What are the best exercises to do to tone up thighs?

Question

I am going away in April and although a size 12 and not overweight, I would dearly love to tone up the wobbly bits on my inner and outer thighs. I go to the gym 4 times a week and do either 30 mins cardio and 30 mins weights plus sit ups or 45 minutes cardio and 15 minutes weights on alternate days. I am pretty fit and have seen a difference in every part of my body except my thighs. Your help would be appreciated!

Answer 1

You fail to mention your eating habits and what type of exercise you do and how hard you exercise... "cardio" is rather broad...

There are only two ways of shedding excessive body fat from ANY area of the body. One is by consuming fewer calories (i.e. eat less, or eat healthier). The other is by burning more calories (i.e. by being more active and exercising). Either way you have to generate a calorie deficit. You CANT SPOT REDUCE FAT.

A healthy diet contains lots of fruit and vegetables; is based on starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, brown pasta and brown rice; and is low in fat (especially saturated fat), salt and sugar.

There are 3500 calories per pound of body fat. So if you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories you would lose approximately one pound per week: (500 x 7 = 3,500) A calorie deficit of 1000 calories would therefore mean that you'd lose approximately two pounds per week. Two pounds a week is commonly accepted as the maximum rate of weight loss that is healthy. That means you can lose 24 pounds til your holiday... depending on how much 24 would be of your maximum body mass... As a size 12 you're not that big, so you may find it harder to shift that much.

The best way to accelerate fat loss is increase the basal metabolic rate so we burn more fat calories at rest. ANEAROBIC EXERCISES to increase the metabolism and carry on burning fat even when between periods of activity.

I suspect when you do what you describe as "cardio" you remain within the "aerobic" range of exercise. The very term 'aerobic' means 'with oxygen'. By definition, these activities are less taxing and can be sustained for longer, almost indefinite periods of time.

I strongly recommend giving 'ANAEROBICS' a try. Anaerobics are activities that are carried out 'without oxygen' and involve higher-intensity, shorter-duration bursts of activity to produce the training effect.

The benefits of this type of training include:

Higher calorie consumption;
Increased metabolism;
Shorter, more effective workouts;
The exercise is anabolic in nature, meaning that it promotes lean tissue

Instead of 15 minutes of steady-paced (and mind-numbing) aerobic work, try the following:

Five bursts of high-level activity (80% or more of your top effort) for two to three minutes' duration. Rest completely between each effort.
40/20 splits. Go all out for 20 seconds and then recover for 40 seconds. Repeat five times.
Sprints. Go as far and as fast as you can for one minute. Rest totally in between sets and then repeat sprints five times.

As you can see, anaerobic training is characterised by a HIGH intensity of effort. If you can hold a conversation during or immediately after the activity, then you didn't come out of your aerobic zone and may need to put in a little more effort!!!!!!

For toning do weighted squats and lunges, and find an adductor and abductor resistance machine for the in and outsides of your thighs, as well as a glute raise machine.

There you have it. Give anaerobics a try - I mean a fair try - and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve in a relatively short period of time. And do your resistance training. The results of training this way can be quite spectacular. You're probably thinking it sounds hard, and, well, it is. I never said it'd be easy, but if you want the results...

Answer 2

Well one thing you can do is a wall sit. This means that you have your back against the wall and you squat as if you were sitting in a chair. Hold it for a minute each time and do it 3 times a day and it tones your thighs really well. I did it and I have skinny thighs now.
Good Luck

Answer 3

Go and find yourself a Good Ballroom Dancing Teacher. you will find that you will not only tone up your thighs but also your calves and ankles. You will also develop full muscle control of your whole body. If you don't believe me ask the winners of Strictly Come Dancing.

Answer 4

I just bought a 'butt and thigh' pilates video last night and holy cow. My inner and outer thighs burned so bad afterwards, you can really tell they are being 'worked'. Try a pilates video..it's only 30 min long and it's easy but effective.

Answer 5

For the perimeters, lay down on your area, and slowly existence up your leg. keep on repeating and then swap sides. For the returned, lay on your abdomen. positioned your legs mutually and carry a weight between your ft. carry your knees off the floor and produce your ft returned in direction of your buttocks. Then slowly decrease them. keep on repeating.

Answer 6

i found doing lunges really do the trick. also do lots of Ballet plie's.... ul have gorgeous smooth dancers thights in no time. Also moisturise the area twice a day, to keep the skin looking smooth and supple

Answer 7

Cycling, using a gradually harder setting (gym bike) or higher gear if on the road.

Answer 8

Go on a Special K diet then go swimming and cycling

Answer 9

Swimming.
lots and lots of swimming.
go at least once a day.

Answer 10

squats and lunges and the best for thighs....do lunges on a bosu