(BlackFitness101.com) For women in particular, the thighs and the hips tend to be the areas of the body in which they seem to have the most amount of trouble trying to tone and slim down a little. Many people often become frustrated due to the fact that they feel as though they cannot lose the fat in specific parts of the body. The way losing fat works is your whole body drops the body fat so if there are certain areas of the body which still seem like they are carrying more fat than other parts, it is simply because of your genetics and there isn’t much that you can about that. All that you would need to do is carry on venturing further into your diet and the fat will eventually come off, however, there is another option that you can make use of at the same time; why not try to tone your hips and thighs?
This can be done by doing a number of different exercises and we are going to take a look at the five best exercises to help you to tone your hips and thighs.
The first exercise is one that will target your thighs and it is known as the step-up. A staircase that is stable would be ideal as well as something to hold on to for support and you would need to be at the bottom of the stairs for your starting position. Using one foot, step onto the first stair and extend your leg with your other leg hovering in the air behind, bring yourself back down to the starting position and repeat, alternating your legs each time for a total of 8-10 reps per leg.
The second movement works both your thighs as well as your hips and it requires you to have to lie down on the floor leaning on your
side with both legs together and straight. The leg against the floor should be a little bent and slightly behind you, proceed to lift your other leg as high as you can without compromising your hip position. Lower it back down and complete 8-10 reps per leg.
Single-leg squats are a fantastic exercise for your thighs. Start with both of your feet close together but make sure to put the majority of your body weight onto one leg and you may also need to have something in front of you, like a chair, to keep you balanced. Whilst maintaining a straight back, lower your body by bending your knees and letting your hips sink back and down until your legs are parallel to the floor. On the way up, make sure to use one leg more dominantly by putting more pressure onto it and complete 10 reps alternating on each rep.
Crossovers are a great way to tone the hips. Simply get on all fours with a neutral spine and make sure that your right leg is at around a 90 degree angle. Raise it up and back so that your soles are facing upwards, then bring your right leg across your left leg and return to the starting position. Complete 8-10 reps per leg at a slow and controlled pace.
The last movement is another one that focuses primarily on the hips and it’s called the standing abduction. Use a wall for balance and keep a straight body from head to toe with your knees bent slightly, lift one leg up as high as you can, without any extraneous movement from the upper body, and bring it out the side, return back to the starting position and complete 10-12 reps per leg.
Hope fully you have found some of these excellent exercises useful for helping you in toning the troublesome areas of the hips and thighs. So give them a go and as long as you are sticking to your diet as well, you will be pleased with the results.
Staff Writer; Nina Brown
Questions? Feel free to email me at; NinaB@BlackFitness101.com.