The Copenhagen adductor exercise: a guide for footballers

The adductors run along the inside of your thigh and work hard every time you pass, shoot, change direction or slide in. Groin pain is one of the most common reasons footballers miss games, and it can drag on for weeks. The Copenhagen adductor exercise, sometimes called the Copenhagen plank, was designed by Danish researchers to strengthen these muscles with nothing more than a bench.

What the research shows

In a cluster-randomised trial in Norwegian semi-professional men’s football, teams that did a Copenhagen adductor programme three times a week through pre-season and once a week in season reported 41% fewer groin problems than teams that didn’t Harøy et al. 2019. An earlier study found eight weeks of Copenhagen training raised eccentric adductor strength by a meaningful amount Ishøi et al. 2016.

That’s one trial, in one group of players. So the honest description is that the programme was linked with fewer groin problems in a study. It’s cheap, quick and low-risk, which makes it a strong addition to any amateur player’s week.

The three levels

Level 1: short lever

Lie on your side next to a bench, top knee resting on it, bottom leg free. Prop yourself on your forearm. Lift your hips so your body forms a straight line, hold, then lower. Your top leg (on the bench) does the work. Start with holds of 10–20 seconds or 5–8 slow reps.

Level 2: long lever

Same position, but rest the inside of your top ankle or lower shin on the bench instead of your knee. The longer lever makes it much harder. Hold or rep as before, with fewer reps to start.

Level 3: full Copenhagen

From the long-lever position, lift your hips, then bring your bottom leg up to meet the bench and lower it again while your hips stay up. Slow and controlled, 3–6 reps each side.

A partner can hold your top leg instead of using a bench. Either way, the side on top is the side being trained, so swap and repeat.

How often

This matches the trial’s pattern of three a week in pre-season and one a week in season Harøy et al. 2019. The exact sets and reps above are coaching defaults, not something the trial tested.

How to progress without overdoing it

The adductors get sore quickly when you start. A simple rule: only move up a level when your last session left no more than mild soreness, about 3 out of 10 or less, the next morning. If you’re at 4 or more, or it’s worse the next morning, drop back a level and treat it as a warning sign.

That rule is our own coaching method, not part of the trial, but it keeps people from jumping to the full version too early, which is the most common way to get this wrong.

When to do it in the week

• Not the day before or the day after a match.
• In season, pair it with your faster, lighter session a few days before the game, or after club training.
• In a congested week with no good day, one low-volume set two days after a game keeps it going.
• It takes about five minutes. Put it at the end of a session, not between heavy sets.

Groin pain: what to do

Mild stiffness that settles by the next day is normal when you start. Stop the exercise and get it looked at by a physio if pain is sharp, sits in one spot, is worse the next morning, or rates 6 or more out of 10. Groin pain has several different causes, from the adductors to the hip or the lower abdomen, and an international agreement groups them into categories that your physio can assess Weir et al. 2015. The right plan depends on which one it is.

Technique tips

• Keep your body in a straight line from head to feet, hips pushed forward, not piked back.
• Stack your shoulders over the supporting elbow.
• Breathe steadily during holds.
• Use a folded towel under your knee or ankle on a hard bench.

Copenhagens and the rest of your week

The Copenhagen sits alongside the Nordic hamstring curl and a proper warm-up. The FIFA 11+ includes side planks and other trunk and leg strength work, and in studies, teams that regularly did the FIFA 11+ had fewer injuries Thorborg et al. 2017. See the guides to the Nordic hamstring curl and the FIFA 11+ warm-up.