Exercises to tone thighs
Have you already started with your exercise regimen, but you find it difficult to achieve toned thighs? The solution is here. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
While many exercises will give you toned legs, adding cardio to your routine will also help maximize fat loss.
Try these simple exercises to tone thighs. Depending on the intensity levels of your workout, you may choose to use a pair of dumbbells while performing these exercises. You can also level up by increasing the weights of the dumbbells you are already using.
So what are you waiting for! Break out that workout gear and let’s get started.
1. Squats
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. Lower yourself to the ground as if you were going to sit on a chair.
- Keep your thighs parallel to the ground and rise back up, returning to the starting position.
- Make sure your buttocks extend back so your knees don’t go past your toes. One of the most common squat mistakes is that the knees often cross the toes. You should be able to see the top of your shoes throughout the circuit. This ensures correct posture while exercising, thus preventing injury.
Benefits of squats:
This exercise is one of the best as you lift your own body weight while squatting. The added weight increases the intensity of the workout and helps build lean muscle mass, toning and speeding up metabolism, and in turn, helping to reduce overall body fat.
2. Hip Bridges
- Lie on your back and place your hands on the ground for balance as you bend your left leg and lift your right leg off the ground.
- Pressing your left heel into the ground, lift your pelvis up, keeping your body in a rigid bridge position. Slowly lower your body to the ground. Complete the same number of repetitions on the right side.
Benefits of hip bridges:
Hip bridges target the glutes and hamstrings , strengthening and helping to tone these muscles. Do this exercise at home and tone up without going to the gym.
3. Forward lunges
- Stand up with your feet flat on the ground. Step your right foot forward as far as you can while dropping your left knee toward the ground.
- Make sure to lower yourself towards the ground, and not towards your toes. You should see the front of your toes throughout the circuit, so make sure you don’t reach forward. Complete the same number of repetitions on the left side.
Benefits of forward lunges:
Forward lunges work the glutes, thigh adductors, quads, and hamstrings, strengthening these muscles while also improving metabolism. This is very beneficial if your goal is to lose body fat in general. Doing forward lunges also has an added benefit: it helps improve core strength as it engages core muscles as well.
4. Side lunges
- Stand with your feet slightly hip-width apart. Extend your left foot out to the side as far as you can as you lower toward the ground.
- Your left leg should remain straight and you should feel a stretch in your inner thigh.
- Push your right leg hard to return to the starting position. Complete the same number of repetitions on the right side.
Benefits of Side Lunges:
Side lunges work your thigh adductors, glutes, quads, and hamstrings. This helps strengthen the thighs along with core activation, which in turn helps improve balance and overall body coordination. Take your training to the next level by adding a few yoga poses to bring some variation to your routine.
5. Jump Squats
- Stand tall with your feet flat on the ground, hip-width apart. Lower yourself to the ground and jump into the air as high as you can, landing softly.
- Make sure your glutes extend back so your knees don’t roll forward past your toes. You should be able to see the top of your shoes throughout the circuit. This ensures a correct posture during exercise, thus avoiding any injury.
Benefits of jump squats:
Jump squats, like the other exercises mentioned above, help build your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves. And because it’s a full-body impact move, it helps strengthen every other muscle in your body, too.
This exercise works in a unique way in that an additional 50-70 calories are burned daily with every pound of muscle gained. Losing that overall body fat is pretty easy with this exercise!
