Strengthening Your Thighs
If you focus on strengthening your thighs without worrying about shaping and toning them, you’ll have a much better shot at not only gaining functional strength, but also slimming our thighs. While it’s alright to make getting slimmer more sexy thighs a goal of yours, I’ve noticed that clients who focus on thing one small step at a time usually have the most success in ultimately reaching their goals. The first place i like to have people place the focus in strengthening their things so that they are able to progress into the intense free weight based thigh workouts that are required to help you build a sexier lower body.
The best way to start strengthening thighs is to focus on performing barbell squats with as much weight as you can comfortably handle while still maintaining good weightlifting form. There is no thigh exercise more effective than squats and focusing your efforts here will definitely allow you to strengthen and shape your thighs quickly. Most women completely ignore any form of progressive weight training fearing that it’s going to make their legs bigger and bulkier. Here’s the deal whit that…sure your leg muscles may get a bit bigger and initially your thighs may also get a bit bigger, but after a few weeks of dedicated effort and a solid nutrition plan, you’re going to start to strip of body fat – on your thighs, butt and really all over your body. Once this happens, your legs will have sexier shape than they did before and ultimately they will be slimmer than when you started your thigh strengthening program.
photo credit: summersgood
Here’s where I have my clients who are just beginning their sling thighs workouts start in order to strengthen their thighs….
Warm Up
- Jog – Moderate intensity 10 minutes
- Full body stretch
Thigh Strengthening Workout
- Barbell Squat – 3 sets of 10 reps (with weight that you can still maintain good form with)
- Rest for 2 minutes between sets
Perform this thigh strengthening workout only 1 time each week so that your thighs have a chance to rest and recover properly. The next time you hit the gym for your thigh strengthening workout, bump up the weight a bit. That’s the key to building up a decent base of strength – progressively increasing the weight that you train with at each and every workout.
Well that’s a pretty solid plan to start strengthening your thighs. Read through this post again and then get to the gym to build a solid base of thigh strength form which to work from today! If you do this I guarantee that you’ll have a much better chance of slimming your thighs quicker than you otherwise would.
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: strengthening thighs, strengthening your thighs
Home Thigh Exercise Routine
Home thigh exercise routines are a hot topic these days (at least based on the number of emails I’ve been receiving on the subject lately). When it comes to exercising to slim your thighs at home, it can be a serious challenge just mustering up enough energy to even begin your workout. Let alone finding the resolve to figure out exactly which of the thigh exercises you can actually perform in your home.
In order to help, I’ve put together a quick thigh exercise routine that you can easily perform in the comfort of your own home without any fancy equipment, bogus fat burning supplements or fad diets involved. The exercises that make up this home slim thighs workout target all the problem areas of your thighs with laser precision.
photo credit: sergeant killjoy
If you commit to running through this 20 minute home thigh exercise routine 2 days a week, you’ll definitely be able to see and feel the difference in the size and shape of your thighs. In fact, this is the exact same home thigh workout that I give to many of my clients who have limited time and resources to work with – but who still really want to get slim sexy thighs.
Here’s a simple and effective home thigh exercise routine that you can perform in any room of your home in under 20 minutes. This is an example of a “circuit” thigh workout which really just means that you will perform 1 set of each of the slim thighs exercises without any rest. After you complete a “slim thighs circuit set” you will rest for anywhere from 1 – 2 minutes (it really just depends on your level of strength and conditioning).
The Home Thigh Exercise Warm-Up: 5 minutes of walking or jogging in place at a brisk pace. After you complete your warm up take the time to run through a few thigh stretches in order to loosen your muscles and get them ready for the workout!
The Home Thigh Exercise Circuit Routine…
Body-weight Squat: 1 set of 20 repetitions
Stationary Lunges: 1 set of 20 repetitions (each leg)
Single Leg RDL: 1 set of 20 repetitions (each leg)
Side Lunges: 1 set of 20 repetitions (each leg)
Perform each slim thighs circuit set 3 times making sure to rest for 1 – 2 minutes between sets. As your level thigh strength and conditioning increases feel free to add on more circuit sets to this home thigh exercise routine.
Many of my clients have slimmed their thighs and made a major impact on both the shape and tone of their thigh muscles by performing this quick home thigh exercise routine anywhere from 2 – 4 times each week. But before you get over excited and push the limit of your body make sure to allow for at least 1 full days rest in between this home slim thighs circuit workout.
Categories: Thigh Exercises, Thigh Workouts Tags: home thigh exercise, Thigh Exercises, Thigh Workouts
Thigh Stretches
Adding a few thigh stretches to your flexibility routine is a great idea because of the fact that the muscles that make up your thighs, hips and butt are some of the biggest muscle groups in your entire body. When people begin to stretch the muscle sin their lower body on a regular basis, they often times notice an immediate improvement in everyday activities like walking and jogging.
photo credit: lululemon athletica
Because the muscles in your thighs are in use so often for day to day activities, regular thigh stretches will have an impact on how your body moves. When performed regularly thigh stretches, just like any other form of flexibility exercise will help you…
- Improve your thighs and hips range of motion.
- Decrease You chances of incurring a hip or thigh muscle injury
- Decrease your chances of incurring a joint or ligament injury to your hips or thighs
- Decrease stiffness and pian in your thihgs and hips
A Few Popular Thigh Stretches…
Standing Quadriceps Stretch
In order to perform the standing quadriceps stretch:
Grasp the top of your foot with your hand as you lift your foot towards the back of your body.
2.) gently lift your foot towards your body as you begin to feel your quadriceps muscles stretch.
3.) Hold the stretch for a count of 5 – 10 seconds, then release your leg and perform this stretch with your opposite leg.
*Do not stretch to the point of major muscle discomfort or pain -this can lead to a muscle or joint injury.
Seated Quad Stretch
In order to preform he seated quad stretch…
1.) Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you.
2.) Tuck one of your legs back so that you are sitting on it. The top of your foot should be in contact with the floor.
3.) Gently lean back and allow your quadriceps muscle to stretch to a comfortable position. Hold the stretch for a 5 – 10 seconds. repeat with the opposite leg.
These are two of the most common thigh stretches for loosening up the muscles of your thighs. At a minimum, I would recommend performing these stretches after a 5 -1 0 minute cardio warm up prior to training your legs. This simple routine will go a long way to prevent any type of unnecessary muscular injury.
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: Thigh Exercises, thigh stretches
Spot Reduction Thigh Workouts Do Not Work!
When it comes to getting thin hips and a firm lower body, you will need to focus on lowering your overall body fat percentage by training the muscles of your entire body. Sure thigh workouts that focus on the muscles of your legs, butt and hips need to be part of your fitness mix, but focusing exclusively on one muscle group does not lead to quicker fat loss results in that area.
This common misconception is known as spot reduction. It is impossible to make your body shed fat in one particular area by performing only exercises that target that area. Whenever you thin your thighs, hips and buns, you will also notice a corresponding reduction in fat all over your body.
photo credit: bobster855
When it comes to fat loss, the main objective of your thigh workouts is to aid in creating a fat burning calorie deficit. By performing well rounded thigh workouts as well as upper body workouts, ab workouts and cardio sessions, your body is burning more calories. This allows your body to start getting rid of extra energy in the form of fat.
When it comes to creating a moderate calorie deficit on a regular basis, it’s important to a find the right combination of fat burning workouts for your lifestyle. While you may achieve quicker initial fat loss results by digging into one specific style of training, the best long term approach is to find a few different activities that you can alternate between each week.
By focusing on whole body workouts rather than simply isolating your thihgs, hips and buns, you up the ante a bit and cause your body to burn significantly more claories that it would during most typical thigh workouts.
If you are looking to slim your hips quickly, then there is no quicker route than combining free weight based strength training with regular aerobic exercise. This potent fat burning combination allows your body to build lean muscle mass while focusing on shedding flabby body fat.
When you increase the amount of lean muscle mass that your body carries, you inversly affect the amount of body fat that you can carry. In essence More muscle = less fat! If you take note of this relationship and you realize that adding a few pounds of muscle mass will not turn you into a pro bodybuilder, then you will be able to tap into some of the most effective fat burning thigh workouts!
Categories: Thigh Exercises, Thigh Workouts Tags: spot reduction, Thigh Workouts
Why You Should Perform Thigh Squats
Thigh squats are one of the most effective exercises that you can do in order to slim your thighs and firm up your lower body. While squats are traditionally thought of as a basic leg exercise, most people don’t know that in addition to the thighs, squats also work the muscles in your butt as well as every other muscle in your lower body.
Why You Should Perform Thigh Squats
If you are looking to slim your thighs quickly and efficiently, then you must perform squats. There are a few reasons why this is such an effective exercise for lower body fat and toning your thighs and buns, so I’ll highlight a few of them below…
1.) The muscles in your thighs, hips, butt and calves are some of the biggest muscles in your entire body. Because of their size, these muscles are also stronger than the other muscles in your body. When you perform a free weight exercise like thigh squats, you are requiring the biggest and strongest muscles in your body to work very hard – this type of activity burn a lot of calories!
AS you know, in order to burn body fat, you need to expend (burn) more calories than you take in on a regular basis. Squats when performed as a regular addition to your slim thighs workouts can contribute quite a bit towards creating the all important calorie deficit.
2.) Not only do thigh squats require an enormous amount of energy to perform, but they also target all of the muscles in your lower body. Since your goal is to slim your thighs quickly, easily and naturally, doesn’t it just make good sense to try and get the biggest bang for your buck with each and every workout?
3.) Weight bearing exercises like thigh squats have been shown to increase the density of your bones. If you combine regular weight bearing exercises with a calcium supplement, then you can really go a long way to ensure that your bones stay in good health for the rest of your life!
So not only do squats allow you to shape your thighs, hips and buns while also burning fat, but they also allow you to reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis later in life! This alone should be enough reason to incorporate thigh squats into your fitness mix right away!
Types of Thigh Squats
There are a few different types of squats that you can work into your slim thigh workouts in order to keep things from getting too repetitive. Here is a list of different types of squats that target your thighs, hips and butt…
- Barbell Squat
- DB Squat
- Wall Squats
- Single Leg Squats (also known as Bulgarian squats)
- Bodyweight squats
- Front Squats
Squats when performed regularly will help you strengthen, and tone all of the muscles in your hips, butt and thighs without leaving anything on the table. No wasted energy or movement -just pure thigh slimming, bun firming, body fat burning goodness. So what are you waiting for? Hit the gym and perform a few sets of thigh squats today!
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: thigh squats
The Most Effective Thigh Exercises
Thigh exercises are a great way to target your lower body while still ensuring that you get a challenging workout in. When it comes to slimming your thighs, the name of the game is body fat reduction. In order to reduce your body fat levels and effectively slim your thighs, you need to make sure that you are performing thigh exercises that not only target your lower body, but also help you burn calories and melt fat. While there are a few options that can help you accomplish this goal quickly, your best bet may be to combine thigh exercises with aerobic training for a high intensity high energy workout that’s all but guaranteed to slim your thighs!
Two of the most effective forms of fat burning, thigh slimming exercise are…
- Free weight exercises that incorporate multiple muscle groups
- High intensity aerobics that require you to move your body through space
Each of these styles of thigh slimming exercise requires your body to burn a large amount of calories in a relatively short period of time. When combined with a moderately calorie restricted nutritious balanced diet, the effects of theses thigh exercises alone are immediate and dramatic. By simply incorporating one of these styles of thigh slimming exercise into your everyday life, you will begin to see a difference in the shape of your hips, thighs and buns.
The Power of Combining High Intensity Thigh Exercises
If you really want to turbocharge the progress your making on your lower body workouts, you need to learn how to harness the power of combining multiple thigh exercises with cardiovascular training. This style of lower body training is also know as high intensity interval training.
When you incorporate this style of intense thigh training, your body will burn more calories that either steady state aerobic exercise or free weight workouts alone. Exactly how many more calories your body will burn depends to a large extent on the exact intensity level of your workout, but studies have suggested that your body will burn on average 900% more body fat than traditional thigh slimming workouts alone!
Example High Intensity Interval Thigh Workout
Always begin your lower body workouts with a full body warm up that gets blood pumping through all of the muscles of your body. I suggest a short low intensity 5 minute jog followed by a full body flexibility routine. After you complete your warm-up, it’s time to get on with the thigh exercises.
This interval training workout should be performed without any rest at all between sets. Once you begin, keep working at it until you are finished, then you can rest!
- Start with a 2 minute interval on the treadmill – Jog At a Medium Pace
- Immediately following your 2 minute treadmill interval hop off and perform 15 wall squats.
- Immediately jump back on the treadmill for another 2 minute interval – this time at a brisk pace
- Jump off the treadmill and perform 10 – 15 dumbbell lunges with each leg
- Back to the treadmill for another 2 minute interval
- Jump off the treadmill and perform 15 dumbbell step-ups with each leg
- Hop on the treadmill for another 2 minute interval
If you’ve been training for over a year now and you are in good condition, you may need more of a challenge than this. If this describes you, simply add in 2 sets of each exercise combined with cardio intervals in between!
These basic thigh exercises become even more effective for burning fat ans slimming your thighs when you combine them with intense aerobic intervals. If you’ve been training for awhile now, but your not happy with your progress in the gym, try to add in a few of these high intensity lower body interval workouts to your routine, I guarantee you’ll beg into burn fat faster than you ever thought possible!
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: thigh excersises
Thigh Stretching
Here’s a quick and easy thigh stretching exercise to help you get more flexibility in your hamstrings. If you start to perform this thigh stretch on a regular basis, you should begin to notice that you have more range of motion in your lower back, hips and thighs!
When ever you begin any type of thigh stretching routine for the first time, make sure to ease into it a bit so you don’t injure yourself. many people try to stretch their muscles too much the first few times they stretch. This can lead to muscular injuries that can take months to heal. Not only will you be in pain for a few months, but your thigh slimming workouts will begin to suffer – and so will your progress towards a firm sexy lower body.
So take it easy in the beginning and slowly ease into your thigh flexibility routine!
Basic Hamstring Stretch
- Lie on your back on the floor with your foot facing the ceiling.
- Loop a towel around the middle of your foot.
- Using the towel, as a stabilizer, extend your leg by contracting the quadriceps muscle.
- Repeat with the other leg.
Basic Quadriceps Stretch
- Using a wall or chair to help you balance, reach back with your right hand and grasp your right foot or ankle.
- Make sure your hips are forward and your knees are adjacent to each other.
- Gently pull up on your foot until you feel a stretching in your thighs.
photo credit: bobster1985
These basic thigh stretching exercises can help you get more flexible thighs in no time at all! Flexibility is important because it will allow you to have a greater range of motion in your everyday life. Not only will you be able to more more fluently, but you’ll be able to avoid various injuries caused by inflexible thigh muscles.
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: Thigh Exercises, thigh stretching
The Importance of Thighs Stretches
Nearly everyone agrees that it’s important to do your thighs stretches on a regular basis. Without a basic level of flexibility, not only will you have a mre difficult time getting around when you get older, but you increase the possibility of some type of lower body injury (especially if you are performing a slim thighs workout on a regular basis).
photo credit: Benno Hansen
If you are serious about getting sexy slim thighs and a firm lower body, I hope you realize by now that thigh exercises need to be part of the equation. Simply dieting alone will not do the trick. As you progress in your lower body workouts, your level of lower body flexibility will come in to play.
If you’ve been neglecting your thighs stretches, chances are you’ll either injure yourself or suffer from some sort of limited range of motion.
Why It’s Important To Do Your Thighs Stretches…
- Performing thigh flexibility exercises on a regular basis will make optimal movement for your lower body possible.
- Decent thighs flexibility allows you to move your body through a full range of motion while you train.
- Regular thighs stretches will enhance the stability of your entire body.
- The more flexible your lower body is, the less likely you will be to suffer some sort of thigh or hamstring injury.
If you have you heart set on slimmer thighs, then you need to make thighs stretches and overall lower body flexibility a part of your everyday fitness routine.
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: thighs stretches
Thigh Training At Home
Do you have a reliable thigh training routine that you can perform anywhere to tone and tighten your hips, buns and thighs? While most people spend their workout time trapped inside of a gym performing more traditional free weight exercises and stability ball routines in hopes of getting firm buns and slim thighs, it’s really nice to have a dependable thigh workout that you can perform anywhere – anytime!
I’m not going to try to convince you that body weight exercises are better for slimming your thighs, because they’re not. When it comes to getting the most bang for your workout buck, free weights are hard to beat.
Free weights allow you to build muscle and burn fat at the same time, which ultimately leads to thinner thighs. But you can achieve slimmer sexier thighs by using simple body weight exercises.
It is absolutely possible to get a decent thigh training workout without having to head to the gym. Lets face it, sometimes you just don’t have time for a full blown lower body workout!
If you find yourself in a pinch, but you don’t want to sacrifice the progress you’ve already made give this body weight thigh training workout a try.
A Thigh Training Workout You Can Perform Anywhere!
Always begin any slim thigh training session with a complete warm up that gets your heart pumping, the blood flowing and your muscles warmed up. Any type of full body cardiovascular exercise will do here.
Typically, people will jog on a tread mill or ride an exercise bike for their warm up, but any type of cardio will do.
If you’re trapped in your home (or office) just jog in place for 5 – 10 minutes. This should get your body ready for the workout.
Immediately following your full body warm up, it’s time to jump into a full body flexibility routine. Pick 4 – 5 stretches that cover the major muscles of your entire body and perform them in a slow and controlled manner, holding the stretch position for 8 – 10 seconds. Repeat each stretch 2 – 3 times.
Now that your warm up and flexibility routine are complete, it’s time to jump into the thigh training workout…
Here are the slim thighs exercises that make up this workout:
1.) Body Weight Squats
2.) Body Weight Stationary Lunge
3.) Body Weight Chair Step Up
4.) Body Weight Side Lunges
- Perform a “circuit set” of 10 repetitions of each of the exercises back to back without rest in between exercises.
- After completing each “circuit set” rest for 90 seconds before performing the next set.
- Perform a total of 3 complete “circuit sets” to round out this thigh training routine.
All in all, this killer slim thigh taining routine (warm up, flex routine and workout) should only take you only about 25 minutes to complete, so no excuses about not having enough time.
Commit to performing this thigh workout workout 1 – 2 times per week and you’ll begin to notice a difference in the way your thighs and buns look and feel in only a few weeks!
Note – These slim thighs exercises are great for when you’re out of town and can’t make it to a gym. Next time you’re on vacation or away on business, put this slim thighs training routine to the test!
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: slim thighs workout, thigh training
Thigh Flexibility
Thigh flexibility is an important part of an slim thighs workout program. While not typically viewed as a critical component to any lower body workout, the truth of the matter is that you can not hope to achieve awesome thighs without having some sore of thigh flexibility.
When it comes to slimming your thighs, one of the main things that you need to be able to take advantage of is the wide array of excellent thighs exercises and workouts. From body weight exercise, to yoga training, to Pilate’s, to free weight workouts, there are many different styles of lower body workouts that can help you achieve your goal of slim thighs.
If you have poor flexibility, not only will you not be able to perform certain types of lower body workouts, but you will be opening yourself up to injury regardless of the style of training you choose. Whether you’re aware of it or not, the muscles of your thighs are major supporting muscles for your entire body.
Without basic levels of thigh flexibility you are exposing your lower back, knees, hips and butt to injury on a daily basis. Make it a priority to incorporate some sort of thigh flexibility and stretching program into your daily fitness routine. Noting too major, just add in 5 -1 0 minutes of lower body stretching each day.
Not only will your lower body begin feel better, but you’ll also be able to train more intensely – ultimately allowing you to get thin sexy thighs quicker than you ever thought possible.
Categories: Thigh Exercises Tags: thigh flexibility