Abductor muscles are muscles that separate or abduct a part of the body away from the body’s midline– example include the abductor muscles in the legs that move the leg away from the body’s midline to the side away from the other leg. These type muscles are used during athletic sports when movements require an individual to move from side to side such as when playing defense in football and basketball, the infield in baseball, and skating either on roller blades or ice skates.

The hip abductor group of muscles consists of four (4) muscles located in the area of the buttocks on each sides of the body. These include: glueteus medius, gluteus maxius, tensor fascia lata, and gluteus minimus.

There are also abductor muscles located in the upper limb area, example shoulder, arm, fingers and thumb. In the lower limbs besides the hip abductor muscles, there are also abductor muscles of the toes.

Other areas that have abductor muscles include the vocal folds and around the eyeball.

Healthy abductor muscles in the hips are important for several reasons and there are special exercises for this area. These muscles are vital to the maintenance of good balance, keeping posture that is correct and providing effective movement. Most physical therapists will advise that this area of muscles needs to be trained with care and precision. There are many exercises for this region that can be found on the internet for those who want to take care of this region of their body.