Are you tired of stubborn thigh fat that just won’t go away, no matter what? Many struggle with losing thigh fat, but with the right exercises you can get more toned legs fast.
It’ll be so nice to easily slide into your favorite pair of jeans without worrying about them fitting around your thighs. Picture yourself proudly wearing shorts or a dress knowing that all you had to do was follow the exercises here.
But most people go about trying to lose thigh fat all wrong, ending up looking worse than before. If you ever felt self-conscious about wearing shorts, skirts, or a swimsuit, then you know how frustrating it is to have and try to get rid of this thigh fat.
The key to losing thigh fat lies in using these targeted exercises that maximize the toning of the leg muscles while also boosting fat loss. Let’s get started and I’ll guide you through the most effective exercises to lose thigh fat.
How to Lose Thigh Fat Fast With Exercise
You may have heard how spot reduction doesn’t work for losing thigh fat. And that’s largely true; just doing more squats every day will not cause much (if any) fat to go down on your thighs.1
This is because your body needs to lose excess weight and fat (particularly in the thigh area). While simple thigh exercises like squats will strengthen your thighs and build muscle, they won’t do much to lose fat in the area.
Simply losing weight is alson’t the answer. While you’ll need to lose some excess fat and weight to slim your thighs, many who lose weight end up with stubborn excess thigh fat. But then they also have loose skin and cellulite on their thighs.
Many women with pear-shaped bodies have a harder time with excess fat on their hips and thighs. This is because their genetics promote fat storage distribution to their lower trunk area.2 And many lose muscle with weight loss, which can cause the hip dips.
This study found women tend to lose body fat first in their upper body before the lower body.3 So even if you start to lose weight, you’ll most likely lose it first in less stubborn areas like your arms and upper body. Talk about frustrating!
But just because your genetics for a pear-shaped body, doesn’t mean all hope is lost. All you have to do is combine strength training exercises for your thighs that also elevate your heart rate. This way you tone up the leg muscles while also promoting fat burning.
The Exercises That Burn the Most Thigh Fat
The best thigh fat burning exercises combine:
- High-intensity exercise
- Targeted thigh exercises
The trick with working out and exercises for thigh fat is to elevate your heart rate and combine that with specific targeted exercises.4 This way, you’ll promote a higher amount of fat burning from the high-intensity exercise and toning from the targeted thigh exercises.
Increasing the intensity of the thigh specific exercises can increase blood flow, blood temperature, and hormone delivery. All of these help to promote fat burning in the area. Just doing heavy squats on the other hand, would be counterproductive because you’ll grow your thigh muscles which will make your thighs look bulkier.
You really need to combine the high-intensity fat burning exercise with the targeted thigh exercises. Losing fat throughout your entire body with cardio and full body strength training are an option. But you’ll get faster results combining high-intensity exercise and specific thigh exercises.
You’ll also need to put your body into an overall caloric deficit. So you need to burn more calories overall than you’re putting in your body. The simplest and most effective method is to stop eating as many calories. Then these exercises will further put your body into a higher caloric deficit too.
Why It Can Be So Hard Losing Thigh Fat
An example… most people first try using the leg press machine to lose their thigh fat. However, the machine is designed more to gain muscle and strength rather than slim their thighs.
To get results, you’ll need compound movements that work multiple muscle groups and joints. The more muscle groups and multi-joints the exercises are, the more metabolically demanding they’ll be. This means your body will burn more fat from doing them.
The more you use your total body, the better the exercise will be. These types of exercises work deeper and more overall muscles than just using a machine. Don’t worry about using these exercises and gaining big, bulky thigh muscles.
Doing the exercises below will help to give you smaller and slimmer thighs without the big muscles. Unless you’re lifting heavy weights and eating a lot then you shouldn’t worry about gaining bulky amounts of muscle mass on your thighs.
Top 10 Exercises to Lose Thigh Fat
These thigh focused exercises implement multiple muscle groups while still putting the majority of the tension on the thighs. This helps to get your heart rate cranking while still placing emphasis on the thighs.
To lose thigh fat with exercise, you’ll need to crank up the intensity. Many of these thigh exercises will elevate your heart rate to encourage more fat burning in the area.
High-intensity interval training combined with these leg exercises will be effective for getting results. For example, you could also combine a few of these exercises in a circuit workout style with stair sprints or jump rope.
Try adding cardio exercises during the workout or at least after doing these exercises. Something like a stairclimber machine will be effective.
1-Legged Hip Bridges
- Lay on your back with your palms out to your side, your knees bent, and your toes pointing up towards the ceiling.
- Leg lift your foot in the air while keeping your heel firmly on the ground.
- Slowly begin to lift your hip off the ground by pushing your heel through the floor.
- When your hips reach the highest position pause for a second before slowly lowering your hips back down towards the ground. Be sure to repeat on the other side.
Bulgarian Lunges
- Grab a step or you can use the stairs and then place it behind you.
- Take a big step back with your left leg until it rests on top of that step.
- Slowly begin to lower the knee of your left leg towards the ground while bending the knee that’s also in front.
- Stop before the knee of your left leg hits the ground, with a slight pause at the bottom before returning to the starting position. Be sure to keep a slow tempo throughout this movement and switch to the right leg.
Side Lunges
- Hold a pair of dumbbells at your side in the standing position.
- Take a big step out to your side and lower your hips towards the floor by bending your outer knee.
- Keep your other leg straight as you begin to lower your hips down towards the floor.
- Then, stand back up and move back to your starting position before repeating onto the other side.
Skater Plyos
- Get in the standing position and then jump out to your side.
- Land on your outside foot and allow your other leg to sweep behind your planted foot.
- Then, use your moving leg to jump back in the other direction as you repeat on the other side.
- Keep jumping side to side in this movement throughout the exercise.
Smurf Jacks
- Get in the standing position with your feet hip-to-shoulder width apart, then bend your knees until you’re in the squat position.
- Then, just like a jumping Jack, move your legs out to the side and your arms to the top at the same time.
- Be sure to keep your chest up and your hips low throughout this movement, and try not to bend forward too much.
- If your knees hurt while doing this exercise, then it’s wise to skip it.
Squats
- Hold one heavy dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest in the standing position ( or you can even hold to dumbbells together).
- Keep your abs tight and stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your chest sticking out.
- Slowly begin to lower your hips down towards the ground and imagine you’re taking a seat on a chair that’s behind you.
- Try to lower your knees to a 90-degree angle, but do not let your knees go much over your toes for this movement.
- Try to get your thighs at least down to parallel to the floor in the squat position before slowly returning to the starting position.
Step-Up Hops
- Find a step that’s about knee height or you can also use a sturdy chair for this exercise.
- Place your foot on top of the steps and the other one left on the ground.
- Use the leg that is on top of the step to push yourself up into the air.
- While you’re in the air, switch legs so that your bottom foot comes down onto the step while your top foot comes down towards the ground. Keep repeating throughout the movement.
Step-Ups
- Find a step that’s about knee height, or you can use a sturdy chair for this exercise.
- Hold up her dumbbells at your side, or you can also hold them together at your chest.
- Place 1 foot on top of the step with the other one resting on the bottom.
- Use your top leg to lift yourself up so you’re now standing on top of the step.
- After a slight pause at the top, slowly begin to lower your legs until both are on the bottom. Then switch and use your other foot to step up onto the step.
Sumo Squats
- Take a wide stance with your toes pointing slightly outwards. To make this exercise harder, hold a pair of dumbbells between your legs.
- Keep your chest up as you slowly begin to lower your hips down towards the ground by imagining there’s a chair behind you that you’re going to sit on.
- Once your thighs reach the parallel position to the floor, you can slowly return to the starting position after a slight pause at the bottom.
Wall Squats
- For this exercise all you have to do is have you back up against the wall and slide down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Ensure your feet are far enough out in front of you that your heels are underneath your knees. Hold this position.
Lose Thigh Fat Fast (Is 2 Weeks Possible?)
To lose weight on your thighs, you’ll also have to focus on putting your body into a caloric deficit. This is needed for overall body fat loss. Otherwise, it’ll be impossible to really slim down the thighs.
Depending on your weight loss goals, you’ll want to improve your eating habits. Calorie counting is effective but I know it can be tedious to constantly track how many calories you’re consuming.
Intermittent fasting is a simple and proven method for fat loss. One study found that it instantly led to a daily 550-calorie reduction.5 Then, just limit the meals you’re allowed to have (no more than 3).
I’ve found the best results combine intermittent fasting and a low-carb diet.6 The low carbs will keep your insulin levels down, which will promote fat burning. If your insulin is chronically high from eating too many sugars and carbs, then it’ll put your body into a fat-storing mode.
Have coffee or tea in the morning when fasting. It’ll boost your metabolism, curb hunger, and give you more energy. You can add C8-MCTs to your coffee or tea to jumpstart the ketogenic process.7 I prefer to use a keto coffee creamer as a replacement for regular creamer.
Fasting and eating low-carb is so effective because your body has to turn to your fat stores for energy. By adding C8-MCTs (the most effective form), you can trigger this “metabolic switch” faster, giving you better results.
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Summary
- The best exercises for losing weight and fat in your thighs combine high-intensity exercise and targeted specific thigh exercises. Elevating your heart rate and using more muscle groups in exercises will produce faster results.
- Genetics might predispose you to store more body fat in your hips and thighs, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Just doing spot reduction exercises like heavy squats can make your thighs bigger. And just losing weight can make your thighs turn flabby and have more cellulite.
- It’ll be nearly impossible to lose fat on your thighs if your body is in a calorie surplus. To get results, your body has to be losing more calories than it is taking in. The most effective methods of reducing calories are intermittent fasting and a low-carb diet.
- You can add slow-go cardio after these exercises, too. Focus on cardio exercises that also train your lower body, like the stairclimber, biking, and jogging. If you need help losing inner thigh fat, the same principles apply, just with more inner thigh-focused exercises.
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