but what is the best exercise i can do for the inner thighs? will running strengthen and tone them? or do i need to do more? what about the stair stepper?

If you are planning to weight train, doing compound movements helps. Squats and lunges are good choices. I stay away from the adductor and abductor machines personally.

Running will probably serve well to strengthen them as well.

thanks! :tu:

If you are planning to weight train, doing compound movements helps. Squats and lunges are good choices. I stay away from the adductor and abductor machines personally.

Running will probably serve well to strengthen them as well.


Why stay away from the machines? I don't have access to them right now anyway, but was curious as to why?

What about good ol' Leg Lifts, with ankle weights? Or using the stretchy bands and using them for resistance? I haven't started, but those were ideas I found while doing some searching.

I think squats and walking lunges are great however, they kick my butt! (literally!) :db:

Why stay away from the machines? I don't have access to them right now anyway, but was curious as to why?

I may not have the best answer for this. This is something I learned from the ladies at bodybuilding.com. But, basically, you don't want really developed adductor or abductor muscles, do you? You want the inside and outside of your thighs to appear shapely, not as if you have some muscles poking out that really shouldn't be. The thing that will get the fat off of those parts of your legs is the same thing that will get the fat off the rest of your body.... cardio and proper nutrition. Directly targeting the muscles is considered a waste of time by the gals over at bodybuilding.com. Those muscles get hit plenty with squats and lunges.

So, I guess the answer to the original question would be that running will "tone" them. Proper nutrition combined with cardio (running) will burn the fat from all over your body. There is nothing you can do to spot reduce the inner or outer thigh areas.

Pilates seem to work great for me. You might pick up a pilates book and try the leg exercises.

I learned my leg exercises from the Windsor Pilates DVDs. I don't use the DVDs anymore, but I do some of the exercises after my weight workouts. In fact, even after an intense weight workout for legs, nothing gets them burning like the pilates I do at the end.