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Leg-Slimming Exercises

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Hourglass waistline, lean and muscular body, slim legs, you’re strolling along the beach in a beautiful outfit, and all the eyes are fixed on you…well, no, it’s just another day of dreaming. Every time you think about slimming, something urgent pops up, and you keep postponing your dreams, finding reasonable excuses, of course. The truth is – there are no excuses for putting off your goals. Only a teeny-tiny number of people are blessed with a slender body and the ability to eat everything they want; they have slim legs without exercise – and if you are not there, then accept this injustice and get down to work. Our team will provide you with all the necessary advice to follow on your way to success. Toned-up legs and thighs will never become a subject of envy; pluck up your courage, and let’s go straight ahead together.

Tips And Tricks On How To Lose Leg Fat And Tone Down Thighs

Any type of slimming and workout requires knowledge about the basics and planning. Before you start your physical activities, you’re recommended to have a medical check to avoid possible problems.

It’s common knowledge that belly fat can cause heart problems; however, thighs and leg fat are often taken out of consideration as not being harmful. Where’s the truth? An analysis of seven weight-loss studies, including 399 people (primarily women), challenges this claim.[1] Carrying extra fat in your thighs puts your heart at risk. Losing fat in the thighs, hips, and buttocks tends to lower risk factors for heart disease. For lowering cholesterol, losing leg fat was just as important as losing abdominal fat.

So, where do we start? What is the first step forward?

1. Reduce Your Calorie Intake

Be sure to check your daily menu. During one week, you should write everything you eat or drink and count your calorie consumption. The numbers might surprise you. Light snacks can make excess calories; the more you eat them, the more they get stored.

An ideal daily intake of calories depends on age, metabolism, and levels of physical activity, among other things. Generally, the recommended is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men [2]. If you drink 1 bottle of a fizzy drink and eat a 100 gr pack of french fries, you’ll cover 1/3 of your limit. And surely, there’s more to come.

Leg slimming exercise will not work if you don’t lower the calorie intake to make a calorie deficit – to burn more than you consume. That’s when the changes start.

2. Do More Cardio Exercises

Cardio exercises, also known as aerobic exercise, endurance activities, or cardio-respiratory exercise, are a type of workout that depends primarily on aerobic energy, the one that relates to oxygen. Aerobic exercise means repeating sequences of light-to-moderate intensity activities for extended periods of time. Cardiovascular or aerobic exercises include running, jogging, stair climbing, cycling, swimming, and walking.

3. Start Strength Training

Strength training is essential to any fitness program [3] and slim thigh workouts. It helps to speed up weight loss, increase lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently.

Lean muscle mass decreases with age, and your body fat percentage will increase over time. Strength training can help you preserve and improve your muscle mass at any age.

Its perks are limitless:

  • Develops bone density – by putting stress on your bones, strength training can make them stiffer and more robust.
  • Manages your weight – it helps to increase your metabolism; hence burning more calories and weight loss will seem less of a problem.
  • Betters quality of life – strength training protects your joints from injury and improves balance. This can help you keep independence as you age.
  • Manages chronic disease – arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression, and diabetes – this endless list can be shortened if you dedicate some time to physical activities.
  • Sharpens your cognitive skills – an ideal side effect of slimming exercises. Research has proven that people who are involved in physical activities have fewer complaints about their memory or thinking skills [4]

4. Fix Your Diet

You are what you eat. That is a simple truth of life. Check what you have on your plate:

  1. Include a variety of protein foods, seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, nuts, and seeds. 
  2. Lower the intake of added sugar. Check the ingredients for everything you buy. You may be consuming tonnes of sugar without being aware of it. It will undoubtedly be challenging to cut down on sugar, so don’t get too hard on yourself; at least start with drinks and pastry. 
  3. Saturated fats and trans fats – are a source of high cholesterol, fat storage, heart problems, diabetes, etc. 
  4. Vegetables are irreplaceable in terms of vitamins and nutrients. Make your dishes brighter and healthier, adding greeneries. 
  5. Want a piece of cake? Eat some fruits – you’ll have some glucose along with vitamins, not just the sugar+fat option.

The Best Leg-Slimming Exercises

1. Squats

Squats engage different types of muscle groups and have other variations. The first one to learn is a traditional squat. Most of us know how to do the squats from the P.E. lessons, but typically it’s not correct. Not just sitting down and standing up – it’s a straightforward way to knee problems.

The procedure:

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointing forward. Keep knees in line with heels, not out in front of toes.
  2. Lower your butt down towards the ground. Be sure to keep your knees behind your toes.
  3. Lower yourself down by bending your knees and hips until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Don’t drop buttocks lower than knees and keep knees in line with heels.
  4. Return to the starting position by pushing through your heels (not off the balls of the feet) and extending your hips and knees. Exercising this way, you will feel the muscles in the back of your legs and buttocks.

!!! When you do squats, initiate the movement from the hip, not the knee, to avoid knee injuries.

2. Wide stance squat or sumo squat

The wide stance squat is a variation of the traditional squat, but you stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart. The procedure is the same as for a basic squat.

3. Plie Squats

One of the best lean leg exercises. It is similar to a basic squat but with a much broader position of the legs and toes, giving more work to your thighs; thus, it makes an ideal thin thighs workout.

The procedure:

  1. Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder distance apart and toes turned out at a 45-degree angle.
  2. Bend knees and lower your torso, keeping your back straight and abs tight.
  3. Squeeze your glutes, hold this position for 30 seconds, and return to standing.

If you want to amp up your workout, feel free to add weights – hold a dumbbell – to increase the intensity of the plié squats and work the upper body for additional muscle gain.

4. Fire Hydrants

Another beneficial and effective slim leg workout.

The procedure:

  1. Stand on your hands and knees, with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees parallel to your hips.
  2. It’s essential to tighten your abdominals and flatten your back.
  3. Lift your left knee off the floor and out to the side so it levels with your level hip.
  4. Return to the starting position.

Repeat 10-20 times, then switch sides. You may not be able to lift your knee to hip level at the beginning, but it’s okay for beginners. Flexibility requires time and practice.

5. Lunges

Lunges – a great physical activity and leg-slimming workout. It tones up the hamstrings and quads if done correctly.

The procedure:

  1. Stand straight with hands-on-hips (for balance) or along the body.
  2. Place your right foot at the front.
  3. Bend the right leg at the knee to create a 90 degrees angle. Don’t extend the right knee beyond the ankle to prevent injury.
  4. Press your body weight down into your heels and inhale. You should bend your rear leg at the knee and balance on the toes.
  5. Exhale and step back to the starting position.
  6. Repeat the steps several times before switching the legs.

6. Side Lunges

An irreplaceable leg slimming workout, it works your quads and glutes, resulting in toned legs and lower body.

 

The procedure:

  1. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart; toes pointed straight forward.
  2. Step out with your right foot as wide as possible. 
  3. Drop your hips down and back while keeping the left leg straight, stretching the groin on the left leg, and keeping both feet on the ground and toes pointed straight forward. 
  4. Your right knee is tracking over your right foot the whole motion. Push your right heel into the floor to push yourself back to the full standing start position. That’s one rep.

7. Side Lunge With Crossover Tap

Side lunge to crossover tap is a total body exercise that targets the inner thighs, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. It improves balance, stability, and control by engaging each leg one at a time.

The procedure:

  1. Stand tall with your hands on your hips.
  2. Exhale and take a large step to the side. Descend hips down and bend the left knee as the trail leg remains straight. 
  3. At your lowest point, reach down and touch your fingertips to the floor. 
  4. Push through the heel of the left leg and drive your hips to the ceiling. Instead of returning to the start position, extend your hands overhead, swoop your lead leg across your standing leg, and tap the floor. 
  5. Step out into the lunge position to initiate another repetition.

8. Inner Thigh Pulses

This is a simple pilates-based exercise. It’s ideal for anyone with knee, calves, or foot injuries.

The procedure:

  1. Start your motion by guiding the heel of your free leg slightly across your stabilizing leg (like kicking a ball with your heel).
  2. Swing it as far as you can to feel the contraction in your inner thigh.
  3. Keep it in that general area and proceed to take it back and forth in a small concentrated motion.
  4. Aim for a desired amount of time or a specific count.
  5. Return the free leg to the ground, taking a small break, and continuing to the opposite leg.

9. Leg Raises

Despite looking easy, it’s actually is a major slim thigh workout if you’re doing it right.

The procedure:

  1. Lie on your right side with your right forearm propped. Rest your left hand on your left hip.
  2. Squeezing your thigh muscles and keeping your hips square, lift your left leg as high as you can (if you’re a beginner, then raise your legs a few inches off the floor, and after you master it, higher) and then slowly lower it back down.

To add resistance, put a resistance band around your thighs, just above your knees.

10. Kneeling Roundhouse Kick

Slim thighs workouts must always include kneeling kicks, as they target the glute and the outer hip area. 

The procedure:

1. Get down on your hands and knees, with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees hip-width apart.

2. Keeping the knees bent, raise your left leg up and out to the side until it’s level with your hip.

3. Straighten the knee and kick your foot out to the side.

4. Return to the starting position, repeat, and switch legs.

11. Lateral Band Walk

The lateral band walk is among the best leg slimming exercises to work your glutes, hips, and thighs. 

The procedure:

  1. Place the mini-band around your legs just above your knees.
  2. Place your feet shoulder-width apart.
  3. Bend your knees slightly, and drop down into an athletic stance in a half-squat position.
  4. Distribute your weight throughout both of your feet.
  5. Maintaining the half-squat position, take a step sideways with one foot. Follow with the other foot.
  6. Take the desired amount of steps and alternate the sides.

The Best Leg-Slimming Exercises While Sitting

1. Leg Extensions With Resistance Bands

Leg extensions with resistance bands are among the best exercises for lean legs.

The procedure:

  1. Wrap the band around one of your feet to keep the band from sliding
  2. Step on the band with the other foot.
  3. Grab the working leg with both hands under your knee
  4. Extend your leg until reaching full extension
  5. Return slowly to the starting position (resist the pull of the band)
  6. Alternate the legs.

2.  Reverse Chair Crunch

Yet another slim legs exercise to tone up your lower body and legs.

The procedure:

  1. Put your back against the back pad of the chair and your forearms on the arm pads; hold the handles. 
  2. Your legs should hang straight toward the floor. 
  3. Press your legs together. Look forward and pull your shoulders back and down. 
  4. Bend your knees and raise them toward your chest.
  5.  Straighten your legs again to finish a hanging reverse crunch without moving your upper body.

The Bottom Line

If you have a habit of passively dreaming about slimmer legs, it is time to turn it into active leg slimming exercises and workouts.

Legs slimming exercises are beneficial for the whole body. Their diversity will prevent you from boredom. Make a workout schedule and stick to it no matter what – your slim thigh outline will definitely benefit from such an approach. If you exercise 3 times a week, you will see the results in less than 5 weeks. When you are a beginner, choose a low speed first to give your body enough time to adjust.

Slimming your legs and thighs with the diet option is also a part of the deal. Get rid of extras, greasy snacks, and sugary drinks. Several crisps eaten in 30 seconds require at least 10 minutes of a workout. Is their taste really worth it?

Your main obstacle looks at you in the mirror; fight it with your dedication and hard work.

FAQ

🏃How can I get skinny legs fast❓

🏃Full-body muscle-strengthening classes at least two days a week can help you burn calories, reduce body fat, and strengthen your hips. Include lower body exercises such as lunges, wall squats, inner and outer thigh raises, and bodyweight only stair climbs.

🏃Can walking slim your legs❓

🏃Yes, walking exercises the anterior and posterior thigh muscles. This is the perfect exercise for slimming legs. Walking will gradually strengthen your thighs and buttocks.

🏃Can running slim your legs❓

🏃Running is one of the best exercises to reduce body fat and reduce leg muscle size. As a result, the legs and hips become smaller and leaner.

Sources:

  1. Slimming the thighs — as well as the belly — is good for the heart.

  2. What should my daily intake of calories be?
  3. Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier
  4. Boost your thinking skills with exercise

Annette Nelson

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