The thighs are a popular part of the body to target at the gym, right up there with six-pack abs. If you’re looking for a thigh “slimming” workout, there’s a catch: you can’t spot decrease. What you can do is build more lean muscle in a certain location. These 10 thigh training routines, when paired with a good diet and general fat loss, will help you create a powerful lower body. In this article, we’ll read about top 10 thigh exercises for beginners.
These thigh exercises will improve your hamstrings, glutes, and calves, as well as your core. When you’re ready to break a sweat, consider this your go-to butt and thigh exercise.
top 10 thigh exercises for beginners
How it works: Perform all ten thigh training movements in a row, with no break in between. The circuit should then be repeated one or two more times. Perform this whole buttock and thigh workout three or four times each week. Choose three or four of your favourite thigh training moves and include them in your current regimen for an extra dose of lower-body power.
Side Shuffle
This fast-paced thigh exercise is simple to incorporate into any leg workout at home. It raises your heart rate (extra exercise!) and activates your inner thigh muscles to help you turn directions rapidly. It is one of the top thigh exercises for beginners.
Do it:
Place your feet together and your arms by your sides.
Take three fast steps to the side (right, left, right) and then lift your left leg up, swinging your right arm forward.
Reverse your shuffle (left, right, left) and land with your right leg up, left knee bent, and your right arm swinging forward.
Repeat as quickly as you can 20 times in a row, alternating sides.
Plyometric Squat
Jumping plyometric workouts build every muscle in your legs (even your inner thighs) while also burning a lot of calories. It is one of the top thigh exercises for beginners.
Do it:
Place your feet shoulder-width apart.
Squat with your knees bent to 90 degrees.
Jump up and land lightly in the squat posture again. Jump up explosively using the strength in your legs and buttocks.
Remember to land lightly with your knees bent and your weight back over your heels.
Perform three sets of eight repetitions.
Sweep Side Lunge
Side lunges (also known as lateral lunges) are excellent for strengthening the outside and inner thighs. The additional cross-over in this thigh training routine works your inner thighs even harder and adds a core balancing challenge (here’s why core strength is so important).
Do it:
Place your hands on your hips and stand with your feet together.
Take a wide stride to the left and drop into a lunge, bending your left knee and pressing your hips behind you.
Stand back up, pushing through your left heel and crossing your left leg in front of your torso without touching the floor. As you cross your leg in front of your torso, squeeze your inner thighs.
Return your leg to the left side and repeat.
Perform 15 reps with your left leg, followed by 15 with your right.
The Single-Leg Circle
If single-leg circles get too simple, try writing out the letters with each leg. That’s what we call thigh exercise #goals. It is one of the top thigh exercises for beginners.
Do it:
Lie back on the mat with your arms at your sides and your palms facing down.
Begin by pointing with your left foot, as if stretching your toes toward the ceiling, and rotating your leg slightly outward.
Inhale and trace a circle on the ceiling with your left leg, moving your entire leg but maintaining your hips motionless. Don’t elevate your left hip off the floor.
Trace the circle on the ceiling 5 times clockwise. Rep in the other way.
Switch legs and repeat 5 times.
Squat with Dumbbells
In terms of functional thigh workouts, the squat is unrivalled. Load up your squat with racking dumbbells—start light and progress to bigger weights as you grow stronger—and feel the advantages of heavy lifting.
Do it:
Begin by standing with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart. Racked dumbbells in each hand over shoulders
To drop into a squat, engage your core and sit your hips back. Keep your chest up and your back flat, and don’t let your knees go beyond your toes. When your thighs are parallel to the ground or your form is disrupted, come to a halt.
To stand and return to the starting position, press onto the mid-foot.
Try three sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Dumbbell Lunges
This traditional thigh workout routine not only trains your leg muscles, but it also works on your balance and coordination — as well as your booty for a whole lower-body butt and thigh workout. (Try including all of these other lunge variants into your thigh exercise as well.)
Do it:
Holding a 5- or 8-pound dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Lunge forward with your left leg and then straighten it. When you lunge, your right knee should be approximately an inch above the ground and not contact it.
Maintain a perpendicular torso to the floor, with your weight equally distributed between your legs. Align your front knee over your front ankle, and maintain your weight on your heels rather than your toes.
Continue these lunges for 30 seconds before switching sides and repeating on the other leg.
Plié Ballerina
Bring out your inner ballerina. The plié is a thigh workout that works your hamstrings, quadriceps, abductors, and adductors—your entire thigh. You can choose to workout online with your friends to stay motivate.
Do it
Position your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, with your toes pointing out.
Lower into a squat with your arms straight out in front of you.
Return to your feet and repeat. Squat as low as you can without allowing your knees to touch your toes.
Tuck your tailbone below and clench your glutes. Keep your body tall and your knees from creeping beyond your toes.
Do this for 1 minute. (After roughly 40 seconds, pulse for 20 seconds at the bottom of the squat.)
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Isometric Adduction Low Lunge
This isometric contraction engages your inner thigh muscles while simultaneously working the rest of your body, making it a far more effective technique to train than the hip abduction and adduction equipment at the gym. (It also stretches the hip flexor on the opposite leg.)
Do it:
Place your feet together and your arms by your sides.
With your right foot, take a broad stride forward and lower into a deep lunge stance.
Place your hands on the inside of your right foot on the floor.
Press the outside of your right shoulder with your right knee. For 10 counts, squeeze and hold the contraction.
Return to standing by releasing and pushing off the floor with your right leg. That is one repetition. Repeat with the left leg to finish one set.
Perform three sets in total.
Side Extension Attitude
Another ballet-inspired thigh training technique, this slimming thigh exercise requires your thigh muscles to contract in order to regulate your leg’s motion (without falling over).
Do it:
Stand on your right leg, with your right knee slightly bent and your hands on your hips.
Bend your left knee and lift your left leg up and over your torso, turning your left heel up.
Next, extend your left leg to the side of your body, straightening it to full length as illustrated.
Rep 15 times with your left leg, then 15 times with your right.
Weighted Inner-Thigh Lift
This thigh workout is a twist on a traditional inner-thigh lift as it uses your body weight to add an extra challenge.
Do it:
Lie on your right side with your right elbow bent below your shoulder and your left hand behind your head.
Extend both legs out and then bend your left knee up to the ceiling, placing the bottom of your left foot on the inside of your right knee.
Hover your right leg slightly off the floor with your foot flexed. Next, engage your inner thigh to lift your right leg higher.
Slowly lower your leg back to hover above the floor. We hope you liked this article on thigh exercises for beginners.
