Exercise is any physical activity or movement that is planned and repetitive so that you can maintain fitness and improve your health. Exercising should become a part of your daily routine just like eating or sleeping. Exercises include gentle and simple activities like Walking, Swimming, Strenuous activities like Aerobic Exercises and mixed martial arts, etc (1).

No matter which forms of exercise you choose to take up, you are in for its several benefits such as weight control, prevention of heart-related diseases, an increase in energy and immunity levels and overall well being. For most of us having well-toned fatless thighs is a dream. This is achievable by determination and performing certain exercises that target the thigh muscles. In this article, we will learn about some powerful best exercises for thighs (2).

9 Powerful At-Home Exercises for Thighs

1. The Flamingo Balance

The Flamingo Balance is an effective and full lower body workout. Balance is the major concern with this exercise and it is suggested that you do not use dumbbells at the beginner’s level and just use your body weight to improve your balance and coordination. This is one of the best exercises for inner thighs. (3)

How to do The Flamingo Balance

1. To begin, stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Lean forward and lift your left leg back up to around hip height, keeping it straight.
3. The right leg should be slightly bent at the knee.  Now, lift your right hand forward and parallel to the ground.
4. Place your left hand on your hip to maintain balance.
5. Hold this position for a couple of seconds and go back to starting position.
6. Repeat this with the right leg and left hand and continue till desired reps have been completed.

2. Squats

The basic squat is an exercise that is very simple to do and works wonders for the Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings, and Calves. Here is how you perfect the Squat. Squats is one of the most powerful at-home exercises for thighs. (4)

How to do Squats

1. Stand straight with your feet hips distance apart. Pull your shoulders back and tighten your abdominal muscles.
2. Now bend your knees while keeping your back as straight as possible and drive your butt backward as if you are going to sit on a chair.
3. You can place your hand either behind your head or extend them in front of you.
4. Rise back up and repeat for three sets of ten to fifteen reps.

3. Long Lunges

Lunges are great for toning the Thigh Butt and even your Abdominal Muscles. Here is how you do a proper long lunge. This is one of the best exercises for inner thighs. (5)

How to do the Long Lunges

1. In the first step stand straight. Now keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Step forward with your right foot and keep the right knee directly over the ankle and keep your left foot planted.
3. Bend your left leg until the lower portion of your left leg is parallel to the floor.
4. Bring the right foot back to the starting position and repeat until you complete the desired reps.

4. Surya Namaskar

Surya Namaskar or sun salutation is an ancient yoga technique. In this technique, we express gratitude and show respect to the sun that is the source of energy and all life form on this planet. The 12 poses of Surya Namaskar are as follows (6)

How to do Surya Namaskars

1. Prayer Position-Stand straight, keeping your feet together. Expand your chest while breathing in and relax your shoulders. Breathe in and lift both arms up (from normal position) from the sides. Breathing out bring your palms together in front of the chest as you do in a prayer position.
2. Raised Arms Pose– Breathing in, lift your arms up and bend a little back, keeping the biceps close to the ears. Stretch your entire body up. You should feel the stretch from the heels to the tips of the fingers.
3. Touch Your Feet-Breathe out and bend forward from the waist. In this process keep your spine erect. Breathing out bring the hands down to the floor, beside the feet.
4. Equestrian Pose- Breathe in and push your right leg as far back as possible and bend your left knee and lookup.
5. Stick Pose– Take your left knee back and keeping your arms perpendicular to the floor, bring the whole body in a straight line. It can be called as Plank Pose.
6. Saluting with Eight Parts- Bring your knees down to the floor and exhale. Place your chest and chin on the floor.  Your two hands, two feet two knees, chest chin should be touching the ground.

7. Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana)- Raise the chest up into the cobra posture. Keep your elbows slightly bent and shoulders away from your ears. Look forward and make sure you’re stretching as much as you can.

8. Mountain Pose–Breathe out and lift your hips upwards and your chest downwards like an inverted V.

9. Equestrian Pose-Breathe in and bring the right foot forward in between the two hands. Press the left knee to the floor and press your hips downwards and look forward. Place your right foot in between the two hands. At the same time keep the right calf perpendicular to the floor.
10. Hand to foot pose-Bring your left knee forward and place your palms on the floor, slowly try to straighten your knees and touch your nose to your knees.
11. Raised Arms pose- Breath in, roll the spine up, raise your hands up and bend backward, pushing the hips slightly outward. The simple idea here is to stretch up more rather than stretching backward.
12. Straighten your body and bring your arms down.

Benefits of Surya Namaskar: 

• Strengthens the body,
• Relieves constipation and Indigestion,
• Improves the capacity of the lungs,
• Maintains the physical and mental balance of the body and
• Reduces strained joint problems.
• Helps in Weight Loss.

5. Squat with Leg Kick

Squat with Leg Kick is one of the most powerful at-home exercises for thighs.

How to do Squat with Leg Kick

1. Stand straight with your feet hips distance apart.
2. Pull your shoulders back and tighten your abdominal muscles.
3. Now bend your knees while keeping your back as straight as possible and drive your butt backward as if you are going to sit on a chair.
4. You can place your hand either behind your head or extend them in front of you.
5. Push out of your squat and put your weight on the left leg to perform a front kick with your right leg.
6. Return to the original position i.e. bring your foot to the floor and squat again.
7. Switch legs after several repetitions on this leg.

 

6. Hip Bridge

The hip bridge is one of the most simple and effective thigh exercises for women and men.

How to do Hip Bridge

1. Lay flat on your back and bend your knees.
2. Place your hands by your side palms facing upwards.
3. Lift your hips up by pushing through your heels while squeezing your glutes.
4. Hold this pose for 1-2 seconds before lowering back down.
5. Repeat 3 sets in total.

7. Standing Glute Toner

It works the glutes and the rest of your core, which includes your Rectus Abdominus, Erector Spinae, Hamstrings, and Adductors. Here is how you can perform the standing glute toner. It is one of the most powerful at-home exercises for thighs.

How to do Standing Glute Toner

1. Holding the back of a chair, stand with feet hip-width apart.
2. Move your left toe back and few inches and touch the floor with it.
3. Bend the left knee to lift it off the floor.
4. Keeping your knee bent, press straight back as if you are aiming to reach 6’0 clock with your foot for 20 reps then move leg diagonally to the left as if you are aiming to reach 8’0clock on a clock with your foot for 20 reps.

8. Warrior Pose

It is also known as the Veerabhadrasana it is the most graceful of yoga postures. It helps to tone arms legs and lower back.

How to do Warrior Pose

1. Stand straight with your legs wide apart at about 3-4 feet.
2. Turn your right foot in by 15 degrees and Left Feet out by 90 degrees.
3. Lift both the hands up to shoulder level with palms facing upwards.
4. Breathe out, bend your right knee and look the right and stretch your arms.
5. Breathe in, and come up.
6. Repeat this posture with your left side.

Benefits of warrior pose

• It strengthens the Feet, Quadriceps, Core power and Hamstrings.
• It develops coordination and an overall sense of connection with the physical self.

9. Skater Lunge

How to do Skater Lunge

1. Cross your right leg behind your left leg as you bend your left knee into a half-squat position.
2. Extend the left arm out to the side and after that swing your right arm across your hips.
3. Now in the next step, hop a few feet directly to the right, switching the earlier position of your legs and arms. That’s one rep.
4. Do 20 such reps.

How to reduce Thigh Fat?

Women and men all over the world face several body image issues and many of them complain about their unhappiness with their thick thighs. Here are a few steps you can follow to reduce thigh fat.

1. Burning calories helps reduce overall fat and Jumping, Cycling and Running help in burning the most calories.
2. Add Cardio, Squats, and Lunges to your routine.
3. Doing exercises that sculpt your inner and outer thighs, Hamstrings and Butt will make your thighs look thinner and your legs look longer and leaner.
4. In order to jumpstart your metabolism, do not skip breakfast and try to avoid sugary meals with refined carbs, instead go for protein-rich foods and fiber-filled complex carbs.
5. Maintain a food diary and keep track of how much and what you are eating.
6. Eat 6 to 8 small meals a day mentioned in Indian diet chart so that you avoid overeating.

More Tips

1. You can save hundreds of calories by opting for water over aerated drinks.
2. Water will keep you hydrated and help you in losing weight. You can read my post on Tips to lose weight for detailed information.
3. Getting sufficient sleep is important as it is seen that those who sleep less tend to snack more and gain weight more easily than those who get proper 8 hours of sleep.
4. Lastly, you must also consider the fact that a lot of people are genetically endowed with pear-shaped bodies and in that case even exercise or change in dietary habits cannot change ones hereditary body structure.

The benefits of adopting exercise as a daily way of life are uncountable. Not only does it make us physically fit and healthy, it also helps us feel young and energized. Exercise helps us counter several life-threatening diseases of the heart and boosts our immune system. It is important to note that though exercising helps our body in more ways than one, performing exercises in the wrong way or overdoing an exercise in hopes of achieving faster and better results does more harm than good and we should exercise according to our age and physical capacity.