5 of the best inner thigh exercises

• The appearance of your inner thighs and whether you have a thigh gap is largely down to genetics
• However, building strong inner thigh muscles can give them a leaner appearance.
• The best inner thigh exercises include sumo squats, lunges and glute bridges

Strong inner thighs stabilize your hips, knees, lower back and core, making them essential for walking, jumping and other daily activities.

That’s why it’s important to do inner thigh exercises that target all five muscles in the area:

Plus, strong inner thighs can help you achieve more toned, leaner legs. However, the appearance of your thighs and whether or not you have a “thigh gap” is largely down to genetics.

And while the exercises listed in this article will help you build stronger thighs, they won’t help you lose inner thigh fat. This is because you cannot focus on losing weight in one area. Instead, you should focus on losing weight overall.

With that, here are some inner thigh exercises recommended by Lauren Seib, personal trainer with her own private practice. Do three or four rounds of 10 to 12 repetitions, twice a week.

1. Sumo squat

Equipment used: 5 kg dumbbells (optional)

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet wider than your shoulders.
2. Rotate your toes slightly outward so that your knees point toward your second toe.
3. If you are not using weights, hold your hands in front of your chest. If you use weights, hold them on your inner thighs.
4. Inhale as you lower until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep a neutral spine and chest lifted. Move your back a little, as if you were sitting in a seat.
5. Get back up.

Muscles Targeted: adductors, glutes, hamstrings, core

2. Side projectiles

Equipment used: 5 kg dumbbells (optional)

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Keeping your core engaged, take a long step to your left side.
3. Bend deeply at the left knee, framing your shin with the weights while keeping your right leg long and chest lifted.
4. Push up and return to the starting position.
5. Repeat on the other side.

Muscles Targeted: adductors, abductors (outer thighs), gluteals

3. Lateral inner thigh raises

How to do it:

1. Lie on your right side, holding your head with your right hand.
2. Bend your left leg and plant the foot in front of your right thigh.
3. Hold your left ankle with your left hand.
4. Keeping your core engaged, especially your obliques, raise and lower your right leg about three to five inches.
5. Repeat on the other side.

Muscles Targeted: adductors, core

4. Buttock bridge with support compression

Equipment used: playground ball, pillow or rolled towel

How to do it:

1. Lie on the floor, face down.
2. Bend your knees, planting your feet on the floor.
3. Place the support between your thighs.
4. Exhale as you lift your hips, engaging your glutes and hamstrings.
5. Firmly press the support to hit the inside of your thighs.
6. Hold for about two seconds.
7. Lower the back down.

Muscles Targeted: adductors, glutes, hamstrings, core

5. Cross winged kicks

How to do it:

1. Lie on your back.
2. Raise your legs to a 45-degree angle while keeping your waist and palms connected to the mat.
3. With pointed toes, cross your ankles a few inches in each direction.

Muscles Targeted: adductors, core

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When strengthening your thighs, you won’t see results overnight, so be patient, says Seib. “These muscles are really necessary to support you and, in many ways, better engage your core to move through life, rather than for a vanity reason,” says Seib.