Most breakdancers have pulled their groins during their career at least once. Pulled groins occur most commonly when breakdancers execute power moves. So what is it and how does it happen?

What is it?
A pulled groin is a tear in the muscle. The tear can vary from very small to completely severed requiring surgery to re-attach. Most likely in Breakdancing you will have a small tear that will hurt but not require surgery. If you tore the muscle, you have to let it heal. The best way to let it heal is to get blood in there by doing rehabilitation exercises and not do any activity that aggravates it. Obviously the best approach is to train so groin muscles are strong so it never happens in the first place.

Groin Muscles Are Used When Your Legs Are Open

Severe Tears Cause Internal Bleeding and Look Like This

 

How does it happen?
By exceeding your strength and/or flexibility. If you are not flexible enough and you force extra  flexibility you can tear the muscle. If the muscle is not strong enough and you contract it too intensely you can tear the muscle. In Breakdancing this happens in powermoves like the windmill when you combine weak flexibility and strength and try to go fast. Exceeding your flexibility range causes your muscle to tighten making it easier for the muscle to snap and tear with little force. This is easy to do when performing your powermoves at your peak of your flexibility.

How does it affect your dancing?
You will be unable to bring your legs together without pain. Top rock and power moves will cause pain however, you may still be able to practice some footwork and practice most freezes.

How to prevent it?
With a good stretching and strength program! When you stretch using Isometric Stretching you get stronger and flexible at the same time.  Isometric stretching roughly means the muscle you are stretching is actively flexed. When you do an unsupported split you have to hold your body weight in these new areas of flexibility making you stronger as you get new flexibility range. The adaptations your body makes to be able to do this end up surpassing the strain of holding splits in power moves thus preventing pulled groins in your breakdancing career!
So start working your splits but do it the Isometric Style and hold yourself while you do it and get stronger and flexible at the same time. You can follow my stretching video or read the book Stretching Scientifically.

This Book Has All the Info You Need

 

 

This Video Will Guide You Through the Stretching

 

 

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