You are done with the exercises that are futile and are looking for ways to get those skinny legs that many models we see on the TV have. How can I have great legs?
No problem, I got you covered, I was asking the same question about my legs. I always wanted to figure out what is the best thigh exercise.
There are plenty of exercises out there that you can do to get lean legs and thighs, lose weight and achieve amazing results for each thigh.
Among many workouts, some are focused on knee resistance, lower back or leg muscles but I think you are going to love these exercise routines that I’ve carefully chosen for you to read about.
In this article, your love for beautiful legs and slim thighs will become even greater and you will learn one important lesson – doing exercises can help you achieve great aesthetics but also improve your health.
Table of Contents
Benefits Of Physical Activity
We can all agree that exercise is great. Many exercises can help you look great, have more strength but most importantly physical activity can improve your health (who would have guessed it, right?) [1].
Doing exercises a couple of times per week can help you stay healthy and keep you energized. Interesting thing about workouts is that they give you more energy than they produce overall fatigue [2].
Tips
To create powerful legs and get that nice look on your thighs, one should always have in mind one thing:
Completing exercise routines is important for muscle growth but one must be patient and set aside enough time to do them. You would normally use this allocated time for other activities.
Always make time for a complete exercise! Please heed this advice, believe me.
Another tip is for your body position in the exercises. Always try to keep your knees in the correct position!
Be mindful of the position of each foot and ask yourself have you done a proper warmup session.
If your body is not properly warmed up, you can get muscle cramps or back pain. To get the best out of your exercise and achieve the desired number of reps you should always warm up before training.
Useful Day To Day Activities
Before going into the best exercises for getting those lean legs you always wanted, let’s see what activities you can perform on a daily basis to have not just skinny legs but also burn fat and improve your health.
Best everyday activities for building lean legs are walking, cycling, climbing stairs and cardio workouts in general.
Simple as it is, walking is a great activity and the one you should do every day. Walking is low demanding (in terms of stress on your body), can get your energy levels up and can improve your focus.
It is proven that walking a bit faster in “the training zone of over 70% of maximal heart rate” develops physical fitness [3].
Cycling is great for building strong legs. Besides that, cycling is perfect for fat loss and can be a very interesting exercise (think of all the spots you haven’t seen but can with just pedaling).
At times, we all want to skip climbing stairs but this is a great way to have lean legs and burn fat. So, next time you find yourself in a tall building, stop searching for an elevator and you go girl.
Just as stairs climbing and walking, every cardio workout is the right way to go. You can start your training with cardio or do it afterwards.
At the end of the day, it all really depends on the type of training you are doing and the goal you are trying to achieve.
Doing cardio means your heart rate will increase and fat levels in your body will decrease. For example, if you want to slim down your legs using weights, then doing cardio after the workout is perfect [4].
1. Squats
This exercise is a great way to slim down your legs and work on your lower body. Many people like squats over other leg exercises, because they are easy to do and by doing squats you can really get those skinny legs you always wanted.
For a starting position, make sure to keep your back straight and knees bent. For best results, concentrate on the each side of your body while squatting.
It’s not just your legs that are going to benefit from this exercise, squats are also amazing if you want to burn calories or reduce fat in your body.
You can do 10 reps for starters and increase the number of reps later when you feel you have more strength and stamina. For an optimal workout, It’s enough to perform this exercise 3 times a week.
After you get that sweet energy and stamina, you can do variations of this workout routine. Beginner error is to forget about the foot position.
If you make one or more mistakes don’t worry, just get back to your training, but this time try to do the exercises correctly.
Always watch the weight of your upper body (you are always carrying a weight so to speak) which leads us to your back.
In this workout, the back needs to be straight all the time. When you use more weights to produce more resistance in your legs, this tip is essential.
Much of what is said about legs is valid for your knees. Always be careful because of the high resistance on your knees while doing any kind of squats.
2. Lunges
Lunges are also a very quick and yet powerful workout for toned leg muscles that you can do in your home or outside in the park. With this exercise, you are able to work on your inner thighs, glutes and hamstrings.
To start with this exercise, stand with feet-shoulder apart, with arms close to your body on each side.
It is essential to put some workout music to play in the background (ok, this is not essential but why not?)
After the starting position, take a step with one leg to the side. Your arms should be parallel and directed toward the floor.
If you start with your left leg to the side, your right leg should be in front, with the right knee bent. Be sure to push your hips behind and also keep your back straight,
When your left leg reaches its maximum, you should touch the floor with your finger tips. After that, push yourself up and repeat the exercise but switch legs (and knees, obviously).
To really burn extra calories, you need to squeeze your inner thigh muscles and abs as many times as you can while you are doing lunges.
3. Kneeling Roundhouse Kick
Want to have beautiful legs and feel like Uma Turman from the movie Kill Bill in the process?
Aside from being very popular, this workout is great for inner and outer thighs and hips.
To begin this graceful exercise, you have to be on the ground on all fours. Place your hands just like you want to do a pushup and lift your left knee from the ground.
This is just half a rep. For a full rep, you need to keep the left leg close to the body and extend it straight.
Is this a rep now? No, to complete the exercise (maybe a last quarter of the rep) you need to bring back the leg.
Repeat the leg lifts for 15 reps per leg (and per knee, obviously).
4. Inner/Outer Thigh Lifts
From many exercises you already learned about in this article, this one is great for inner and outer thigh muscle areas (you didn’t see that coming, did you?).
There are many muscles in your legs. Thighs are important for achieving the complete movement of legs from the floor to your upper body.
Also, having lean thighs means that you can wear that dress that you haven’t worn since your prom night.
To take the starting position for this workout, lay on the floor on your right side. Your head should be on your right hand and you should keep your back in line with your neck.
Before you start with the leg lifts, you should bring your left leg in front of your hips, next to your right leg and right inner thigh.
Start by taking a breath and pulling your left leg as much as you can in the direction of your right inner thigh. Your hand should be on the ankle, just above the lower area of the foot.
When holding your left leg, before you make a movement with the right leg, try not to bend your knees. Your knees should be straight.
Lift your right leg off the ground (maintain the straight position of your knees) for a couple of times to complete the first training.
After the initial training session, you can start doing more reps, that is, when you feel that you are ready for a complete workout session of 15 reps per set.
The Bottom Line
Having great thighs is never easy and one should be persistent just as you are with reading this article.
To sum up, my position on these exercises is clear. To have beautiful legs and thighs, always have a complete exercise routine and find time for those activities that can get you to your desired results sooner.
Always be careful to properly position your body, work hard, do lots of reps. If you keep up with the exercise routine you will have amazing legs in no time! But remember to take it one day at a time.
Don’t get discouraged if you feel tired, take a rest day (or a couple of them, but no more than that) and continue with your training routine. This is not only about your physique but also about your health.
References
- https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15692327/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9181668/
- https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fulltext/2007/02000/Effects_of_Resistance_Exercise_on_Lipolysis_during.13.aspx
