Okay, here’s the thing, when you search the Internet and look for the best way to lose fat in your legs and thighs, you’ll be overwhelmed by all the contradictory opinions. There are so many exercises and routines that claim to be the all in one solution to getting skinny legs and thighs. And I think there’s one simple explanation here: genetics. Some people are more predisposed to losing weight through this or that exercse than others, for example either through long-distance running or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). So how do you know whether this or that exercise will work for you? There’s only one answer: you should try it. And I think you have to at least consistently and properly try it for one month. Personally I think that if you do it for one month in a consistent and correct way, and see no significant results, then it isn’t worth pursuing. Perhaps the work and effort that you put into only gives minimal results, and you should try a different exercise instead. Also, I’d personally strive for a balance between something challenging, and yet something that you can also reasonably maintain as part of your weekly lifestyle. I mean, if you exercise ’til you drop every single morning, but become too tired to go to work or take care of the husband and the kids, then perhaps you need to tone down your exercise routine to something more sustainable.

But on the other hand, one of the main reasons why we put motivation on top of our list (in our previous posts) is because a lot of people try this or that exercise, thinking that one or two attempts will already lead to noticeable results. I don’t think that any kind of exercise exists that has that kind of quick instant result. Your body needs time to adjust and to change, after all, it took your body years and years to reach the state that it’s in right now, so you should at least give it some time to lose fat.

Most people are not willing to go for the long haul, which means at least one month of sweat and a little bit of pain. And when they see that their thighs aren’t noticeably thinner in the mirror, they just give up, or in discouragement decrease the pace and progress of their exercises which only renders it completely ineffective. One important principle is the principle of “progressive resistance”. You always need to challenge your body more than the previous time, otherwise your body might adapt and stay at a plateau that doesn’t lead to any change. So if you’re able to do 5 km. of running, the next time around it needs to be either 5.5 or 6 km or don’t do it at all (that is, if you really intend to lose weight, you could still just do the same distance for the sake of a healthy heart though). Or if you’re doing squats with weights, and you use 30 lbs. for ten repetitions, the next time you exercise it needs to be 35 or 40 lbs. (either that, or increase the repetitions to eleven or twelve). This obviously requires a lot of motivation, as we’ll keep on repeating over and over again. A logbook or exercise journal is also very helpful, so you can keep track of your progress, encourage yourself, and also avoid falling into a slump.

Also, as we’ve indicated in our previous posts, exercise is only 20-30% of the equation. If you do these exercises but have the wrong diet, with a lot of carbohydrates and calories, it’s only going to make you heavier than you were before. This can be a risk especially since you’ll be hungry right after a good workout. You need to be especially disicplined about what you eat after workout, because it will be absorbed even faster by the body. The best is to limit it to pure protein (such as a protein shake or chicken breast), with perhaps a fruit to facilitate absorption. Try to limit your carbohydrates as much as you can.

So always remember the order we said before: motivation first, diet second, and exercise third. Keep this three levels in mind and I promise you’ll really get results in one month, or else you can burn this website. So after this lengthy introduction, we’re now ready to look at some of the best exercises that you can use to get skinny legs and thighs.

I. Running

Running is of course always a great way to stay in shape, not just for your legs but also for your heart and general well-being. Try to find a regular interval when you can put on your jogging clothes and just run. You can start with once a week, just to keep things relatively easy. Eventually you might increase it to two or three times per week, as much as your lifestyle allows. But also try to be specific about the distance, and write it down. Did you start with one lap around the park? Then perhaps the next week you can increase that by half or by another full lap. But always, always make sure that you are increasing the distance. If you start to plateau, then it probably won’t be effective for weight loss.

However, one danger is if that if you rely on running solely to lose weight, it can backfire on you. Running in of itself can lose fat, but it also doesn’t build muscle, which helps to burn fat even faster and makes your legs toned. So if it works at all, chances are you’ll be left with small but also slightly saggy legs. Also, if you don’t guard your diet, then running will only make you eat more. This is especially true after a long run, when you become very hungry. You need to think and plan carefully in advance about what you’re going to eat after a good run, so as not to offset the gains.

So the conclusion is: running is great, but ONLY if combined with a disciplined diet and also some muscle building exercises like the ones below.

II. Stairs

Stairs are also a great way to work those legs and thighs. And if you have some stairs in your house, then you have free and complete exercise equipment right there. Again, you can start easy, perhaps beginning with just three sets on a moderately high staircase, where you climb up and then down again. Again, remember the principle of “progressive resistance”, or in this case, “progressive quantity”. The next time you do this exercise, make sure that you increase the number of climbs. Writing down the number of climbs in a journal would be very helpful. I think that the nature of this exercise will easily allow you to do this everyday, from the comfort of your own home. But if not, just find a regular schedule and stick with it.

At some point you can also vary your routines, like for example climbing every two steps instead of just one. This will stretch your legs and also target other muscles in your thighs. If your stairs aren’t creaky, and you can even try to run on the stairs, effectively combining your running exercise with stair climbing. Just be very careful, because tripping on the stairs can lead to big injury! Running on stairs is only recommended if you’ve already developed a very good sense of balance.

If you don’t have any stairs in your house, some sports shops also sell stair machines, which are like treadmills except it simulates climbing on the stairs. These stair machines also add some resistance for added work on your legs. For my part however, I prefer the free options. The great thing about stair climbing is that you can integrate it into your lifestyle. Is your office on the fourth floor of the building? It’s pretty high, but imagine the gains if you decided to take the stairs every single day instead of the elevator. I think the results would be pretty impressive.

III. Squats

Next follows the weight-training exercises to develop your legs and thighs. Perhaps the best weight exercise ever for your legs is the squat. Time and time again, despite the many exercise machines that have been invented, the squat has constantly proven itself the best when it comes to building lean muscle in your lower body. It has even been called by some the “king of all exercises.” Now I won’t go into the details of how to do a squat, since it’s best to watch videos made by professional trainers to get it right instead of reading about it. But I think that the weights are very important. Of course you can start with just a couple of light dumbbells, but do try to increase the weight of your dumbbells as time goes on. Again, it’s all about progressive resistance.

Now obviously there are several ways that you can go about this. The first is a single set where you try to do as many squats as you can, and then you just try to surpass your record the next time you do your squats. Or, where you have several sets, like three sets, with a fixed number of repetitions (for example 20 reps per set x 3 sets). Since I feel that the first would be easier to incorporate in a normal lifestyle, I’ll suggest that instead. So, perhaps after your running or stair climbing, try concluding your exercise routine with as many weighted squats as you can, always trying to beat your previous record. Then later on, when you feel that you’re no longer being challenged, try to increase the weight of your dumbbells also. The point here is to keep pushing yourself to your maximum limit, and thereby reaping the best results.

I think the importance of including a weight exercise like the squat into your exercise routine cannot be stressed enough. Muscle will help you burn the fat faster, and running and stair climbing alone won’t really build that much muscle (well, stair climbing, especially with weights can still build a muscle, but not nearly as fast as weighted squats). So combine your aerobic/cardiovascular exercise with weight training, for a winning combination. After running or climbing stairs, then do some squats!

If you’re truly serious about toning your legs and thighs, then there’s also eventually the option of doing barbell squats in the future. I know that most of you probably won’t go that far, and it might be a hassle to go to the gym just to do barbell squats with a trainer guiding you, but I’d just like to remove the idea in your mind that barbell squats are only for male bodybuilders. Barbell squats are absolutely great for women. It won’t give you mass because women don’t have testosterone. Instead, barbell squats will only build lean muscle that will tone the legs, and burn up the fat. Just keep this in mind if you think that you’ve reached your peak when it comes to the dumbbell squat exercises, and you want to push yourself further.

IV. Lunges

Lunges with dumbbells are also a great exercise to work out different parts of your legs and build muscle. I think that it’s a great supplement to your weight exercise routine. But if you have to choose, and you think you can only do one kind of weight exercise, then you should choose the squat. But if you think that you can handle more, then including both squats and lunges, with progression, is a powerful way to really tone your legs and thighs. Again, you need to watch videos by reputable trainers to really understand how it’s done, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll really start seeing its effectiveness. One thing you need to know in advance though: the weight training exercises like the squats and the lunges can leave you sore after an intense work out. You might have some discomfort sitting on the toilet the next few days. But, this is part of the phrase, “no pain, no gain.” This is where you test how strong your motivation to get skinny legs and thighs really is. A strong motivation will help you to be consistent in your exercise despite the discomfort and inconvenience.

V. A Guided Workout

If you’re the kind of person who easily gets bored, and who needs external motivation from a trainer, then you might benefit from a guided workout. There are of course many good trainers out there with their own exercise programs, but I think at the moment Jillian Michaels has come out with one of the best programs specifically targeting the thighs and butt area. I think given the intensity of her workout regimen, which lasts from 30-45 minutes, it can be a more interesting substitute for the stair climbing and the lunges. No matter how good her workout is though, I don’t think that you should completely set aside the more tried and tested exercises like running and squats. You can check learn more about her program by clicking on the picture.

I know that there are probably a lot of diets out there, but I think that the fastest and most effective way is any good variant of the Atkin’s Diet, which means: protein and vegetables. Eat a lot of eggs, fish, chicken, and red meat, coupled with almost any kind of vegetables (fruit is also okay, but less preferred than vegetables because of the natural sugars). It also means limiting your carbs (bread, rice, pasta, etc.) to as minimal as possible, or completely doing without it. Needless to say, sticking consistently to such a diet takes a lot of hard work, so you should decide for yourself how much exactly you can limit your carbs. This can be tricky especially if you’ve grown up eating bread, rice or pastries, and you realize that a protein and vegetable diet does not offer as much variety as you used to have. But if you’re willing to make the sacrifice, and if you’re willing to get creative with non-carb recipes, then this kind of diet will definitely work.

I think that the science behind this kind of diet makes sense, and it is more effective than a pure vegetarian diet for a number of reasons. To put things simply: protein builds muscle, and muscle burns more fat when you exercise. So a protein diet coupled with good exercise, like those suggested below, will lead to great results. Also, protein is essential for developing that leaner, firmer look, which can actually make you look and feel skinny, even if you still have big bone structure in your legs, and even if your legs are still bigger than most other girls. You will notice that there’s a whole lot of difference between lean and muscular legs and flabby legs, even though they’re of equal size.

Also, the protein and vegetables diet is more “guilt free” when it comes to the actual amount that you eat. Meaning you can eat a lot, and it wouldn’t really make you gain so much fat. And besides, it’s very unlikely that you’ll eat a lot, because the protein will make you feel full more quickly, and for a longer time. This is in contrast to our usual understanding of dieting, where you just eat less of everything, and I think this only leads to a little bit of deprivation and self-pity, as if you have to starve yourself and make yourself hungry just to look good. As if the pleasure of food and a full stomach had to be completely sacrificed for physical appearance. And when you do give in to your hunger (probably through a carb binge), you end up worse than before. We won’t try to give you all the details here, since the best thing is to invest in a good book with comprehensive information than just simply trust in what the Internet says. You can check out a copy of the latest and improved Atkin’s Diet. (UPDATE: recently we’ve also been introduced to the Paleo Diet, which also seems to be similar to the Atkin’s Diet, but with a different philosophy in the background. You can check that out too.)

When you look for information about how to lose weight, or how to get skinny legs and thighs, sure you’ll get a lot of information about diet and exercise techniques (which we will also talk about below), but you hardly ever read anything about the most important ingredient of them all, and the one which will make or break your attempt to get great legs. The single most important factor is motivation. In simple words, why do you want to have these kinds of legs anyway? And what are you willing to invest and sacrifice when it comes to achieving your goal? People often buy a new book or video describing in detail what they need to do to lose weight or to get their lower body in shape, and they try it for a while, but then after two or three weeks they quit. Why? Because they weren’t really clear at the start about the motivation behind the whole attempt. The diet and the exercise techniques are usually sound, and really, they do work if you do them consistently enough, but it’s up to you whether you’re really willing to give it everything it takes.

So, let’s start with the most basic question, why are you going to sacrifice time, sweat and effort to get skinny legs? For most women, the answer is simple, they want to be more and attractive, and look good, especially to members of the opposite sex. Of course, vanity can take you pretty far, but maybe only in the wrong direction. For one, if you’re being pressured to look like a gaunt supermodel, because you think that’s how to be loved and appreciated, that kind of mindset can only lead to self-pity and depression, and even more if you don’t get the results you wanted. It can make you appreciate your body less and also cause you to lose sight of those things which make you uniquely and definitely you. And besides, it’s no guarantee that if you look delicious in a bikini that you’ll get a man who will love you and treat you right. The more sexy skin you show, the more men you’ll find who are only after your body, and not really after the person who is you. For some women this is fine and they’re willing to settle for this, but I think there are better options…

I’ll do this simply because I can, and I can prove to myself that I can, for a better me. Meaning, this is a personal challenge, and it’s a project that can build my character and overall make me a stronger, better, and healthier woman. I think that this holistic approach is more worthwhile, and it’s something that can also develop into a steady and healthy lifestyle, both physically and mentally. Meaning, of course, that it’s not about catering to other people’s expectations, and trying to be someone that you’re not, but simply trying to make the most of what you’ve been given. It’s self-improvement first and foremost, but one which can also be beneficial when it comes to your relationships. Well, it would be great if you could find a man who loves you already for who you are, chubby legs and all, and this is just bonus that you’d like to give him, something to enhance an already thriving relationship. If you’re a forty-year old something mom, then this might be a great way to energize your marriage after a long plateau. For the younger ladies, I personally don’t think that men who will love you and notice you ONLY AFTER you have sexier legs are worth the trouble. Instead, just find someone who will love you for your personality, and you can make this physical enhancement his reward.

Anyway, I think that a lot can be gained if you turn this into both a holistic project, meaning mind, heart and body, instead of just a physical one. You’ll need a lot of willpower, and you’ll need to keep track of your goals. If you’re first clear on why you want to do this, and also what you’re willing to do to prove to yourself that you can do this, then you’re off to a very good start. Also, it might really help to learn from the inspirational stories of others.