Dr. Tara Salay

Lilybridge Yoga

in Learn about your body, Training

How To Stretch Your Inner Thighs – 4 Ways

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How To Stretch Your Inner Thighs - 4 Ways

stretch your inner thighs
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The inner thigh muscles are a tight area for many individuals. This is primarily due to the fact that most of us don’t move through a range that effectively stretches this muscle group. In this post, you’ll learn four different ways to stretch your inner thighs, ranging from beginner-friendly to advanced.

What are the inner thigh muscles?

We won’t delve too deeply into anatomy, but having a basic understanding of the inner thigh muscles is important if you want to stretch them effectively.

The inner thigh muscles, known as the hip adductors, are a group of muscles responsible for bringing your legs together. For instance, when you want to bring your legs back together after having them apart, the hip adductors activate to perform this action.

Since most of our daily activities involve having our legs relatively close together…these muscle can become tight overtime. This is due to lack of movement through their full range. This is especially true in modern times where many of us sit for much of the day. 

Incorporating occasional inner thigh stretching into your routine can help maintain the length and flexibility of these muscles.

Mobility vs. Flexibility

In today’s post, our focus is mainly on static stretching which aims to improve flexibility. Flexibility and mobility are not the same thing.

It’s important to note that both flexibility and mobility play significant roles in maintaining optimal body function, so although they are different, they are both important. 

Before we get into the stretches, I wanted to emphasize this distinction. If you’re interested in learning more about hip mobility, I have an entire post dedicated to that topic, which you can find here: 5 Hip Mobility Exercises

General Notes For All The Stretches Below:

  • There should be no pain with any of the stretches. Always listen to your body.
  • It’s best to stretch your muscles after you’ve moved around a little bit so that the muscles are warmed-up. At the end of a workout would be a great time to stretch. 
  • Choose one of these inner thigh stretches to do…doing all of these in one sitting would be overkill. 
  • Maintain a relaxed and steady breath throughout the stretch.
  • The stretches are listed from beginner to advanced. Start with the beginner variations and progress as your flexibility improves. 

Now that you have a clear understanding of what we’re working on, let’s get into how you can stretch your inner thighs!

4 Ways To Stretch Your Inner Thighs

Beginner to Advanced

1. Inner Thigh Stretch With Strap

This stretch is great for all levels of flexibility because you can easily control how deep you move into the stretch. 

You do need a strap for this stretch. If you don’t have a stretch strap, you can use something like a belt or a dog leash. If you are interested in purchasing a stretch strap, I recommend getting one with multiple loops such as this: Loop Stretching Strap

Keep in mind that we all have different levels of flexibility. If you have pretty tight hip adductors, your leg might not move as far as you see in the photo and that’s ok!

stretch your inner thighs
  1. Begin by lying flat on your back.
  2. Take a strap or a belt and loop it around the arch of one foot. Your other leg should be relaxed on the ground out straight. 
  3. Straighten your leg down by other your leg and with your knee straight, slowly bring the leg out to the side until you feel a stretch in your inner thigh.
  4. Try to keep your leg relaxed and let your arms do the work.
  5. Your leg may not go super far and that’s ok! You want to feel a stretch in your inner thigh region but this should be a comfortable stretch and NOT painful. 
  6. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and perform 3 sets of the stretch on each side.

2. Butterfly Stretch

Also known as bound angle pose in yoga, this stretch is also pretty friendly for all levels of flexibility.

If you find that you have trouble relaxing your legs down or keeping your spine straight, you can do this stretch lying on your back and use yoga blocks under your thighs to support you.

  1. Begin by sitting on the floor or a mat.
  2. Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together, allowing your knees to open out to the sides.
  3. Use your hands to hold onto your ankles for support.
  4. Sit up tall, you want to make sure you keep your spine straight. Bringing your feet further away from you will make this easier or you can try the version lying down as described above. 
  5. Allow gravity to lower your knees towards the ground. Don’t force the movement, and only go as far as is comfortable for you.
  6. If you want to increase the intensity of the stretch and it’s safe for your body to do so, you can bend forward. While bending forward, work to keep length in your spine. 
  7. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and perform 3 sets.

3. Wide Leg Stretch

This is one of the best stretches for opening through the inner thigh muscles. 

But…you do need relatively flexible hamstrings to be able to do this one, so it is more of an intermediate level stretch. 

stretch your inner thighs
  1. Begin by sitting on the floor or a mat.
  2. Gradually open your legs out to the sides as wide as is comfortable for you, forming a “V” shape with your legs.
  3. Keep your toes pointing towards the ceiling.
  4. Sit up tall, and keep your spine straight. 
  5. If you can’t keep your knees straight while keeping the spine straight, it’s probably due to tight hamstrings. In this case, one of the first 2 stretches may be a better option for you. 
  6. If you want to increase the intensity of the stretch and it’s safe for your body to do so, you can bend forward. While bending forward, work to keep length in your spine. 
  7. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and perform 3 sets.

4. Side Lunge Stretch

Also known as skandasana in yoga, this is a pretty advanced inner thigh stretch. This is because it not only is a deep stretch for the hip adductors, it also requires pretty good hip, knee, and ankle mobility. So this stretch combines both flexibility and mobility into one move. 

Don’t forget the rules from the beginning, these stretches should feel good for your body! 

stretch your inner thighs
  1. Begin by standing in a wide stance on your mat. 
  2. Bring your hands to the ground, slide your right foot out and bend your left knee. 
  3. While bending your left knee, lower your hips down. Keep your right leg straight and extended.
  4. Your hands will be out in front of you on the floor with your left upper arm on the inside portion of the left leg. 
  5. Your right toes point up towards the sky.
  6. Work towards getting the left heel to the ground. 
  7. Repeat this on the other side. 
  8.  Hold 10 seconds and repeat 3 times. 

There you have 4 different ways to stretch your inner thighs ranging from beginner to advanced!

Incorporating inner thigh stretches into your routine can be beneficial for maintaining flexibility and preventing tightness in the hip adductor muscles. Remember to start with the beginner-friendly stretches and if it’s right for your body, then you can gradually progress to more advanced variations as your flexibility improves.

Just because a stretch is labeled as ‘beginner’ doesn’t mean it’s not effective. 

I hope you enjoy these stretches!

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