Yoga guide
No trial has tested yoga for a groin strain, and no trial has tested stretching on its own for groin pain. The treatment that worked in trials was active: in a Lancet trial, strength and coordination training for the muscles around the pelvis got 23 of 34 athletes back to sport without pain, against 4 of 34 with physiotherapy built on stretching and massage. So the yoga that fits a groin strain strengthens the inner thigh first and brings the wide-legged stretches back later.
This guide covers what a groin strain is and the groin pain that isn't one, when to start, the squeezes, bridges, side planks and short-stance poses to build up, which poses to change, getting back to sport, what the evidence shows, and a free 25-minute class with a 3D demo of every move. If you have a lump in your groin, a fever with groin or hip pain, or a child or teenager has hip, thigh or knee pain with a limp, go straight to the warning signs.
Our searches found no trial of yoga for a groin strain, and a 2021 review found no trial of stretching on its own for groin pain or injury. Yoga can be part of getting back to normal; the evidence is for strengthening.
Hip and groin injuries are 14% of injuries in men's professional football, most of them adductor-related, and 45% of Swedish ice hockey players had a hip or groin problem in one season. A previous groin injury is the clearest risk factor for the next.
Pain in the inner thigh or at the top of it near the pubic bone, tender to press and painful when you squeeze your knees together against resistance. Kicking caused 40% of acute groin injuries in football.
In 68 athletes with long-standing groin pain, 23 of 34 returned to sport without pain after active strength and coordination training, against 4 of 34 after physiotherapy built on stretching, electrotherapy and massage, and the benefit was still there 8 to 12 years later. A Cochrane review calls the evidence low quality, but in the same direction.
On a structured programme of active exercises, most strains were pain-free in a median of 13 days and back in full team training in 18. The NHS advice for strains is rest, ice, compression and raising it for 2 to 3 days, then keep moving once pain allows. Flexibility came back early by itself; strength took longer.
One exercise, the Copenhagen adduction, built up from lying on your side, cut groin problems by 41% in semi-professional men, though a later trial in mostly female amateurs didn't repeat it. Weaker adductors predict groin pain; tighter ones don't.
The adductors are the inner thigh muscles that pull the legs together. An expert agreement defines adductor-related groin pain as "Adductor tenderness AND pain on resisted adduction testing", and sorts groin pain into adductor, hip flexor (iliopsoas), inguinal, pubic bone and hip joint causes. A clinical review adds that it hurts more when the adductors are stretched.
In elite European football, hip and groin injuries were 12% to 16% of all injuries each season, and over 15 seasons 14%, with adductor-related pain the commonest kind (63%). Among 163 Swedish ice hockey players, 45% had a hip or groin problem in one season; most came on gradually, and few caused time off.
In 110 athletes with an acute groin injury, kicking was the commonest cause in football (40%) and changing direction in other sports. Two thirds of acute groin injuries were adductor injuries, mostly in adductor longus.
Source 9
A previous groin injury, a higher level of play, weaker adductors and less sport-specific training raise the risk, and groin pain last season more than doubled it this season. Across 13 cohorts, weaker adductors predicted groin pain. In professional ice hockey players, adductor flexibility didn't differ between those who strained and those who didn't.
In elite football, adductor groin pain kept players out for a median of 8 days. In 81 athletes on a structured programme, most strains took 18 days to return to full team training and complete tears 78 days. A review of 30 studies gives 1 to 7 weeks for partial tears. Strains come back in about 1 in 5 professional players.
A lump that comes and goes (a hernia), a pinch deep in the groin when you bend the hip (the hip joint), tenderness on the pubic bone, pain that spreads from the side or back (a kidney stone), and in children and teenagers a hip problem, all need different care: see the warning signs, and our groin pain guide. In pregnancy, groin pain is usually pelvic girdle pain. A case report describes a deep hip muscle tear, felt as groin pain, after intense yoga.
Wide-legged poses (wide-legged folds, goddess, frog, bound angle, the wide-angle seated fold, side splits, and triangle and warrior II with a long stance) stretch the adductors, some under body weight. Standing on one leg and side planks make them work. The wide-angle seated fold's own page says: "Groin strains happen when people force the legs wider than they are ready for. Widen over months, not in one session." A lab study in 14 healthy men found a yoga-style inner thigh side bridge worked the trunk and hip muscles more than the standard version; nothing more is known.
Source 24
The NHS has no groin strain page; its sprains and strains page applies. It advises rest, ice, compression and raising it (PRICE) for the first 2 to 3 days, and to avoid heat, alcohol and massage for the first couple of days. "When you can move the injured area without pain stopping you, try to keep moving it". Most strains feel better after 2 weeks, but it advises avoiding strenuous exercise such as running for up to 8 weeks.
Source 14
Breathing and chair yoga straight away. Gentle squeezes, bridges and the knee side plank within a few days, keeping pain at 3 out of 10 or less, as our groin strain guide's first stage says. Standing, side-to-side work once the squeeze is pain-free at a firm effort; gentle range and wide-legged poses last. No hot yoga in the first days. This is our suggestion, following the NHS advice and the active, criteria-based programme in the trials.
Active strengthening carries the evidence, from small trials and cohorts. Yoga has no trial in a groin strain, and stretching on its own has none either.
Our searches of PubMed and Europe PMC found 9 records each on yoga and the groin or adductors, none of them a trial. A 2021 review: "We found no trials specifically assessing the effects of stretching on recovery or improvement of groin pain or injury in athletes".
In a Lancet trial of 68 athletes with long-standing adductor-related groin pain (a median of 40 weeks), 23 of 34 returned to sport without pain after active training to improve strength and coordination around the pelvis, against 4 of 34 after stretching, electrotherapy and friction massage. The effect was still there 8 to 12 years later. It was one centre, with a blinded assessor.
Two trials, 122 people, both at high risk of bias: exercise therapy succeeded more often than passive care, but the evidence was too thin to recommend any specific treatment. An update is under way, with no results yet.
In 81 male athletes with an acute adductor injury, a programme of active exercises (leg swings, standing hip circles, band work, a one-leg coordination exercise and the Copenhagen adduction) with graded running returned most to full team training in a median of 18 days. Those who met the pain-free criteria before going back had fewer re-injuries (5% against 21%). A pain-free full stretch was one of the tests at the end, not a treatment at the start. There was no comparison group.
Source 13
In the same athletes, flexibility "returned to normal values early in rehabilitation", while strength kept improving throughout. Flexibility isn't what needs rebuilding.
A dent or gap you could feel meant a complete tear on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan every time. In 16 athletes with a complete adductor longus tear treated with exercise, the median return was 69 days, and the authors recommend trying exercise before surgery. It still needs diagnosing first.
Keep pain at 3 out of 10 or less, as our groin strain guide's first stage says. Slow breathing: 2 minutes (our classes). Heel slide, from the move's page: "10 slow repetitions each side, once or twice a day. An editorial starting point: there are no trials of this movement on its own." Cushion squeeze: 5 to 10 holds of 5 to 10 seconds; glute bridge: 2 sets of 10; knee side plank: 3 holds of 15 to 20 seconds each side (the guide). Once the plain squeeze is easy, squeeze a cushion between your knees at the top of the bridge (our inner thigh workout's cue). Side-lying inner thigh lift, from the move's page: "10 to 12 each side. A suggested starting point. No trial has tested this move on its own." Its page adds: "With a groin strain, start with a small lift."
3D demoSlow breathing (6 breaths a minute)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSupine heel slideBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLying adductor ball squeezeBeginner · Other / check instructions
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoKnee side plankBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSide-lying inner thigh lift (Pilates side kick series)Beginner · No equipmentOnce the squeeze is pain-free at a firm effort, 3 times a week (our groin strain guide's second stage). Band hip adduction and abduction: 3 sets of 10 to 12 each side; split squat: 3 sets of 8 each side (the guide). Side-stepping, from the move's page: "10 steps each way, next to a counter (the NHS balance exercises). In a falls programme, balance work is done 3 or more times a week and made harder over at least 12 weeks (World Falls Guidelines)." Mountain pose: 5 slow breaths (our yoga for hip pain class). Chair pose: 2 holds of 3 to 5 breaths; tree pose: 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side, the lifted foot at your ankle (our yoga for plantar fasciitis class). Warrior II: 3 breaths each side, short stance; goddess: 2 holds of 3 breaths, bending only a little (our yoga for knee pain class), as goddess's page says: "Keep it shallow with groin strain or knee pain." Single-leg stand: 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg (our yoga for footballers class). The 90/90 lift-off, from the move's page: "3 holds of 5 to 8 seconds each way, each side (our editorial starting point)." Its page: "Sharp groin pain is not, so back off if it appears."
3D demoStanding band hip adductionBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoStanding band hip abductionBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoSplit squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoSide-stepping (sideways walking)Beginner · A wall
3D demoMountain pose (Tadasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoChair pose (Utkatasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoTree pose (Vrksasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWarrior II (Virabhadrasana II)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoGoddess pose (Utkata Konasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demo90/90 hip lift-offIntermediate · No equipmentStrength for sport, alongside the running and kicking steps in our groin strain guide: Copenhagen work 3 times a week, then once a week to keep the benefit, the short lever (knee on the bench) first, in small sets (the guide). Its page: "Avoid during acute groin pain. Soreness was mild in the trials that built up gradually, so start with 3 to 5 slow reps a side and build up over the weeks." Our hamstring and groin injury prevention workout has its three levels. Side plank: 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side (our yoga for footballers class). Cossack squat: 2 sets of 5 each side, only as deep as is comfortable (the guide's second stage), once it no longer hurts: its page says to "leave it out while a groin strain is painful".
Reclining bound angle: 2 minutes, a block or cushion high under each thigh (our yoga for hip pain class); its page: "Unsupported, it can strain the groin or the inner knee, so do not let the knees hover unaided." Bound angle: 60 seconds, sitting on a cushion (our yoga for footballers class); its page: "Do not push the knees down with your hands. Let gravity and time do the work." Low lunge: 45 seconds each side, back knee padded (our yoga for footballers class). Last, the lying inner thigh stretch, from the move's page: "Hold 20 to 30 seconds, 2 to 4 times each side (our editorial starting point). The ACSM suggests about 60 seconds of stretching in all per exercise, on at least 2 days a week." Its page says to skip it after a recent groin strain, so it comes back last, to a mild pull.
From the move pages' cautions; where it says our suggestion, no study has tested it.
Wide-legged folds, frog, deep squats such as garland, happy baby, lizard, side splits, and triangle, warrior II, extended side angle and half moon with a long stance: leave them until squeezing your knees together and side-to-side work are pain-free (our suggestion), then widen slowly. The wide-angle seated fold's page: "Widen over months, not in one session."
Gate pose's page: "Ease off if there is an acute groin or hamstring strain on the straight-leg side." Standing hand-to-big-toe's page: "Back off with hamstring or groin strain".
The adductor rolling page: "Keep off bruises, varicose veins and a recent groin strain."
Don't push your knees down in bound angle, and say no to anyone pressing them down or widening your legs for you. You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
Not in the first days (our suggestion: the NHS advises avoiding heat, such as hot baths and heat packs, for the first couple of days).
Source 14
Goddess pose's page: "Ask your clinician before wide turned out positions if you have had a hip replacement."
Experts agreed "that strength, performance tests and sport-specific skills can be used to support RTP decision" (RTP is return to play), while flexibility didn't reach agreement. Meeting pain-free criteria before going back went with fewer re-injuries.
In 652 semi-professional male footballers, one adductor exercise in 3 levels, 3 times a week before the season and then weekly, lowered the share of players reporting groin problems in an average week of the season from 21.3% to 13.5%, and the risk of reporting them by 41%. In a later trial in amateur footballers, mostly women in the adductor group and with low compliance before the season, the programme didn't reduce groin injuries. Earlier prevention programmes weren't significant. Worth doing, built up slowly, but not a guarantee.
In 24 young footballers, the Copenhagen adduction exercise raised eccentric adductor strength by 35.7% in 8 weeks, with little soreness.
Source 31
Players who strained weren't less flexible, the prevention trial that worked was a strength programme, and across 25 trials stretching didn't prevent sports injuries.
Our 25-minute class follows the first two stages of our groin strain guide: squeezes, bridges and side planks, then short-stance standing poses and side steps, with no wide-legged stretching. Its structure is our editorial choice. Do it 3 times a week, from the first week if squeezing stays within 3 out of 10. Chair yoga suits the first days, and the yoga for hip pain class fits the second stage if you skip the bound angle while it pulls. The strength workouts carry the Copenhagen work. The yoga for footballers class, the ice hockey warm-up and Pilates for footballers come after you're back.
A 25-minute yoga class after a groin strain: squeezes, bridges and side planks, then short-stance standing poses and side steps, with no wide-legged stretches.
25 minBeginner15 movesOther / check instructions, A wallA 15-minute chair yoga routine done entirely sitting: slow breathing, neck, shoulder and wrist stretches, seated twists and side bends, and a calm finish.
15 minBeginner16 movesA bench or boxTwenty-five minutes of hip-friendly yoga: lying and standing hip strength, a mild hip flexor stretch and a supported rest, with no crossed legs or deep bends.
25 minBeginner13 movesA band, A wallThe Nordic hamstring and Copenhagen adduction programmes from the football trials: a 10-week build, three adductor levels, then once a week in season.
15 minIntermediate6 movesA wall, An anchor pointA 25-minute inner thigh workout at home: sumo squats with a dumbbell or kettlebell, Cossack squats, ball squeezes and Copenhagen planks, with bridges and hip mobility.
25 minIntermediate10 movesA dumbbell, A kettlebellA 35-minute gym adductor workout: dumbbell sumo squats, the hip adduction machine, cable adduction and Copenhagen planks, with sets, reps and groin advice.
35 minBeginner10 movesCardio machine, A wallTwenty-five minutes of yoga for footballers: hip and groin range you control, hamstring holds, single-leg balance and side planks, then gentle stretches and rest.
25 minBeginner17 movesA wallA 15-minute ice hockey warm-up: a jog or bike, skips and shuffles, leg swings, Cossack squats, band walks, bridges, ball squeezes, side planks and bounds.
15 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, A wallA 25-minute Pilates class for footballers: trunk control, the groin and outer hips, hamstrings with the hip extended, and balance, for recovery days.
25 minBeginner17 movesOther / check instructions, A wallThese are the warning signs from our hip, groin and hernia guides, word for word, apart from the lines marked as our suggestion. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999.
Call 999 or go to A&E now if you have a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) and very bad tummy pain, you feel sick or you're being sick, you cannot fart or poo, you have a high temperature or you feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Do not drive to A&E. With any other hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, feeling or being sick, vomiting blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds, constipation, a high temperature or feeling hot, cold or shivery, or sudden confusion, get help from NHS 111.
A lump in the groin, upper thigh or tummy, especially one that appears when you cough or strain and goes when you lie down: see a GP, as it may be a true hernia. A femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of the thigh, mainly in women over 50, though it can happen to anyone) needs treating in hospital.
A pop high on the inner thigh, then a large bruise, a dent or a gap you can feel, and weakness squeezing the legs together, can be a complete tear of the adductor longus tendon: get it checked within days, as our inner thigh pain guide says.
Source 26
Call 999 or go to A&E if your child gets sudden pain in their hip, knee or thigh (hip problems can sometimes be felt in the thigh or knee) or cannot put any weight on their leg. If your child is limping, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 the same day. This applies to teenagers too, and in some children knee pain is the only sign.
Call 999 or go to A&E: severe hip pain after a fall or injury, or you cannot stand, walk or put weight on the leg. In an older adult this can be a broken hip; the leg may be at an odd angle or look shorter. Don't drive yourself.
Call 999 or go to A&E if you have sciatica on both sides, weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, or numbness around or under your genitals, or around your bottom (anus); if you find it hard to start peeing, cannot pee or cannot control when you pee; or if you do not notice when you need to poo or cannot control when you poo, and this is not normal for you. These could be symptoms of a serious back problem that needs to be treated in hospital as soon as possible.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have severe hip pain that started suddenly but you've not had a fall or injured your hip, your hip is swollen and feels hot, the skin around your hip has changed colour, or you have hip pain, feel generally unwell and have a high temperature (or feel hot, cold or shivery). A hot, swollen hip with a high temperature can be a joint infection.
Same day, and stop running now: groin or front-of-hip pain in a runner, sometimes felt in the thigh or knee, that builds with running, hurts with every step or at night, or hurts when the hip is turned to the end of its range. Keep weight off the leg, using crutches if you have them, and get an urgent GP appointment or help from NHS 111 the same day: a stress fracture of the hip (femoral neck) needs urgent imaging.
Same day (urgent GP appointment or NHS 111): severe pain that usually starts in the side of your tummy or your lower back, may spread to the area at the top of your inner thigh (groin), your testicles or the area around the opening of your vagina, and may come and go, or this pain with a high temperature or feeling hot, cold or shivery. It can be a kidney stone.
The last line is from our back of thigh pain guide, and fits a second groin strain too (our suggestion).
Source 37
In the first stage, our groin strain guide's goal: "Keep pain at 3 out of 10 or less."
In the strengthening stages, its rule: "During the exercise, pain up to about 5 out of 10 is acceptable. It should settle within an hour or so, and your hip should be no worse that night or the next morning. If it is, do less next time (fewer repetitions, a smaller range, a lighter load), not nothing."
Groin stretches stay at a mild pull until squeezing your knees together is pain-free (our suggestion).
If you're hypermobile, don't use mobility work to push further: the NHS says "do not overextend your joints just because you can". See a GP if you think you have joint hypermobility syndrome: for example, your joints keep dislocating, or you keep getting sprains, strains, pain or stiffness.
Source 39
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
Source 42
A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.
The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
No trial has tested stretching for groin pain or injury. The treatment built on stretching did worst in the Lancet trial (4 of 34 back without pain, against 23 of 34 with active training), and flexibility comes back early by itself.
Active exercise from the start got most of 81 athletes back in a median of 18 days, and active training beat passive care in long-standing pain. The NHS says keep moving once pain allows.
Players who strained weren't less flexible, the prevention trial that worked was a strength programme, and stretching didn't prevent sports injuries across 25 trials.
Weak adductors, not tight ones, predict groin pain. With very flexible joints, the NHS says "do not overextend your joints just because you can", and a deep hip muscle tear has followed intense yoga.
It cut groin problems by 41% in semi-professional men, but not in a mostly female amateur trial with low compliance, and earlier programmes weren't significant. Worth doing, built up slowly, not a guarantee.
Hernias, the hip joint, the pubic bone and kidney stones cause it too, and a child or teenager with hip, thigh or knee pain and a limp needs checking the same day.
No trial has tested it. Its squeezes, bridges, side planks and one-leg poses overlap with the active programmes; its wide-legged stretches don't.
Source 1
It can be, if it strengthens more than it stretches. No trial has tested yoga for a groin strain, but active strength and coordination training beat passive treatment built on stretching in a Lancet trial, with 23 of 34 athletes back in sport without pain against 4 of 34. Squeezes, bridges, side planks and short-stance standing poses fit that.
A cushion squeeze lying down, bridges with a squeeze, a knee side plank, the side-lying inner thigh lift, and standing poses with a short stance, such as chair, a short warrior II and tree with the foot low. They work the inner thigh without stretching it hard, and our 25-minute class puts them in order.
Wide-legged folds, frog, deep goddess and squats, side splits, long-stance triangle and warrior II, and pressing your knees down in bound angle, until squeezing your knees together is pain-free. Their own move pages warn that groin strains happen when the legs are forced wider than they're ready for.
Gently, later. No trial has tested stretching for groin pain, and flexibility came back early by itself in athletes on a strengthening programme. Strength first; bring stretches back once the squeeze is pain-free, and stop at a mild pull.
Most mild and moderate strains took about 2 to 3 weeks to get back to full training in athletes on a structured programme; complete tears took about 2 to 3 months. The NHS says most strains feel better after 2 weeks, but to avoid strenuous exercise such as running for up to 8 weeks.
Breathing and chair yoga straight away, and gentle squeezes and bridges within a few days, keeping pain at 3 out of 10 or less, as our groin strain guide says. The NHS suggests rest, ice, compression and raising it for the first 2 to 3 days, then moving it once pain allows.
It can, if the legs are pushed wider than they're ready for or a teacher presses your knees down. A case report even describes a deep hip muscle tear after intense yoga. Widen over months, not in one class.
A strain hurts when you squeeze your knees together or kick; a hernia usually shows as a lump that gets bigger when you cough or strain and smaller when you lie down. See a GP about any lump. A femoral hernia with very bad tummy pain or being sick needs 999, and any other painful hernia NHS 111.
It's a strength exercise, not a yoga pose, and it has the strongest prevention evidence: groin problems fell by 41% in semi-professional footballers. Start with the short version, knee on a bench, once the acute pain has settled, and build up over weeks; our strength workouts include it.
Not on its own. A previous groin injury is the biggest risk factor, and stronger adductors protect more than flexible ones. Keep adductor strength work in your week, and go back to sport only when strength and sport tests are pain-free.
It can be an inner thigh strain from a wide-legged pose or a deep squat, or a pinch in the hip joint from deep folds and lunges. Ease off those poses and use the squeezes and short stances. A lump, a fever or pain that keeps getting worse needs checking.
The same day for a pop with a dent or gap on the inner thigh, a hot, swollen hip with a fever, or a child or teenager with hip, thigh or knee pain and a limp. See a GP about any lump, or pain that hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
