6 ideal exercises to tone the inner part of the thigh: Burn fat and build muscle with these inner thigh exercises, which you can do at home or at the gym on leg workout day. It’s undeniable that strong thighs help performance. Incorporating inner thigh exercises into your training routine will have noticeable benefits.
Here are six exercises to get you started.
What you should know
The muscles of the inner thigh, or adductors, are five: the gracilis, pectineus, adductor medius, adductor minor, and adductor Magnus. These muscles allow movement toward the body’s midline and stabilize other movements.
By incorporating resistance exercises into your workout, focused on strengthening your inner thigh muscles, you’ll shed unwanted fat and build lean muscles. It translates into performance benefits by strengthening your entire lower body and building a stronger foundation for your hips and core.
Combining compound lifts, such as sumo squats and side lunges, with isolated exercises, such as the lateral lying leg raise, is the best way to target the inner thigh, as it activates and engages key muscles in the lower body to strengthen it.
6 exercises for the inner part of the thigh
1. Hip rotations
These strengthen the buttocks and thighs, and balance the muscular effort of the lower part of the body.
2. Sumo squats
Also called plie squats, they work the inner thigh by widening the foot position of a normal squat.
3. Cross lunge
This one tests the thigh muscles by requiring balance and a high degree of muscular control.
4. Side-lying Leg
RaiseIt’s a simple exercise that encourages thigh and glute strengthening by lifting your leg from your midsection.
5. Hamstring Bridge
This pilates-like exercise is similar to a glute bridge, but with a slight push-up setting that works the inner thigh.
6. Side lunge
Instead of rocking back and forth, this exercise puts your inner thigh to the test by requiring you to bend and stretch from side to side.
6 ideal exercises to tone the inner part of the thigh
1. Hip rotations
Hip rotation is commonly used in physical therapy to strengthen the lower body. The inner thigh is not the only muscle you work with hip rotations. The key to feeling the burn is to keep the movement under control and repeat it several times.
- Lie on your side with your legs stacked.
- Bend your knees forward about 90 degrees.
- Keeping your ankles together, lift your top leg by moving your hips.
- Hold your position for 3 seconds once you have raised your top leg as high as possible.
- Lower your leg until your knees touch.
- After doing a set of 10 to 12 repetitions, turn around and do the exercise with the other leg.
Tip: Try to keep your movement short and controlled to isolate the muscles being worked.
Primary muscles involved: gluteus medius, adductor.
Secondary muscles involved: gluteus minimus.
2. Sumo squats (plie)
Squats are essential in any training plan to tone the legs. Sumo squats, or plie, target the inner thigh by adjusting the foot position of a normal squat.
- From a standing position, spread your feet until you reach a full range of motion.
- Angle your feet outward until you fully engage your adductors.
- Lower yourself into a sitting position and aim to have your hips and knees at a 90-degree angle.
- Keep your chest up and your spine neutral. Avoid rounding your back. The head should remain neutral and look forward to avoiding hyperextension of the spine.
Primary muscles involved: adductors, glutes, hip flexors, and quadriceps.
Secondary muscles involved: abs, calves, hamstrings, and lower back.
3. Cross lunge
A crossover lunge is a variation of the normal lunge and is ideal for the inner thigh. You’ll move through a transverse plane of motion that tests your balance and requires a high degree of muscular control.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Take a big step back with your left leg and cross it behind your right leg.
- Bend both knees as you lower into the lunge. Just like bowing.
- Keep your chest straight, shoulders relaxed, and hips square.
- Push off with your left leg and return to the starting position.
Primary muscles involved: adductor, gluteus minimus and quadriceps.
Secondary muscles involved: hamstrings and gluteus medius.
4. Side-lying Leg Raise
The side-lying leg raise (or raise) is an ideal choice for targeting multiple muscles if you’re looking for a regular exercise that doesn’t strain your knees like lunge variations or squats.
- Lie on your side with your legs extended, knees together, and body as straight as possible.
- Use your lower arm to support your head and your upper arm to support yourself by placing your hand on the floor.
- Slowly raise your top leg until the muscles begin to flex; then lower it slowly.
- After doing a set of 10 to 12 repetitions, turn around and do the exercise with the other leg.
Primary muscles involved: gluteus medius and minimus.
Secondary muscles involved: obliques and lower back.
5. Single Leg Hamstring Bridge
This exercise can do with just your body weight or by adding resistance with dumbbells or a barbell. Similar to the glute bridge, with a setting to work the inner thigh, this pilates-like exercise should be part of your inner thigh routine.
- Lie on your back with your knees bent.
- Put your feet hip-width apart, directly under your knees.
- Raise your right leg until it points to the ceiling.
- Squeeze your glutes to lift your hips off the floor into a bridge position without lowering your right leg.
- Lower slowly, do as many reps as you like, and switch legs.
Primary muscles involved: glutes, abdominals and lower back.
Secondary muscles involved: hamstrings.
6. Side lunge
Lunges are ideal exercises for the thighs. Specifically for the inner thigh, side lunges are basic. Instead of moving in the sagittal plane (forward or backwards), the side lunge is made from side to side.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Keeping your right foot stationary, spread your left foot as far apart as possible until you reach the point of flexibility.
- Lower by bending your left knee. Try to create a 90-degree angle with your buttocks.
- Push yourself back to a standing position with your feet hip-width apart.
- Repeat with the other leg.
Primary muscles involved: adductors, gluteus maximus, hamstrings and quadriceps.
Secondary muscles involved: lower back, calves and abdominals.
Remember: the reduction of fat in the thigh is not noticeable.
A common mistake when working out the inner thigh is wanting to notice fat reduction. You can’t burn fat in a specific area like your inner thigh, no matter how many inner thigh exercises you do. If burning thigh fat is one of your fitness goals, add compound and isolation exercises that target your inner thighs with the idea of building muscle.
Building muscle in your thighs boosts your metabolism and improves your body composition. Body composition refers to the ratio of muscle to fat. If you have less muscle mass, your thighs can give the impression of having more fat. When in reality, it’s just a lack of muscle.
The best way to exercise the inner thigh
Considering you can’t focus on losing fat in your inner thigh, what are your training options to get this strong, sculpted area?
The best way to train is to combine compound exercises that work the adductors, quads, hamstrings, and glutes with exercises that isolate the adductors.
Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work for different muscle groups at the same time. They use many muscle fibres and require a large muscle contraction to perform.
Because of that, they are very taxing on the nervous system and can cause muscle damage, subsequently creating growth.
In summary: they create muscle faster than isolated exercises.
However, by targeting a specific joint or muscle group during an exercise, isolated exercises can improve the connection between muscles and create muscle damage without requiring other areas of the body to recover.
Even if they put less stress on the body overall, isolated exercises still play a role in muscle building by “burning” specific muscles and creating resistance. 6 ideal exercises to tone the inner part of the thigh
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6 ideal exercises to tone the inner part of the thigh