While abdominal fat is a problem area for many, today we’ll focus on another frequently discussed body part: the thighs.
When it comes to lower body exercises, you should incorporate three movement patterns into your leg day routine: squat, hinge, and lunge. Maintain tension in your quads and hamstrings, and strive to improve your performance each week. By making your body work harder, you will burn more calories, gain muscle, and lose thigh fat.
Here’s a 20-minute workout that will help you burn thigh fat on a daily basis. Set a timer for 20 minutes and perform as many sets of the following exercises as you can in a row without stopping.
1. Dumbbell squat
Maintain a tall stance with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hips rotated slightly outward.
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest with your elbows close to your sides.
Perform a squat by bending at the hips, knees, and ankles.
Continue until your hips are just below your knees.
Return to the initial position by pushing your feet toward the ground.
Do 10 reps, then rest. Do this for 2-3 sets.
2) Forward Lunges
If you are trying to reduce thigh fat, make forward lunges your best friend. Just like the squat, you can perform this one anywhere! It will activate your hamstring, hip flexor, abductor and gluteus muscles.
Steps to Perform Forward Lunges
Here is how you can get leaner thighs by performing this exercise:
Step 1: Stand on your feet. Keep them hip-width apart.
Step 2: Place your hands on the side of your hips and move your left foot forward.
Step 3: Lower the upper part of your body, creating a 90-degree angle between your left thigh and calf, and come to a kneeling position with one leg. While doing this, ensure your right leg is bending towards the ground.
Step 4: Stay in that position for around 2-3 seconds and rise.
Repeat the above with your right leg forward around 12 times each in a set of 2.
Benefits of Forward Lunges
- Stabilises your thigh muscles.
- Improves hip flexibility.
- Provides better body balance.
- Lightens up the glute muscles, thereby toning the butt.
3) Side Lunges
As compared to forward lunges, side lunges are easier to perform. It targets your side butts and is responsible for intricately training your hamstrings.
Steps to Perform Side Lunges
Follow these steps for performing side lunges and build those perfect thighs:
Step 1: Stand and keep your feet together. Toes must be placed forward. Clutch your hands together and stretch them in front of your chest at the same shoulder level.
Step 2: Place your right foot sideways and drop your hips down while bending down your right knee. Do not lift your heel.
Step 3: In the meantime, stretch your left leg by activating your groin. Ensure that your right knee does not move beyond your right toe.
Step 4: Push your right leg and stand up. Repeat this set 10-12 times in 2 sets.
Benefits of Side Lunges
- Helps to develop stability and strength in the body.
- Reduces both inner and outer thigh fat.
- Helps in decreasing cellulite.
- Improves overall mobility of the hip.
- Can be performed by people with knee pain who might find the forward lunge challenging
4) Jumping Jacks
Did you know there were some wooden toys with strings shaped like people who used to splay their arms and legs when anyone pulled the string? This is where jumping jack got his name! It is a fun exercise to reduce fat in the thighs. It is considered a full-body exercise and it releases stress as well.
Steps to Perform Jumping Jacks
Enjoy jumping jacks by following these steps:
Step 1: Stand straight on the ground and keep your feet shoulder-width apart from each other.
Step 2: Jump up and clap your hands above your head by stretching them wide out.
Step 3: Return to the land in the same position by keeping your arms on your side.
Step 4: Start slowly. Repeat the set with 10 repetitions per set if you are a beginner. If you are an expert, aim for 5 sets of 20 repetitions.
Benefits of Jumping Jacks
- Helps in building leg strength.
- Assists in increasing bone density.
- Brings about improvement in body coordination and balance.
- Tones up your muscles, thereby burning the fat in the thigh region.
5) Burpees
Performing burpees will help you in indulging your whole body. Thus, burpees are an effective exercise to reduce fat from the thighs as well.
Steps to Perform the Burpees
Feel the burn of burpees by following these steps:
Step 1: Stand on your feet and ensure they are shoulder and hip-width apart.
Step 2: Crouch down and keep your hands on the ground, between your legs. Switch into a push-up position by pushing your legs backwards.
Step 3: Push down your body and push yourself up. Hop forward towards your hands and come back to a crouch position.
Step 4: Jump up by stretching your hands overhead. Stand up on your feet to complete one repetition. If you are doing 1 set, opt for 10 to 15 repetitions. If you are an expert, you can push yourself up to 3 to 4 sets.
Benefits of Burpees
- Burpees will tone your leg muscles.
- It accelerates resistance and improves the mobility of the thighs.
- Works on the glute muscles.
- Engages and tones your hamstring and quad muscles.
6) Air Cycling
Cycling is good. What about air cycling? It is the BEST!
Air cycling is an effective exercise to thin your thighs and, thus, plays an important role in strengthening and toning the lower body muscles.
Steps to Perform Air Cycling
It is really fun to do air cycling. Here is how it goes.
Step 1: Lie back on the ground while facing the ceiling
Step 2: Lift your legs and place them 90 degrees parallel to the floor.
Step 3: Now, move your legs as if you were pedalling a cycle. Continue doing it for about a minute.
Start forward cycling by moving your legs for 1 minute.
Step 4: Repeat this by moving your legs backwards in the same way for another minute. Repeat this set at least 5 times.
Benefits of Air Cycling
- Strengthens your hamstrings and calf muscles.
- Works on toning quadriceps muscles.
- Reduces cellulite.
- Legs are strengthened.
7) Side-lying Adduction
If you are a beginner, then one of the most effective exercises to reduce thigh fat and tone the inner thighs is side-lying adduction. It intricately engages your gluteus medius, thereby toning the thigh muscles.
Steps to Perform Side-lying Adduction
Here’s how you can perform this one and successfully shape your inner thighs:
Step 1: Lie down on the ground on one side.
Step 2: Bend your top leg and drop it forward. (You can provide support by placing a pillow).
Step 3: Extend your other leg, straighten it and then lift it up in the air. Keep your abdominal and hips engaged for 5 seconds.
Step 4: Repeat the same on the other side and do 15-20 repetitions of each. You can end by completing 2 sets of each.
Benefits of Side-lying Adduction
- Strengthens the inner thigh muscles (Adductor Muscles), hamstrings and glutes muscles, thereby reducing fat because of calorie burning
- Stabilises the hips and pelvis
- Builds strength in legs
- Boosts body balance
FitterTake
It is time to lose the fat from your thighs and wear that old pair of shorts that you loved. Just manage a little time to do all these exercises and see the difference it makes! While at it, also focus on indulging in a nutritionally balanced diet for better results. And supplement it with good-quality sleep and a minimum-stress way of living.
We know it’s no child’s play to lose that stubborn thigh fat but #WorryNot. Fitterfly is here to help you. We are here to help you lose that stubborn weight issue. How? You may ask. Because you are just at the right place – Fitterfly.
At Fitterfly, our expert team of nutritionists, physiotherapists and psychologists are focused on transforming your health through their expertise. This happens through personalised one-on-one sessions, tailor-made diet & exercise plans and an in-depth analysis of your overall lifestyle, health and medical history.
