower your hips to the ground or hold in position to complete the reps
• 6–8 reps per leg

Supine Band Adduction

Purpose: Isolated adductor strengthening
How:

• Lie on your back with knees bent, band looped around your thigh closest to the anchor point
• Pull your leg toward midline against band resistance.
• Pause at the end range, feeling your inner thighs activate
• Control the return and repeat.
• 8–12 reps per side

Supine 90/90 Leg Lowers with Block Squeeze

Purpose: Core + adductor synergy
How:

• Lie on back with legs in tabletop, block between knees.
• Lower both heels toward the floor while maintaining a light squeeze.
• Ensure your abdominals remain flat throughout, pairing your exhale with the lower

Side-Lying Adductor Lift-Off

Purpose: Targeted adductor strength and motor control
How:

• Lie on your side with bottom leg straight, top leg bent forward resting on a pilates ball or yoga block.
• Lift the straight bottom leg a few inches off the ground.
• Hold 2 seconds, lower with control.
• 8–10 reps per side increasing reps as you build tolerance

Lateral Lunge with Band-Resisted Adduction

Purpose: Functional control and hip strength
How:

• Anchor a resistance band to the side and loop around inner thigh.
• Slowly extend the leg attached to the resistance band out to the side. Ensure tension remains on the band
• As you exhale, use the inner thigh muscles to pull back the leg back to start.
• 6–8 reps per leg

Adductor Side Plank off Yoga Block (Intro to Copenhagens)

Purpose: Core + adductor loading in a supported side plank
How:

• Place your top leg on a yoga block, bottom leg can be resting gently on the ground or held in place off the ground
• Lift hips into a side plank, pushing the top leg down to engage your inner thigh muscles
• Hold 10–20 seconds or lift and lower based on what you can tolerate

Adductor Rockback Stretch with Banded Upper Back Rotation

Purpose: Groin and thoracic mobility
How:

• On all fours, extend one leg out to the side. This will be the leg closest to the anchor point
• Sit hips back toward heel, feeling your inner thigh stretch
• With band in opposite hand, rotate upper body toward ceiling, driving the elbow back
• 5–6 controlled rotations per side

Half-Kneeling Loaded Groin Stretch

Purpose: Active adductor mobility and core engagement
How:

• In half-kneeling, extend front leg to 45° angle.
• Shift weight forward and side, loading inner thigh.
• Maintain upright torso.
• Add light kettlebell (or baby for load)
• Move in and out of the stretch for 30 seconds each side

Final Thoughts

Rebuilding adductor strength and mobility in the early postpartum period is about more than just inner thigh tone – it’s about restoring pelvic integrity, core coordination, and confidence in movement. These exercises aren’t just rehab, they’re the foundation for returning to everything from lifting your baby with ease to running, training, or simply feeling like yourself again.

If you’re ready for a guided, evidence-informed approach to postpartum recovery that supports your body at every stage, from healing to strength to performance, you can join my postpartum programs on the Lift with Emily app today.

Your recovery matters—and you don’t have to do it alone.