Written by Kirsten Yovino | CPT Brookbush Institute
Fact checked by Tyler DiGiovanni, BSBM
FACT CHECKED
We’ve all heard the saying “never skip a leg day,” but we’d like to rephrase this to “never skip a leg day, and don’t forget to include your inner thighs.” Working all the muscles of the legs is crucial to building leaner, stronger, and more resilient legs. And more often than not, many gym goers focus on the front, back, and even outer thighs, training little to no inner thighs.
Also known as the adductor muscles, the inner thighs are the stabilizing muscles for the hips and thighs. Adductor muscles help with explosive hip movements, and most importantly, can assist with injury prevention when performing athletic-type movements. The benefits of training the adductors are invaluable to your overall leg day performance and your ability to run, balance, perform hip flexion, and prevent groin-related injuries.
Targeting these muscles can also help improve your ability to lift heavier on leg day. The adductors absorb a lot of eccentric stress, specifically during cutting, pivoting motions, rotational power movements, and sprints. Ready to activate the inner thighs but unsure where to start? We’ve got you covered!
This post will discuss:
- Inner thigh muscles
- How to build inner thigh muscle and lose inner thigh fat
- Best inner thigh exercises
- Programming tips for inner thigh exercises
What are the Inner Thigh Muscles?
The five hip adductor muscles that make up the inner thighs are the gracilis, pectineus, adductor brevis, adductor longus, and adductor magnus. They start at the pelvis and extend to the thigh bone.
Gracilis: This is the most superficial and medial of the inner thigh muscles. This muscle's action is to adduct the thigh at the hip and flex the leg at the knee. It plays a crucial role in flexing and rotating.
Pectineus: A short inner thigh muscle, it supports flexion and adduction of the hips.
Adductor Brevis: It lies underneath the adductor longus, and its primary job is to assist in adduction and hip flexion. The adductor brevis is the shortest muscle positioned between the anterior and posterior section of the obturator nerve.
Adductor Longus: A large flat triangular muscle, it adducts the thigh and partially covers the adductor brevis and magnus. It is also the most anterior located adductor muscle.
Adductor Magnus: With a fan-like shape, it is the largest of the inner thigh muscles and sits in the medial compartment. It is responsible for adducting the thigh and works with the hamstrings to perform hip flexion.
Another muscle that plays a part in inner thigh adduction is the obturator externus. Although it is not officially part of the five adductor muscles, it still assists many of the adductor muscles and motions needed for the inner thigh to function correctly. It is the uppermost positioned inner thigh muscle that is located more in the hip joint than the inner thigh. It is a flat triangular muscle that assists in adduction and lateral rotation of the thighs.
Building Muscle vs Losing Fat for Inner Thighs
There are two training goals you may have for your inner thighs: build muscle and lose fat. Whether you want thick muscular legs or slim, toned legs with a thigh gap, a workout routine and proper diet are necessary to get you there. It’s also important to note that genetics and body type, BMI and body fat percentage, and bone structure play a significant role in your legs.
This is certainly not to say you can’t hit your goals using proper nutrition and a solid workout plan, but it’s important to remember that no two bodies look the same and results look different for everyone.
Here are some tips to help you achieve your best inner thighs.
1. Target body recomposition:
Achieving muscular inner thighs requires losing fat in a process called body recomposition. A body composition test can give you your muscle mass, body fat, water, and bone density percentages to determine your starting point and then monitor progress along the way.
Body recomposition takes time and effort, as you're replacing body fat with lean muscle, so stick with it!
2. Focus on your diet:
Paying more attention to what you eat, how much you eat, and how hard you train will give you the best results. To see muscle definition and support weight loss, you need to eat enough calories to support muscle growth and repair but not so many that you gain excess fat.
We always suggest tracking your calories to see where you’re at and then decreasing that amount by around 5% to start when trying to lose weight. Also, getting an idea of what to eat before a workout and what to eat after a workout will ensure you're fueling your muscles for growth.
3. Add fat-blasting cardio:
Adding fat-burning cardio, like HIIT, Tabata, and circuit training, into your training is a great way to blast some additional fat and torch extra calories. These training options will help you stay in a calorie deficit, which is important when you’re trying to lose fat.
4. Combine all these tips together:
No matter how hard you train to reach your goals, pairing your training with a sound diet is the best way to ensure it matches your fitness intentions. The exercises provided here can help build muscle, lose weight, achieve toned legs, gain strength, and burn fat.
To keep the fat off and feed your muscle, follow diet recommendations that suit your needs. And then combine them with a killer inner thigh workout, along with exercises for saddlebags, and you’ll be well on your way to the toned legs of your dreams.
What Exercises Target The Inner Thighs Best?
The inner thighs are essential for many lower body functions, including our ability to run, squat, and balance. Adduction is the primary job of the inner thigh, which is when you bring your legs back toward your body’s midline, like when returning your leg after performing a lateral lunge.
As the inner thighs play a role in so many lower body movements, it means it’s fairly easy to target them during strength training. While there are a few exercises that hone in specifically on the inner thigh, a lot of our favorite compound lower body exercises also do a great job of serving as an inner thigh exercise. And you know how much we love a good compound exercise, considering it works the entire lower body while torching calories.
9 BEST INNER THIGH EXERCISES
Ready to get started on your inner thighs? Let's get into the 9 best exercises.
1. Sumo Squats:
The sumo squat promotes inner thigh strength while significantly improving overall balance and protecting the hips from injury during more intense and heavy-weight activities. This exercise is a compound movement that targets the inner thigh muscles in addition to the glutes, quads, hips, calves, and hamstrings.
Performing sumo squats is challenging, but to increase the intensity, try using pulsing sumo squats, adding weights, or moving slowly through each rep. Kettlebell sumo squats are a great variation to add to your routine.
How to do the Sumo Squat:
- Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart and toes turned outward. If you are using weights, hold a dumbbell or kettlebell with your left hand and right hand, with the weight between your legs.
- Slowly lower down by bending your knees and pushing them outward, until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Allow the weight to stay centered and if possible tap the weight on the ground without releasing as you bend knees.
- Rise back up slowly by straightening the knees, keeping a neutral posture while activating the glutes, and squeezing your inner thighs.
2. Lateral Lunges:
Like many other inner thigh exercises, the lateral lunge assists in the development of balance, stability, and strength. While performing the lateral lunge, the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and inner thighs are targeted. To intensify the workout, add weights and move slowly.
How to do Lateral Lunges:
- Stand with feet hip-width apart and hands on your hips or holding weights. Take a large step out to the left, with both feet facing straight.
- Squat down, dropping your hips, and bending your knee while maintaining a neutral spine. Bring your left leg to a 90-degree angle and your right leg straight.
- Keep your body weight loaded into the glutes and inner thighs rather than the knee, and squeeze your inner thigh as you explosively push off your left foot to return it back to the center.
- Repeat desired repetitions and switch to your right side.
3. Single Leg Deadlift:
One of our favorite deadlift variations, the single-leg deadlift hits many muscle groups and improves balance and coordination. The main muscles worked in this single leg exercise are the hamstrings, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, inner thighs, ankles, and core.
And if you're wondering just how effective this exercise is, let us put your minds at ease! It is so effective that it made our list of best glute exercises.
How to do the Single-Leg Deadlift:
- Stand with your feet hip distance apart and knees slightly bent. If using weights, hold the weight in your right hand at waist height with a straight arm.
- Hinge forward from your waist and extend your left leg behind you, keeping your hips aligned. Hinge until the weight taps the floor or just until your hips begin to turn.
- Come back to standing, keeping the spine neutral and your shoulders away from your ears. Let the left foot's toes glide across the floor as you rise to the starting position.
- Repeat desired reps and repeat on the right side, switching the weight to your right hand.
4. Bulgarian Split Squat:
The Bulgarian split squat challenges your core muscles as they stabilize your body, while also strengthening your inner thighs. Performing this squat style also takes the load off your lower back while activating the inner thighs, hamstrings, glutes, and quads.
Adding dumbbells or a barbell can increase the difficulty level, so there is plenty of opportunities for progression. Remember, more progression typically leads to more muscle hypertrophy.
How to do the Bulgarian Split Squat:
- Stand facing away from the box, chair, or bench you're using. Placing the top of your left foot on the box, chair, or bench, step away from your equipment with your right foot. Make sure there is enough space between your right foot and the bench for you to squat down comfortably.
- Engage your core and keep your torso straight. Slowly bend your right knee to squat down so that your right leg is at a 90-degree angle.
- Press through your right foot and come back to standing. Repeat reps on one side, and then switch to your left leg.
5. Jefferson Squat:
The Jefferson squat is a compound move that not only activates the inner thighs but also makes for a great hamstring exercise. This powerful move also activates the core and legs while relieving low back stress.
How to do the Jefferson Squat:
- Place a barbell on the ground with your chosen weight. Straddle the barbell, lengthwise, with a wide stance, and your back hip and foot rotated outward. Your back foot should be close to 90 degrees outward. Rotate your upper body toward your forward leg. Adjust your stance if needed so you can lower into a squat. One foot should be on each side of the barbell, feet flat, with it running between your legs.
- Your posture should be tall, with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees. Your shoulders should be directly over your hips. Your arms should remain straight without locking your elbows. Make sure to engage your core.
- Reach down and grab the barbell with a mixed grip. Your front hand should be in an underhand position grabbing the barbell in front of you, and your rear hand should be in an overhand position grabbing the barbell behind you. Your knees should be out and your chest upright. To begin the exercise, stand upright in this position, lifting the barbell.
- Begin the downward movement by bending your hips, knees, and ankles, focusing on pulling yourself into the bottom position. Keep your knees aligned over your toes as you lower to the bottom of the squat.
- Lower until your upper legs are parallel to the floor. Pause at the bottom position.
- Begin the upward movement by pushing your feet into the ground and moving your hips, knees, and ankles into extension. As you stand, keep your chest high, squeeze your glutes, and allow your knees to straighten and your hips to travel forward.
- Repeat for the required reps, then switch sides by switching your leg and hand positions.
6. STEP-UPS:
During a step up, the lower body, specifically the calves, quadriceps, and hamstrings, are working as they enhance your stabilization and improve balance. To enhance the difficulty, add ankle weights or hold dumbbells or kettlebells.
How to do Step-Ups:
- Stand with a neutral spine, keeping your trunk in an upright position. If using weights, hold dumbbells in each hand (or you can use hold one dumbbell with both hands centered in front of the chest) and place them by your sides. Slowly lift your left foot, firmly planting it on the bench or box.
- Press through your left leg all the way down to your left heel to bring your whole body to standing on the left leg.
- Step down with your right foot, placing both feet back on the ground.
- Then, lift your right foot and firmly plant your foot onto the bench, pressing through your right leg to bring your whole body to standing on the right leg.
- Step down with the left foot. Keep alternating legs throughout the exercise until you have reached your desired reps. You can also complete all of your reps on one side before switching to the other.
7. Side Lying Hip Adduction:
The lying hip adduction is a great way to not only build inner thigh strength but also enhance explosive movements. You'll strengthen the hips, gluteus medius, and inner thigh while improving your mobility (if you haven't yet tested your mobility, we highly recommend it so you know where you stand). To increase the level of intensity, wear ankle weights, use a resistance band, or hold a plate weight on the active leg.
How to do Side Lying Hip Adductions:
- Lie on your side with both legs extended straight, hips stacked, and one leg on top of the other.
- With your legs straight, bend your top leg and cross it over your bottom leg, placing your foot on the ground.
- Keeping your lower leg straight, raise it about 6-8 inches from the ground. Hold for 3-5 seconds. Slowly and controlled, lower your bottom leg.
- Once you have completed all reps, repeat on your opposite leg.
8. Cable Hip Adductors:
Hip adduction is so important that we even feature it in our guide that covers how to get bigger thighs. The inner thighs are the predominant muscles when performing this isolation movement, but the side glutes also get some attention. To add intensity, increase your weight on the cable machine, or switch up your equipment, using a resistance band instead.
To perform the resistance band variation, simply anchor the resistance band to something, like the leg of a workout bench, and also loop it around one of your calves. Then repeat the same movement as with cable hip adductors.
How to do Cable Hip Adductors:
- Finding a cable machine, set the pulley so it hits around calf level. Strap an attachment to your ankle that's closest to the pulley.
- In a standing position to the side of the pulley, start with your legs wide, ideally legs hip width, and your active leg straight, foot off the ground. Keep your chest lifted. Pull this leg toward the center of your body, away from the pulley.
- Bring your leg back to the starting position, and repeat.
9. Seated Hip Adduction Machine:
All the adductor muscles are activated during the seated hip adduction. Make sure to use that mind-muscle connection to keep your inner thighs activated the entire time.
How to do the Seated Hip Adduction Machine:
- Sit on the machine with the pads positioned between your left knee and right knee as wide as comfort allows, knees bent, and select your desired resistance or weight.
- In a controlled motion, squeeze your thighs together just until the pads barely touch, feeling your muscles contract.
- Slowly reverse the movement, returning your legs to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of sets and reps.
Programming Tips for Inner Thigh Exercises
When designing your workout plan, try to target all the adductor muscles. Make sure to move through various planes, including motions such as back and forward, side to side, and rotational.
Since the adductors do not move alone, you will be using hamstrings and quads, so design your plans to account for the other muscles that will be working. This means that these inner thigh exercises will work great placed in your leg workout.
How to add inner thigh exercises into your leg day:
If you’re doing two leg days per week (which we recommend!), you can add a few of these exercises to each program. We’re aiming for hypertrophy here, so target 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps. Think strategically: You don’t want all of your main compound exercises on one day, and all of your isolation moves on the other.
Consider pairing your deadlifts, lateral lunges, and cable hip adductors together during one workout, and your sumo squats, Bulgarian split squats, and side-lying hip adduction on another. Notice you’re working through different planes of motion (side to side and forward and backward) and combining compound exercises with an isolation move or two.
Always remember to incorporate cool-down exercises into your plan. The inner thigh is a delicate area that can be strained, torn, or herniated. To help prevent injury and improve your range of motion, adapt a deep hip mobility routine.
Some suggested stretches are the butterfly, frog squats, wide stance sumo, wide-leg forward fold, or runner's lunge. Also, keep in mind you should train legs twice a week to build solid leg muscle, making sure there are at least 48 hours between sessions.
Give those Inner Thighs Some Love
We realize squats and lunges top the best leg exercises list, but make sure you’re paying attention to the inner thighs as well, as they support your hips and help align your body. You can do this by using squats that include them (like the sumo squat) or by adding in an isolation move or two to ensure they’re activated.
And remember, your diet should complement the fitness objectives you want to achieve. If you haven't laid out specific goals yet, we highly recommend following the FITT principle, so you have clearly defined objectives.
The recipe for building muscle or losing weight remains the same: more calories need to go out than in. The more you train the adductors, the better the rest of your training will be. Strong inner thighs significantly perform our function, longevity, and mobility. That sounds like several good reasons to start paying more attention to them!
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Kirsten Yovino
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