The term abductor is related to one of the movements that the muscles are capable of making and which consists of making any member of the body move considerably away from the midpoint of the body. At first, you have to understand what a frontal plane is, knowledge that would serve as a guide to understand how this type of movement occurs; It is a kind of division, in which the human body is appreciated from a lateral perspective, so it is divided into two parts: the back (behind) and anterior (in front), so the movements made would be seen from the same angle.
"Abductor" is often confused with "adductor" because of the similarity between the two words. The adductor muscles, on the other hand, are those that allow the member to return to its initial position, that is, close to the body. On the other hand, the abductor muscles are somewhat ignored when warming up or training them, however, for athletes it is an important part not to have weak muscles, as they could cause serious injuries to the top of the hip, because they are generated a series of inappropriate movements; one of the most severe consequences would be the Trendelenburg position.
Specifically, the major abductor muscles are the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and pyramidal l. Those closest to the hips are those that allow the legs to be raised or separated. They are located exactly on the outer part of the thigh and the buttock, so they work a lot when doing fitness.
