When it comes to toning your legs, you don’t need hours in a fancy gym in order to achieve results. In fact, with some easy, equipment-free exercises on deck, sculpting your thighs has never been more straightforward. We’ve put together six exercises for toned thighs you’ll want to start doing ASAP.
While dumbbell workouts can be helpful for fighting off fat rolls, you certainly can get it done with just your own body weight—especially for lower-body training. Additionally, getting in some daily cardio through jogging is great for many different health benefits, but you need to add actual lower-body exercises such as squats, lunges, and bridges if you really want to add definition to your thighs.
Perform this workout by doing a set of 10 to 15 repetitions for each exercise before advancing to the next exercise. After completing all six exercises, begin the first exercise again, and repeat three to five times. Aim to complete two or three of these sessions per week to really sculpt up your thighs.
No lower body workout is complete without squats, which is the first of these exercises for toned thighs. The squat hits everything from your quads to your glutes and hamstrings, ensuring a massive thigh sculpting benefit for your entire lower body. To perform it, begin standing with your feet hip-width apart. Sit back and down, lowering your hips until your thighs are parallel to the top of the floor. Drive up through both feet to return to the starting position. Repeat for the target repetitions.
Lunges are another staple lower-body exercise that is key for sculpting some great thighs. To perform the lunge, start standing with your feet hip-width distance apart. Take a big step forward with your right foot. Lower your back knee toward the ground as you bend the front knee to lower your hips. Push through your front foot to return to the starting position. Repeat on both sides for the target repetitions.
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Side lunges are great for hitting the outer hip and thigh area. To perform them, begin standing in a wide split stance. Bend one knee, and lower toward that side while keeping the other knee straight. Push through the floor with the bent-knee side to return to the top position. Repeat on both sides for the target repetitions.
Hyper-targeting the glutes with a floor bridge is a great way to help tone your thighs, considering the glutes effectively form the final top, posterior portion of the thigh. Begin lying on the floor with your feet flat on the floor and your knees in the air. Squeeze your glutes, and press through both feet into the floor to raise your hips until the tops of your thighs and your hip crease are in a straight line. Slowly return back to the starting position. Repeat for the target repetitions.
Hip abduction helps sculpt the outer thigh and glutes. Start lying on your side with your legs straight. Keeping the leg straight, raise your top leg while keeping the blade of your foot pointing toward the ceiling. Raise it six to 12 inches, then return the leg to the starting position. Repeat on both sides for the target repetitions.
Our exercises for toned thighs wrap up with the burpee, a great full-body exercise that heavily targets the lower body musculature and gives a good metabolic boost to help torch extra fat. To perform burpees, begin standing, placing your feet hip-width apart. Explosively drop down, and kick your feet backward to drop into a push-up position. Quickly explode back up onto your feet, then jump up into the air while raising your arms overhead. Absorb your landing in a quarter-squat, then immediately flow into the next repetition. Repeat for the target repetitions.
Tyler Read
Tyler Read is a personal trainer and has been involved in health and fitness for the past 15 years. Read more about Tyler
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