Many people find that after weight loss, they are left with stubborn areas of fat, such as on the inner thighs. This article provides a comprehensive guide on how to tone your thighs after weight loss through targeted exercises, lifestyle adjustments, and a balanced approach to fitness and nutrition.
Understanding Inner Thigh Fat
It's a common frustration: your jeans fit everywhere except the inner thighs. Inner thigh fat can be particularly stubborn, lingering despite your best efforts with diet and exercise. Several factors contribute to this phenomenon.
Genetic Predisposition
Your body stores fat based on your genetic blueprint. A 2019 study revealed that genetic factors strongly influence body fat distribution, especially in women. Women are more prone to storing fat in the inner and outer thighs due to their inherited body shape.
Hormonal Influence
Hormones, particularly estrogen, play a significant role in fat storage. Estrogen encourages fat storage in the thigh area as a natural reserve for fertility.
Lifestyle Factors
A sedentary lifestyle slows down metabolism and reduces muscle mass, leading to increased fat storage in the lower body. As we age, the body's ability to burn calories declines due to hormonal changes and muscle loss, a process known as sarcopenia.
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Can You Spot Reduce Fat?
It’s important to understand that it’s not possible to spot reduce fat in a particular area, like the thighs. Shedding unwanted fat from your whole body will, in turn, help you achieve slimmer legs.
Overall Strategy: A Holistic Approach
While you can’t control your genetics or age, you can improve your fitness level, manage your hormone health, and stay active. To effectively tone your thighs after weight loss, a holistic approach is necessary, combining cardiovascular exercise, targeted leg exercises, and a healthy diet. Many factors affect your body shape and composition, including genetics, sex, hormones, and age, and toning up isn’t one-size-fits-all.
Cardiovascular Exercise: Burning Calories and Fat
Cardiovascular exercise has many physical and mental health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease. It’s also great for weight loss. Choose moderately intense to challenging cardio exercises to do every day.
Recommended Activities and Intensity
Do cardio exercises - such as cycling, brisk walking, running, or swimming - at a moderately intense rate for 150 to 300 minutes per week or at a vigorously intense rate for 75 to 150 minutes a week, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Incorporate multiple activities into your routine to vary your workouts and avoid a fitness/weight-loss plateau. For example, you might do swimming on Tuesdays, running Fridays, and a step class on Sunday.
Choose any activity that you enjoy - just make sure it’s challenging so you can burn more calories and fat. For example, a 155-pound person can burn 266 calories if she walks for one hour at 3.5 miles per hour (mph), according to Harvard Health Publishing. The same person can burn 576 calories running at 5 mph, or 432 calories swimming.
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Interval Training
Some research suggests incorporating high-intensity interval training into your workout may lead to greater fat loss. For example, you can alternate walking and running if you cannot run for an extended period. Start with a five-minute walking warm-up. Then run fast for 30 to 90 seconds, followed by one to three minutes of brisk walking. Continue alternating walking and running for the duration of your workout.
Targeted Leg Exercises: Building Muscle and Toning
To achieve a sleeker, more toned physique, you’ll need to work on strengthening your leg muscles and losing excess body weight. Perform multi- and single-joint exercises at least two to three days a week on nonconsecutive days. As the name suggests, single-joint exercises are any that involve one joint (such as the knee) while multi-joint exercises involve more than one joint (such as the knees and hips). Single-joint exercises are also known as isolation exercises, while multi-joint exercises are also known as compound exercises.
Multi-Joint Exercises
Train your legs two to three times per week on non-consecutive days. The American Council on Exercise suggests doing one to four sets of 8 to 15 repetitions per exercise. Choose two to four multi-joint exercises for your workout. These exercises work the glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings muscles in your lower body. Hold a set of dumbbells while doing each exercise to make it more challenging.
- Squats: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend at the hips and knees, lowering your body and standing back up.
- Lunges: Stand with your feet hip-width apart and step forward with one foot. Lower your body by bending the hips and knees and press back up to the start position, keeping your back straight and core engaged throughout. Repeat with the other leg.
- Step-Ups: Step on top of a bench or chair, then lower yourself with the same leg. Repeat the exercise with the other leg.
Single-Joint Exercises
Perform two to four single-joint exercises in addition to your multi-joint exercises if you want to target your thighs more. For example, leg extensions, leg curls, or any variations of these are appropriate.
- Leg Extensions: Perform leg extensions in a seated position to tone the fronts of your thighs by straightening and bending the knees.
- Leg Curls: Perform a lying leg curl by lying on your stomach. You raise and lower a weight by bending and straightening the knees to tone the backs of your thighs.
Specific Exercises for Inner Thighs
Several exercises specifically target the inner thighs (adductors), helping to tone and strengthen this area.
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- Sumo Squats: A classic move with a twist, the sumo squat shifts your typical squat position by widening your stance to about shoulder width with toes slightly turned out. Start in a standing position with your feet wider than your shoulders. Lower down into a squat, keeping your chest upright and knees bent in line with your toes.
- Lateral Lunges: These are a must-have in any leg day routine. From a starting position, step your right leg to the side and bend your right knee, keeping your left leg straight.
- Lying Adductor Raises: Lie on your side with your bottom leg straight and your top leg bent over it.
- Curtsy Lunges: Add a little elegance to your workout! From a standing stance, cross your left foot behind your right leg and lower into a lunge.
- Towel Slides: Place your left foot on a towel or glider. As you lunge to the right, slide the left foot out.
- Banded Adduction: Secure a resistance band to a sturdy anchor and wrap it around your ankle.
- Wall Sits: Slide down a wall into a squat position.
- Frog Jumps: Looking for something explosive? Start in a deep squat, touching the floor. Explode upward and forward like a frog.
- Pilates Inner Thigh Lift: Pilates-style movements are excellent for control, flexibility, and body awareness. Lie on your back with one leg extended upward and the other flat on the floor.
- Skater Jumps: Hop sideways from your left foot to your right foot, landing lightly and swinging your arms for balance.
- Wide Leg Open Toe Squat: Stand with your feet open wider than your hips. Turn your toes out. Place your hands on your hips and pull your naval in toward your spine. Tilt your pelvis forward as you bend your knees out to the sides and lower down into a squat. Keep your back flat and your tailbone pointed down toward the ground. Press down through your heels as you stand back up. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
- Goblet Squat: Stand with your feet wider than the hips with your toes turned slightly outward. Bring your palms together at your chest (or hold a dumbbell in both hands for a more advanced option) with your elbows bent or place your hands on your hips. Pull in your abs and look forward as you reach your hips backward and bend your knees. Lower your butt down slowly until your hips are below your knees. Press down through your heels to stand back up to the starting position.
- Side Lunge: Standing with your feet as wide as your hips, step your right foot out to the right and perform a lunge by sitting back into the right glute. Reach the right glute backward as you keep the left leg straight. Press down through your right heel as you come back to center. Repeat 10 times and then switch sides.
- Banded Lateral Walk: Step into the resistance band with both feet so that it is around your thighs, right above the knee. You can also perform this exercise with just your bodyweight! Open the feet as wide as the hips to create tension on the band. Lower down into a half-squat position while pulling your navel in toward your spine and pressing down through the heels. Then shift your weight over to your left side, and step sideways to the right. Bring your left foot slightly in, keeping tension on the band, and continue to side step to the right like this for 10 steps (or however many steps you have room for!). Then repeat to the left.
Additional Workout Styles
- CrossFit-Style Workouts: CrossFit is known for its high-intensity, full-body workouts that often involve heavy lifting and explosive movements.
- Heavy Leg Machines: Exercises using machines like the leg press or hip adductor can isolate the thigh muscles, particularly when using heavy weights.
- Leg-Focused HIIT Routines: HIIT is amazing for burning calories and improving cardio fitness.
- Sprinting: Sprinting uses explosive force to power the lower body, particularly the thigh muscles.
Importance of Proper Form and Gradual Progression
When performing strength training exercises, proper form is very important. You will get more out of each exercise if you do it properly, and you are less likely to suffer an injury if you do the exercises correctly. The internet is full of instructional guides and videos that can help if you’re unfamiliar with a certain exercise.
It’s also critical that you don’t go blasting into the gym and start lifting the heaviest weights you can pick up. Start with lighter weights and less resistance until you build your strength. Then gradually increase the amount of weight you lift.
Lifestyle Adjustments: Complementing Exercise
Exercise is important, but it’s about more than just hitting the gym and hitting it hard. Don’t get in your own way by coming home from the gym and then engaging in unhealthy habits.
Hydration
Adequate water is essential for maintaining optimal skin moisture and delivering essential nutrients to the skin cells. It helps to replenish skin tissue and increases its elasticity, making it more pliable and likely to tighten up after you lose weight. Getting enough water can be tricky, but remember that it doesn’t have to come solely from your water bottle.
Nutrition
Also, be sure to combine a nutritious, balanced diet with your exercise. This will help ensure you have the nutrients you need to fuel your workouts, build muscle, and support overall health. Cutting calories drastically or restricting whole food groups often backfires, and could ultimately derail your progress.
Managing Expectations and Staying Consistent
Losing inner thigh fat can be tough because your body decides where to burn fat first, and the thigh area is often last to go, especially for women. With regular workouts and a healthy diet, you may notice changes in 4 to 8 weeks.
Remember that exercising to lose excess skin is a long-term commitment. It’s important that you pay attention to your body when weight training. Soreness is a sign that you’re overdoing it, so do fewer reps or cut back to lighter weights. And don’t skip rest days. It’s your body resting and repairing the tiny muscle tears exercise causes that make your muscles bigger.
Consulting Professionals and Seeking Support
Talk to a Doctor Before Starting a Fitness Routine. Consult a healthcare professional before starting any exercise or diet program, especially if you’re new to fitness or have an underlying health condition.
At Crunch Fitness, we understand that everyone has different goals. Try one of our group classes focused on toning (like Pilates, Barre Bootcamp, or Barre Assets), or work one-on-one with a personal trainer to fine-tune your routine. Crunch promotes a culture of positivity, inclusivity, and fun with no judgments by providing an environment for all individuals regardless of their health and fitness goals. Find a Crunch gym near you to try our free trial membership, or join Crunch now. We’re here for you - at the gym or at home. Access the best live & on-demand workouts anytime, anywhere with Crunch+. Ready to get sweaty? Try hundreds of workouts for free!