6 Best Thigh Exercises for Women

Every woman wants to have toned and sculpted thighs, but doing squats isn't enough exercise for your quads.

The best way to achieve this look is through proper exercise routines, which means incorporating exercises that target your thighs in your weekly workout routine.

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Thigh Exercises for Women

Here are six of the best thigh exercises for women:

#1 Wall Sit

Here's how to do a wall-sit:

• Stand with your back against the wall, and bend your knees.
• Keep your feet flat on the floor, but do not cross them or raise them off the floor.
• Push your hips back as far as they go, and lower yourself till you feel a stretch in your thighs and hamstrings (if you can't reach the floor with both legs, simply place one foot down).
• Hold this position for 30 seconds before returning to standing upright again.
• Repeat three times for the best results.

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#2 Squat

When it comes to getting a toned and shapely pair of legs, squats can help you achieve your goals faster than any other exercise. They work the lower body and strengthen the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and abductors (muscles on either side of your hips).

A proper squat is done with feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, and toes pointed straight ahead or slightly outward. Lower yourself down till your thighs are parallel to the floor (or as close as you can get them). Stand back up again. You should feel it in your thigh muscles and not just in your knees.

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#3 Lunge

Lunges are one of the best exercises for your thighs and butt. The lower body engages during a lunge, which makes it a great full body exercise, helping strengthen and tone your muscles.

To do a basic lunge:

• Start with feet together, hands on your hips.
• Take a step forward with one foot, and lower down till both knees are bent 90 degrees (or as much as they can be).
• Make sure to keep both feet pointing forward throughout the movement so that you don't twist or turn any joints in an unnatural position.

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#4 Sumo Squat

Sumo squats are a bodyweight exercise that works your thighs and glutes.

To do them:

• Stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart and toes turned out.
• Lower into a squat position, keeping your weight in the heels and not on the toes.
• Push through your heels to return to a standing position, and perform 12-15 reps.

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#5 Plie Squat

Plie squats are a great way to work your thighs and glutes. Plie squats are a type of squat.

Plie squats are done with your feet turned out, or “turned in” (i.e., toes pointed inward). In other words, if you’re facing the mirror and not able to see your heels, they’re pointed outwards. If you can see them in the mirror when you look down at them from head-on, they should be pointing inwards instead.

You can do plie squats using either dumbbells or barbells. The latter will provide more stability as you learn how to keep good form while lowering yourself under control back into the starting position after each rep.

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#6 Hamstring Curl

This exercise is a great way to target your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back muscles. Here's how it's done:

• Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Bend over at the waist while keeping your back flat; hold onto a barbell or dumbbells for support if you need it.
• Your knees should be slightly bent, and make sure they don't go past your toes as you bend over.
• Don't lean forward or arch your back; keep everything nice and tight throughout this stretch (you can even pull on the barbells for added resistance).
• You should feel it in your hamstrings on both legs as well as around your glutes and lower back muscles (the ones that run along either side of the spine).

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Takeaway

If you’re looking to strengthen your thighs, the aforementioned exercises are a great place to start. You can do them anywhere, at home or at the gym, and they’ll all help build lean muscle in your lower body.

Remember that if you want more variety in your workout routine, try mixing up your sets with different types of lunges or adjusting the weight you use for squats based on how much effort each one requires.

We hope this list has given some good ideas about how to get started working out those muscles so that they don’t feel like jelly any more.