Healthy eating is good, but you need muscles to have toned, slim legs! And you can get that with special exercises for the thighs.
Table of contents
- Lose weight specifically on your thighs?
- 1. Exercise for the thighs: leg balance
- 2. Classic exercise: lunges
- 3. Exercise for the legs: Squats
- 4. Exercise for thighs & buttocks: rear leg extension
- 5. Exercise for the thighs: side leg raises
- 6. Train your legs and abs: Flutter Kicks
- 7. Exercise for adductors: Side leg raises for the inside
Do you sometimes feel uncomfortable with your thighs - perhaps they are too round, too soft or just not the way you would like them to be? Then let me tell you: you have the power to solve this inner conflict! You can either learn to accept and love your legs as they are, or you can choose to specifically work on them and get them in shape.
If you choose the second option: stay tuned! With just three 20-minute sessions per week, you can strengthen your thigh muscles and visibly tone your legs. And the best part? In just 20 minutes - about the same time as an episode of your favorite series - you can complete seven effective exercises that work both the inner and outer thighs. And all of this from the comfort of your own home!
Lose weight specifically on your thighs?
Have you ever thought about losing weight in specific areas of your body? Unfortunately, we usually have to say goodbye to this dream because it doesn't work that easily. Things are completely different when it comes to building muscle! You can actually be very specific here. So why not ditch the idea of losing weight from the thighs and instead embrace our legs - strong and strong, rather than chasing an unattainable ideal!
Are you ready? Then discover 7 simple but efficient exercises for firm, shapely thighs!
1. Exercise for the thighs: leg balance
Balance exercises look harmless, but they are an excellent workout for the whole body and, like here with the leg raised, for the hamstrings.
Here's how:
Tense your stomach firmly, stand up straight and look at a point on the floor. If you like, stretch your arms out to the sides to make balance easier. From this position, shift your weight to your right leg, find a firm footing and carefully lift your left foot off the floor. Place on your right knee and extend your leg forward 15 times without placing your foot on the floor.
> 3 sets of 15 reps per side
Variant:If the leg is stretched out to the side, this exercise can also train the inner thighs.
Reading tips:
2. Classic exercise: lunges
This exercise really needs to get your butt and the front of your thighs burning!
Here's how:
Tense your stomach tightly, your back is straight. Take a large lunge forward with your left leg. Make sure that the knee is at the height of the heel and does not extend past the toes. Go nice and low with your right leg. Come back to the starting position and take a large lunge forward with your right leg.
> 3 sets of 15 repetitions per leg
Variant:It gets more strenuous if you take a dumbbell in each hand to train your biceps at the same time. The lunges can also be jumped. However, you should only do this variant if there are no knee problems.
Do you want to burn even more calories?You can find suitable dumbbells on Amazon here*
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3. Exercise for the legs: Squats
Squats are actually simple knee bends that our grandpa had to do when he played sports. But because the exercise is so effective for shaping the buttocks and thighs, just the name has been modernized a bit and it means: go deeper! Butt and legs must burn! A classic leg workout.
Here's how:
Keep your legs hip-width apart, stand upright and tense your stomach tightly. Stretch your arms straight forward at shoulder height and now bend your knees deeply. Push your bottom back as if you were sitting on an imaginary chair. At the lowest point, rock briefly three times, then come back up.
> 3 sets of 15 reps
Variant:If you want to train the inner thighs, simply position your legs wider for this exercise so that the feet and thighs point outwards.
Tipp:You can intensify this thigh exercise with a Theraband. To do this, simply stand up straight with your feet together and wrap the Theraband around your legs above your knees and knot it. Then stand with your feet hip-width apart and do the squats.
4. Exercise for thighs & buttocks: rear leg extension
Perfect! The buttocks are not neglected in this exercise either and are trained together with the back of the thighs.
Also try it out:
Here's how:
Kneel on the floor and get into a quadruped position. Make sure your knees are under your hips and your hands are under your shoulders.
Tense your stomach tightly and slowly lift your left leg – straight – upwards. Tighten your thigh muscles firmly and circle your leg at the highest point 20 times in small movements.
> 3 sets of 20 repetitions per leg
Variant:To make the exercise more difficult, you can apply foot weights or lift the opposite arm.
5. Exercise for the thighs: side leg raises
Many women want to not only tone the front and back of the thighs, but also slim the inside. This exercise works.
Here's how:
Lie comfortably on your right side with your body supported by your right forearm and right leg. It should form a straight line.
Tense your stomach, release your left leg from your right and slowly raise and lower it using only the strength of your leg muscles.
> 3 sets of 20 reps per side
Variant:If you like, use a resistance band (Resistance Band hereBuy on Amazon*) or foot weights. Instead of raising and lowering the leg, small circles can be drawn at the highest point.
6. Train your legs and abs: Flutter Kicks
This exercise also trains the muscles of the inner thighs by crossing over, and the abdominal muscles are also trained. Important, pay attention to your breathing.
Here's how:
Sit on the floor and lean your upper body backwards. It is supported by the forearms lying straight up.
Raise your legs at an angle so that your calves are parallel to the floor. The stomach is tensed tightly. From this position, the legs are crossed in quick movements - but powerful and targeted - for 15 seconds. Or the legs are alternately stretched towards the ceiling and pulled towards the bottom.
> 3 sets of 15 seconds each
Variant:To train your abdominal muscles, you can extend your legs diagonally forward or you can not support your upper body with your forearms, but rather hold it off the floor with the strength of your abdominal muscles.
Also read:
7. Exercise for adductors: Side leg raises for the inside
Depending on how you lie, you can train the inner or outer thighs on your side. This exercise is great for the inside.
Here's how:
Lie on your right side with your right arm ideally supporting your head. Bend your left leg forward and place it over your right. The right leg is extended and an extension of the upper body. The toes are pulled up and then the leg is slowly and forcefully lifted a few centimeters off the floor and lowered again.
> 3 sets of 15 reps per side
Variant:Instead of just pushing the leg up and lowering it, small circles can be drawn at the highest point.
© iStock
The best fitness exercises for your body type
© Sport, Christina Mannherz
Fitness exercises for apple, pear, column, hourglass figure types
Find out now what body type you are.Apple type(blue figure): Apple women have a soft, feminine and rounded shape in which body fat can accumulate predominantly in the chest, stomach, arms and upper back areas. Women of this figure type often have very beautiful legs and a small, firm and toned bottom.Bulb type(green figure): Compared to the apple type, the pear woman tends to store her fat predominantly in the hips, buttocks, thighs and lower abdominal region. She has a firm upper body with delicate arms and hands as well as a flattering, long and narrow waist.Column type(red figure): Women with a classic columnar figure often have a very slim body. The figure is overall defined and muscular. This figure type, with low body fat, has similar measurements in the hips, waist and chest areas. As a result, soft and round shapes are hardly to be found in this straight figure type. Pillar women have an enviably flat stomach and a beautiful, long back zone.Hourglass type(yellow figure): Hourglass women have bodies with very feminine shapes. Your body fat is evenly distributed between your upper body, stomach, buttocks and legs. They often have medium to large breasts and full, well-shaped hips. The waist sits high, is slim and characterizes the curves that characterize this figure type.
The idea for this special figure-type workout comes from Cologne fitness trainer Bernhard Koch (www.sportartverlag.de).
© iStock
There is the right workout for every figure!
© Sport, Christina Mannherz
Fitness exercises for the apple type: Small circles
Trains arms and shoulders, stimulates fat burning
Moves dynamically on the spot. Raise your arms up to shoulder height and stretch them outwards to the sides of your body. Now draw small, tennis ball-sized circles forward with your arms. The shoulder remains low despite the arm extension.
2 x 1 Minute.
Important note at the end:Your body is as individual as your character. You have to find out for yourself which diet and which form of training suits you best. Don't let others put pressure on you. In principle, however, the following applies: an active lifestyle with a balanced diet and lots of exercise is still the best way to stay fit over the long term and achieve or maintain a healthy weight.
