11 of 12 Top Hip Papers of 2025 | The Copenhagen Adduction Exercise: Effects on performance & injury prevention
Second last day! Can you believe we are almost at the end of our 12 Hip Days of Christmas! Make sure you don't miss out on our special holiday offer. Today is Day 11 of my 12 Top Hip Papers of 2025 miniblog series! If you missed Day 10, you'll find a link at the bottom of this page to take you back. For day 11, we'll be looking at a paper that reviewed the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise, and the effects on performance and injury prevention. This exercise is often promoted as the antidote to groin injury, so let's take a look at what the evidence says. Read on ...
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11 of 12 Top Hip Papers of 2025: The Copenhagen Adduction Exercise: Effects on performance & injury prevention1
Background:
Adductor Related Groin Pain is one of the most prevalent injuries in field sports, with a substantial impact on time loss from sport and a high recurrence rate. How can we best optimise adductor performance and prevent injury or re-injury? The authors of this study set out to find what evidence we have for one of the most commmonly recommended exercises for groin pain conditioning and injury prevention.
Study Aims:
- Primary aim: To determine the effect of the isolated use of the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise (CAE) on performance enhancement and injury prevention.
- Secondary aim: To investigate how the number of repetitions influences performance outcomes.
What was done:
The authors of this paper performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies to assess performance and injury prevention effects of the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise.
Methods:
Study Inclusion Criteria:
- Studied the effects of the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise on any strength and conditioning or injury prevention outcome
- Copernhagen Adduction Exercise performed for at least 4 weeks
- Used a prospective design
- Randomised Clinical Trials (RCTs), cluster-RCTs, and pre–post trials
Study Quality Assessment:
- Risk of Bias: ROB2 & ROBINS-I V2
- Certainty of Evidence: GRADE methodology
Data Management:
- Demographics and pre-post intervention data extracted
- Meta-analysis performed if >1 study
- Effect sizes calculated
Key Findings:
While the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise stimulates significant improvements in frontal plane hip strength and balance, it does not appear to improve performance of explosive actions. In fact, one study found that jump height reduced after 4 weeks of Copenhagen Adduction Exercise training.
The key finding from this study is that there is also insufficient evidence to recommend the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise as a strategy for groin injury prevention.
Clinical Implications:
- The Copenhagen Adduction Exercise (CAE) is likely to increase adductor (ADD) and abductor (ABD) strength, and may improve balance.
- The CAE does not improve plyometric function such as jumping or sprinting.
- There is also insufficient evidence to recommend CAE as a strategy for groin injury prevention. Broader interventions are likely required.
So, no, the current evidence base does not support Copenhagen Adduction Exercise training as the magic bullet for prevention of groin injury. It is important not to rely on a single exercise for management and prevention of groin pain. We need to broaden our focus, particularly when dealing with recurrent or long standing groin pain. These athletes tend to have multiple impairments around the trunk, pelvis and hip, and these are not just strength impairments, but include movement and muscle recruitment impairments. Identifying the scope of an individual's impairments is key to understanding load transfer across their groin region.
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Like to learn more about managing groin pain?
In this course, you can find detailed information on pathoaetiology, assessment and management of groin pain, as well as joint, soft tissue and nerve related anterior hip pain conditions. To learn more, take the Anterior Hip and Groin Pain Online Course, or join me in an Anterior Hip and Groin Pain Workshop.
This online course is included in Hip Academy and Hip Academy members receive discounts for online workshops. In Hip Academy, you will also have access to additional lectures on post operative protocols for hip arthroscopy and total hip arthroplasty.
I hope you enjoyed the infographics and key learnings from Day 11 of my 12 Top Hip Papers of 2025. There is only 1 more paper to come in this series. Don't miss the last day!! Join me for our last day tomorrow.
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