Do Ellipticals Work Your Groin?

Occupying just a small spot on the body, you might overlook the groin when planning your weekly fitness routine. But the groin plays an important role in manipulating and maneuvering the thigh muscles and bones, so it's worth giving it some extra love. Using the elliptical machine regularly is an effective way to engage and strengthen your groin muscles, as well as the entire lower body.

  1. Elliptical Workouts

    • The elliptical machine is a piece of fitness equipment that's designed to work your muscles like running, but with low-impact and less stress on your joints. Because you don't take your feet off the elliptical pedals, there is little force placed on your joints, decreasing the risk of muscular and joint injury. The elliptical machine specifically targets the lower body muscles, including the quadriceps, glutes, calves, hamstrings, abductors and the adductor groin muscles. By adding your arms, you can turn the elliptical machine into a full-body workout.

    Groin Muscle Basics

    • The book "Anatomy and Physiology" describes the groin as the region where the legs join the pubic area on the inside of the leg. The groin is made up of the top portion of the adductor muscles, which include the adductor brevis, adductor longus, adductor magnus, gracilis and pectinus. The adductor groin muscles are responsible for femur adduction, which moves the thigh bone closer to the midline of the body. Just like running, the mechanics of operating the elliptical machine pedals require you to engage your adductor groin muscles, especially during the push-off phase as you push the pedal forward.

    Crunching the Numbers

    • The elliptical machine is a cardio workout that burns calories on par with running about 5 mph. According to the Harvard Health Publications, during a 30-minute elliptical workout a 125-pound person can expect to burn 270 calories, a 155-pound person 335 calories and a 185-pound person 400 calories. The amount of calories you'll burn on an elliptical machine also depends on the intensity of your pedaling and the resistance level of the pedals. Raising the resistance will also add an element of strength training to your workout, as your muscles work harder to propel the pedals forward.

    Sample Exercise Routine

    • Before going full speed on the elliptical machine, spend five minutes warming up your muscles by pedaling at a gentle speed and low resistance. To target your groin muscles and burn calories, perform 20 to 30 minutes of interval training. For two minutes, pedal quickly with a low-resistance setting. Then crank up the resistance to a degree that is challenging and pedal at a moderate pace for three minutes. Cycle through low and high resistance intervals until your time is up. Five minutes of low resistance light pedaling will cool your body down. Finish off your workout with full-body stretches.