For a lot of ladies the usual approach to toning the inner thighs is really a quick circuit of leg equipmentin the gym. Now that's all extremely well if you need to target one region and nothing more but by doing this you are missing an excellent chance to not just tone the legs but flatten your tummy and burn up loads of physique fat..

To achieve this result your inner thigh exercises need to include body weight and free weight movements. This is because every free movement leg exercise utilises many muscles in the body. So the more muscle you utilize the harder you work and the more intense the exercise the more energy you burn resulting in fat loss. Look at any of the leading fat loss fitness programs and you will see workouts that include lots of leg movement.

Leg exercises such as the squat, and lunge are also a great workout for the abdominal muscles. These muscles are incorporated as stabilizers when performing these type exercises to keep your body balanced and upright so the more weight you use the harder the abs work and the stronger and tighter they become to give you a flatter looking stomach.

So if you want to burn body fat along with firming up your legs then these 2 inner thigh exercises are excellent.

Lateral lunges with touchdown. 3 x 10 reps every leg
As this can be quite a tricky exercise to perform I would advise starting just your bodyweight then progress to medicine balls or dumbbells. Word of warning this will give your butt a great workout as well.

Begin with feet shoulder width apart inhale then slowly take a large step to the side and when you place your foot on the floor bend your knee and lower yourself down with your back straight as far as you can go. Try to keep your stationery leg as straight as possible then you will feel a stretch right down the inner thigh. Return to starting position. Initially you might not be able to get that low but over time you should find that you could step out further with more range of movement and start adding weight..

Broad leg Squats - 10 -15 Reps

These are best done using a dumbbell to target the inner thighs.

To perform this movement correctly stand up straight with your legs wide apart and your toes pointing sideways. Your body weight should be evenly distributed between both feet. Hold the dumbbell or whatever you are using below your waist with arms straight and relaxed. Breathe in then bend your knees and lower the weight if possible so it almost touches the floor. As you do this push the hips backwards and try to keep your back straight and your head up looking forward
Breathe out and slowly straighten your legs pushing your hips upwards again with a straight back and your head up. Try to keep the arms straight all the way through the motion to make sure that the thighs are being worked to the maximum

To ensure you don’t incur any injuries please ensure that you have done a thorough warm up before doing these inner thigh exercises. For maximum results I like to do these as part of total body resistance workout followed high intensity interval training. This will not only ensure your legs look amazing but the rest of your body does too