Thigh Toning Exercises
For those women who want lean legs instead of excess fat, thigh toning exercises coupled with overall body fat reduction are the answer. Thinning the thighs is not difficult, but it does take work. Unfortunately, women tend to accumulate fat in the lower abdomen, hips and thighs. But it doesn't matter what kind of shape your thighs are currently in because exercise and diet can solve almost any physical conditioning problem. If you tone the thigh muscles and keep them toned you get another benefit beside trim thighs. You will discourage the formation of cellulite.
Thigh toning exercises target the thigh muscles of course. The thigh muscles include the quadriceps in front of the legs, the hamstrings in the back, and the abductors and adductors on the outer and inner thighs. The thigh muscles are powerful muscles and can take a while to strengthen. You will exercise for weeks and begin to think they will never get toned. Then at some point the muscles will begin to become noticeably defined. After that the toning process gets simpler. It can take up to 3 months before thigh toning exercises begin to work so don't get impatient. Exercise is not a magical pill that works instantly. Just remember how long it took you to get in your current shape!
When you begin thigh toning exercises, you actually are working on your hips and lower buttocks also. That is because the muscles all work together to permit certain body movements. The gluteals, hamstrings, and quadriceps work during the more active times of your life such as for running and lifting. But the inner and outer thighs don't get much work. You have to move sideways to work the abductors and adductors. As a result, women develop "saddle bags" and flabby inner thighs. All this is formed as a result of excess fat and weak thigh muscles.
The good news that you can do thigh toning exercises 3 days a week and overcome the sagging due to inertia and gravity. To tone the thighs and hips you must include a total body workout in your exercise program. The reduction of total body fat, along with thigh toning exercises, will result slimming of the thigh and hip areas. Following are five very good exercises for the thigh.
- Leg curls with a weight held between your feet
- Squats in any form
- Lunges
- Thigh angles (lie on back and have soles of feet meet in frog position)
- Seated extended leg raise off floor
Martial arts programs such as Tae Bo also contain excellent thigh toning exercises. The kicks and lunges work the inner and outer thighs frequently. The gym also has equipment you can use that targets the thigh muscles.
There are many exercises you can do to slim the thigh muscles. Thigh toning exercises are effective, but can take up to 3 months before toning becomes noticeable. The thigh muscles are "tough" muscles and resistant to exercise. But if you stick with the program and keep your focus, the results of a exercise program will be well worth the effort. Once the muscles are trimmed it is easy to keep them that way!
