Tight inner thighs: the best exercises!

We tell you why you should train your inner thigh! What are the benefits of adductor training? Here are the best exercises for the thigh muscles and good reasons why!

Those who work out diligently do so for one reason: the results of the workout.

This is also the reason why most workouts focus on large muscle groups. Those where you can also see a result quite quickly.

A typical example is the biceps. You can watch them grow during the workout. The butt is also often on the to-do list.

However, you should also pay a little more attention to your legs. Because you don't get slim and defined legs by yourself.

If you want to strengthen your inner thighs (also called adductors) and want to know how best to go about it, then you've come to the right place. We show you why inner thigh training is so important and which leg exercises for the thighs also work without equipment.

Here comes the mega inner thigh workout without equipment for the living room!

How fast can I lose weight on the thighs?

With a targeted mix of endurance training and weight training, you can train the muscles on your thighs and inner thighs. This way you build muscle and lose body fat. To get your fat burning going, you should do endurance sports 2x per week and 2-3x strength exercises.

How long it takes depends a lot on your starting position. How athletic are you? And how often do you train? Are you a sports beginner? And how much body fat has accumulated on the inside of your thighs? Your age also plays a big role. Because the older we get, the more easily we build up body fat.

In the typical workday, your legs hardly get a workout. The opposite is true. When you sit in the office for hours, your legs are on vacation. They take it easy and are not stressed.

This causes your leg muscles to atrophy. And legs are rarely the focus of our workouts either. Even less often do we challenge the inner thighs.

The result: flabby inner thighs! This is where stubborn fat deposits tend to accumulate.

Many women cite their legs as a major problem zone. But that really doesn't have to be the case. Especially the inner thighs can be trained well.

Either with bodyweight-only exercises or whoever wants to, can use a Pilates ring, and make training even more effective.

By the way, if you want to lose weight on the thigh, you must also a few important Nutrition tips note and adapt his training to this goal. This means drinking plenty of water, lots of vegetables, whole grains and protein, and at the same time little sugar and white flour.

Wow! So easy you can lose weight on the thigh!

Important: Stay consistent!

What you need to know: Doing exercises exclusively for the thighs will not get you there. You can only lose body fat if you approach it holistically.

Or in other words: The kilos on the inner thighs fall when you have less body fat in total.

It's important that you establish a solid habit and don't skip your workouts. Even if you have sore muscles or no time for a workout, you should exercise and even if it's just a short walk on stressful days - anything is better than sitting on the sofa.

That way, it's easier for you to stick with it and keep working on the routine.

I myself like to work out at home. The Gymondo fitness platform is great for that. You sign up once and can then choose from 60 programs and 570 workouts. All you need is a workout mat and a little space in your living room.

You can do abs, legs, butt one day and legs and arms the next. Just put together whatever you feel like doing. With less than 8 euros per month and unlimited access to the workouts, the investment will soon pay off.

Here you can find more info about Gymondo!

Why do I need to train the inner thigh?

The muscles on the inner thigh have many important tasks that we are not even aware of. Put in a regular workout for the inner thighs to benefit from balanced and functional body strength:

• Stability and balance: You have more stabilityWhen you have trained muscle strands on the inside of your legs. Whether running, simple walking or movements with more leg load, such as a squat jump or burpee.
• StabilityIf you focus on adductor training, you will give your legs and pelvis more stability with every step. The Inner thigh muscles namely ensures that the thigh pulled to the hull will.
• Prevent knee pain: A trained inner thigh also has a very positive effect on the knees. The adductors keep them in a healthy position and stabilize them. Those who Inner thigh training neglects and strengthens exclusively other muscle groups, can Muscle fiber tears risk and is more susceptible to knee injuries.
• Improvement of athletic performanceFor many sports you need good thigh strength. Anything that involves jumping, sprinting, hopping and requires high leg strength.
• Aesthetics: Training the thigh muscles can lead to defined legs.

A regular workout can strengthen the inner thigh muscles, stabilize the legs and hips, and guarantee more steadiness.

In addition to training the inner thighs, we recommend that you regularly stretch the legs.

How can I recognize untrained inner thigh muscles?

With biceps, you can see it right away. You can also see abdominal muscles at first glance. The muscles of the inner thigh are well hidden. But there is a simple test you can use to see if you need to strengthen your adductors or if the inner thighs are already well trained.

How to tell if your adductors are trained

• Lie on your back.
• Clamp a light medicine ball between your feet.
• Lift it off the floor using only your feet.
• Hold the position for a few seconds.

If you find this simple inner thigh exercise very difficult or can't lift the ball at all, you know you need to train the inner thigh.

If you can lift and hold even a 2 kg ball without problems, then you already have very well trained inner thigh muscles.

Join the 30 Days Leg Challenge!

If you want, you can get some additional exercises here in this video and combine them with our absolute favorites.

Do this workout and grab 3-4 additional exercises from our collection. Through the combination and always new exercise stimuli you bring your legs quickly in shape.

Inner thigh workout without equipment - the best exercises!

Repeat each leg exercise 10 to 20 times per round. Do a total of 3 repetitions per exercise. With these exercises beginners and advanced can strengthen the inner thighs and thus increase the stability of the legs.

Before the workout you start with Warm-up exercises. After the adductors workout you do a few more loose Stretching exercises for the thighs. This prevents injuries and muscle soreness!

Here are our top 13 exercises that work your inner thighs:

Tighten legs

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: Training mat

This exercise is especially effective when you let body tension work. Tighten the abdomen and thighs tightly.

• Lie sideways on the exercise mat.
• Place your arms and head in the way that is most comfortable for you.
• Firmly stretch the lower leg.
• Tighten the abdomen.
• Lift the upper leg into the air and bend it at the same time.
• Slowly pull the knee towards you as far as possible in a controlled manner.
• Stretch the leg again, put it down and start again.

Straddle

• Difficulty: Easy
• Equipment: none necessary

This is probably the simplest exercise to be able to train the inner thigh.

But be careful: don't overdo it and make sure you stand on a non-slip surface. The more you do this exercise, the deeper your straddle will become.

• Stand up straight.
• Place the hands on the hips.
• Spread the legs as far as possible.
• Hold the position and after a few seconds straddle a little more.
• Make sure your upper body is upright.

Take this 30 day inner thigh challenge!

Lower leg tilt

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: none necessary

Strengthen your sense of balance with this thigh exercise at the same time. The same applies here: Tense your body. Especially the torso!

• In this leg exercise you stand upright.
• Stretch your arms out to the side - this helps with balance.
• Lift one leg up at an angle. The knee is at the level of your hip.
• Tilt the lower leg in front of your body like a pendulum.
• The thigh always remains in the same position.

Leg lift in stages

• Difficulty: difficult
• Equipment: Training mat

Fancy a bit of an ab workout? This thigh exercise strengthens your torso as well as your legs.

• Sit down on the exercise mat.
• Stretch the legs straight forward.
• Lean the upper body back a little.
• Now lift your right leg over your left - in stages.
• Every 2 seconds you take a short break.
• Do not put the leg down. Min. 5 repetitions before you change sides.

9 lunge variations for more variety

Draw an S in the air while sitting

• Difficulty: difficult
• Equipment: Training mat

Balance, abdominals and thighs are trained with this simple-looking exercise. But it is anything but easy. Especially if your abdominal muscles are poorly trained.

It is classified as difficult because you will be using your abdominal muscles quite a bit.

You can either have your arms in the air at the side of your body or place them on the mat. The version with the mat is easier for beginners.

Putting your arms in the air is great for balance training.

• Sit up straight and stretch your arms out to the side (this will help you keep your balance).
• Lift your left leg and draw a big S in the air.
• Start at the top and write the S to the bottom and then continue from the bottom to the top again.
• The bigger the S, the better it is.
• Do not put the leg down.

Draw an S in the air while standing

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: none necessary

Want a little more balance? Then try exercises that you perform with one leg.

• Stand up straight. Bend your knees very slightly with your supporting leg.
• Raise your right leg. The knee is at the level of your hip in the starting position. This is now also half of your S at the same time.
• Draw an S in the air with your knee. The bigger it is, the better. The main thing is the movement of the leg away from you.
• Raise and lower the leg as far as possible.

Small knee pulls

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: none necessary

Don't forget to tense your stomach. This will also help you keep your balance better.

• We begin in an upright standing position. Bend your knees slightly with your supporting leg.
• Make small quick moves with the knee towards the upper body.
• Almost put down leg and pull it back to the chest with momentum.
• The upper body always remains in the same position.

That's what bodyweight training really does!

Side lunge

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: none necessary

Side Lunges are a wonderful exercise for the butt, legs and especially the inner thighs.

The wider the straddle, the more the adductors are used. However, make sure that the tips of the toes point forward and that the knee does not slide over the toes.

• Stand in a wide straddle.
• Lean the upper body to the right side.
• Walk with the buttocks towards the floor.
• The left leg is fully extended.
• The right leg forms a 90° angle.
• Squat as low as possible.
• Hold the position for 3 seconds and feel the inner thighs pull.
• Then lean to the left. 1x right and 1x left = 1 execution.

Sumo Squat

• Difficulty: difficult
• Equipment: none necessary

• Stand upright and open your legs wide.
• The tips of the toes point forward.
• Lower the buttocks and tilt the upper body forward a little.
• The knees point in the same direction as the tops of the feet.
• Do a deep knee bend and come back to the starting position.

Raise and lower leg

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: Training mat

Many adductor exercises strengthen your thighs indirectly. This one is a good example.

You'll also improve core strength. Make sure that you do not form a hunchback. To avoid this, you need to tighten the abdomen.

• Sit down on the exercise mat.
• Lean the upper body slightly backwards.
• Stretch the legs forward and lift the left leg off the floor as far as possible.
• Raise it quickly and lower it slowly and in a controlled manner.
• Hold the position briefly and then lower it again without setting it down.

Spread legs while sitting

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: Training mat

Inner thigh workout deluxe is this exercise. As with all seated exercises, the abdominal muscles are also particularly challenged here.

But that has something good: abdominal training is simply on top. Without you having to look for special abdominal exercises :)

• Start in an upright sitting position.
• The legs are stretched forward.
• Lean back a little.
• The right leg now moves to the right.
• Open the legs as wide as you can. It is important that the leg does not bend, but remains firmly stretched.
• Do the exercise 10 times with the right leg first and then switch to the other side.

44 Abdominal Legs Butt Exercises You'll Love!

Butterfly

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: Training mat

So simple and yet so mega effective. The butterfly comes from yoga, where it is also called Bhadrasana. It opens the hips and makes you more flexible.

If your muscles are very shortened, you will have a really hard time with it. But if you keep at it, you can notice progress with this thigh exercise especially quickly.

Place the thighs only as far as possible on the mat. Cramping pressure or even strong assistance with your hands should be avoided at all costs!

• Sit upright on the floor
• The back is stretched
• Now let the legs tilt to the side
• Put the soles of your feet together
• Lower the legs as far as possible

The wiper

• Difficulty: medium
• Equipment: none necessary

• Lie down to a wall so that the buttocks touch the wall.
• Stretch both legs through and up. The toes point towards you.
• Now, like a windshield wiper, start moving your right leg along the wall.
• Open your legs as wide as they still feel comfortable.
• The left leg remains straight.
• Do the exercise with the right leg first and only then switch to the left.

The best thigh stretching exercises!

Training plan: Inner thigh

Our training plan is divided into three rounds. One run always consists of all the exercises presented.

Important: Especially as a beginner you don't have to do all exercises in one workout. Rather choose 3 to 4 and switch to other exercises from the list for the next workout.

This workout plan is designed for those who already have some basic fitness.

The following applies to both beginners and advanced users: Make sure you warm up before training. Jumping jacks can help you here, or you can ride slowly on the exercise bike for 10 minutes. Running on the stand can also be a good warm up.

Passage:

• Tighten legs: 12 repetitions per side, then change sides
• Straddle: hold 30 seconds
• Lower leg tilt: 12 repetitions per side, then change sides
• Leg lift in stages: 12 repetitions per side, then change sides
• Pause: 30 seconds
• Pulling an S while sitting: 10 repetitions per side
• Pulling an S while standing: 12 repetitions per side
• Small knee pulls: 12 repetitions per side
• Side lunge: 12 repetitions per side
• Pause: 30 seconds
• Sumo Squat: 12 repetitions
• Leg raise and lower: 12 repetitions per side
• Spread legs in sitting position: 12 repetitions per side
• Butterfly: 12 repetitions with each repetition held for 15 seconds in the strongest stretch.
• Wiper: 12 repetitions per side
• One minute break

And now you repeat this passage a second and third time.

How often do I need to exercise the inner thigh?

It all depends on how strong your adductors already are. However, since we hardly need these muscles at all in everyday life, they are very atrophied in most people. Someone who doesn't work out at all will quickly reach their limits with many exercises. However, those who regularly do a workout have the problem that the inner thighs are not taken into account.

So actually, pretty much everyone needs to do an inner thigh workout. We advise you as a beginner to start with 2 units per week and after a month slowly approach a third unit. Just 15 minutes per workout is enough in the beginning.

If you already exercise regularly, you can choose three to four exercises and integrate them into your training. Normally you will notice the first results after 2 weeks. Visually not yet, but you will already perform better in the medicine ball test.

How is the inner thigh musculature structured?

The inner side of the thighs consists of a group of muscles called the adductors. They are responsible for the movement of the thigh towards the center of the body and consist of several muscle strands. The best known are:

• Adductor Longus: Its main function is to help us pull the leg towards the center of the body.
• Adductor Magnus: It is involved in movements such as tensing the leg and extending the hip.
• Gracilis: It helps to move the leg towards the center of the body and supports knee as well as hip extension.
• Adductor Brevis: Its main function is to help us pull the leg away from the body towards the center of the body.

These muscles and a few others work together to create movements like pulling the legs toward the center of the body. They help to sit, move the legs, and we couldn't walk without them. To do this, most of the muscles originate from the pubic bone and then attach to the femur.

Why does inner thigh exercise help with weight loss?

Exercising the inner thighs has another benefit besides stability. You can lose weight on your thighs with the exercises. It is a big challenge to slim down the inner thighs, but it is possible.

The biggest problem with losing weight on the inner thighs is brought to us by Mother Nature. Due to genetics, we women in particular are well endowed with fat pads in this region.

However, if you train the inner side of your legs, you can never completely separate that from other muscle groups. This means that with each of the exercises presented, you also strengthen other muscles - especially in the legs. Since these are among the largest muscle groups in the human body, you'll benefit across the board.

Our conclusion

Many forget to train the inner thigh. But these simple adductor exercises are very important for the stability of our legs. If you regularly train the inner side of the thighs, you will soon find it easier to do balance exercises.

However, you can only lose weight at this point if you also change your diet and do regular endurance sports. Good luck and have fun with your training!

To browse further:

• Train the back of the thigh - Start now!
• Adductors workout: 17 effective exercises for toned inner thighs
• Mega effective: squat with kettlebell

* Advertising & affiliate links: Our website is financed by advertising and affiliate links. As a partner of linked stores (e.g. Amazon) we earn from qualified sales.
Read more