Overview

Your inner thighs are a tough area to target, but it’s essential if you want your legs to be strong, lean, and powerful. The good news is that you don’t need much more than your own body weight to keep them toned.

We asked Kusha Karvandi, CPT, a San Diego-based conditioning specialist and founder of Exerscribe, for his best moves for your inner thighs. Here are his top five moves.

Lunges are at the core of a good thigh workout. This transverse lunge is a great place to start. You don’t need any equipment at all to get moving:

  • Start with your feet together.
  • Step your right leg out to the side and bend your right knee, pushing your body down through your hips and heels. Keep your left leg straight throughout the move.
  • Step your right leg back to center.
  • Repeat with your left leg.

That’s one repetition. Try to do three sets of 10 to 15 reps if you’re a beginner. Work up to larger sets as you get stronger, or add weights.

Build a little cardio into your thigh workout with ice skaters. You might feel less graceful than Tara Lipinski while you’re doing them, but they get the job done:

  • Start with your feet together.
  • Jump wide to the right with your right foot, letting your left foot follow. Extend your arms to the left as you jump.
  • From where you landed, jump wide with your left foot, letting your right foot follow. Extend your arms to the right as you jump.

Try to do these for one minute per set. Aim for three sets in total.

Slide boards are a lot of fun, and most gyms have them. You can even build one yourself! Once you’re all set up, this is going to look a lot like the ice skater move you did earlier:

  • Start with your feet together on the left side of the slide board.
  • Slide your right foot out to the side, and push your body out to the right using your left foot and leg.
  • Slide all the way across the slide board, leading with your right foot. Try to keep your upper body still.
  • When you get to the right side of the slide board, repeat with your left foot.

This exercise, like the ice skaters you did earlier, combines cardio with strength. Try to do it for one minute per set. Aim for three sets in total.

This one might seem similar to the transverse lunge, but you’re focusing on a slightly different set of muscles:

  • Start with your feet together, facing away from a wall.
  • With your buttocks aimed slightly toward the wall, step your right leg wide to the side. Make sure that your knee doesn’t track past your ankle as you step.
  • Return to the center.
  • Repeat with your left leg.

Try to do three sets of 15 repetitions on each side. You can make this more difficult by not putting your foot down between reps.

If you have a step up bench, great! If not, you can do this on your stairs or another raised platform. The higher you step, the tougher the exercise:

  • Start with both feet on the platform.
  • Step your left foot down to the ground and into a squat, while leaving your right foot on the bench.
  • Push back up to your starting point.
  • Repeat with your other leg.

Try to do three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions on each side. You can hold hand weights or a kettlebell in your hands for some extra weight, but this exercise is effective without it too!

All those lunges will leave you feeling tired, but strong. Make sure not to overexert yourself. A leg injury can sideline you for quite some time. To lower your risk of injury, avoid strength training the same muscle group two days in a row, combine strength training with cardio exercises and stretching, and build in at least one rest day every week. A balanced diet is also important for good fitness and overall health.