Move over squats! Try these exercises to strengthen your thigh muscles

The first exercise that pops up in your head when you think about leg exercises is squats. Want to tone your legs? Do squats! Looking for ways to tone thigh muscles? Do squats. First of all, you don’t exercise to lose fat, you do it for strengthening your muscles. So, if you are tired of resorting to squats, it’s time to switch to exercises that give you the same results but are different.

HealthShots asked fitness expert Aminder Singh to share some insights on the exercises to lose thigh fat, apart from squats.

Does exercise help you lose thigh fat?

As per the fitness expert, you exercise to strengthen your muscles and not lose fat. What helps you burn fat is cardio. So, it has to be a balance. “Any exercise which we are going to do is added with some oxidation process, which results in overall nutrition going to come down as per the body. Then the fat loss happens. So, there is no one particular exercise to lose thigh fat.”

Understanding the lower body muscles

When we talk about exercises other than squats to lose thigh fat, first we need to address all the lower body muscles. The fitness expert explains that there are different muscles in your body that you need to work on and understand to know which exercise works best for you.

He explains, “The front part of the thigh known as the quadriceps has four muscles. Then, we have the hamstring muscle which is just opposite of the quads, which has three muscles in that. Then there’s the very powerful and big muscle – the glute muscle, so hip is also very powerful muscle.

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Then two muscles below the knee calf muscle (back side of the leg) and in front (interior tibialis muscle), which helps in moving the toe up and down.”

Different exercises help tone different muscles. For instance, squats help work the glute muscles, so we can target different muscles with different exercises. Another thing that matters is that there is a progression from beginner to intermediate to advance.

Best exercises to lose thigh fat

If you are tired of doing squats, here are the exercises you can go for, as per the fitness expert:

1. Leg extension

An excellent exercise with a lever machine, it targets the quadriceps muscles of the front of your thigh. It is a great exercise to build lower body strength, which can help you tone the muscles.

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2. Deadlift

It is an exercise of two joints together which is the knee and hip. In this exercise, the body bends forward. Due to this bending of the body in the forward position, the load shifts to the hip. So, it becomes more of a hip exercise rather than the quads exercise. You will feel the load on the hip and hamstring.

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3. Romanian deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is slightly different from your traditional deadlift. It is a good exercise for building strength in the posterior muscles, gluteus maximus, hamstrings, and adductors. Not only does it work on your lower body, but also helps you strengthen your core.

4. Hip thrust

It is one of the best exercises to target the largest muscle in your body, which is the gluteus maximus. It also engages the adductors, quadriceps, and hamstrings. By focusing on strengthening this muscle, you may increase the size, strength, and power of your entire lower body.

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5. Standing hip abduction

Standing hip abduction exercise works best for your hip abductors, which involves your hip flexors and hip extensors. It is a good exercise to improve hip mobility and improve core stability.

While these exercises may help, make sure you talk to a fitness instructor before you incorporate new exercises into your fitness regimen.