Well, darn. If there's time for nothing else I always made time for these two before I left the gym. Ah well.

Great list, Meg! My lower abs are very resistant so maybe if I mix it up a bit it will help. Of course, I realize losing excess weight will also help! I can feel muscles under there, they just have a nice soft cover over them right now.

Thanks for this great info.

I personally feel that inner and outer thigh exercises are, useless...
If your goal is to build inner and outer thigh muscle, then unweighted inner/outer leg lifts aren't going to do much because there's no resistance. You need to be working with weights or resistance bands if you're trying to build muscle. If you build muscles under a layer of fat your legs will look bigger.

If you want to spot reduce your thighs in that area, we all know that there's no such thing as spot reducing. Only a low fat diet along with cardio and weight training will reduce your overall body fat, you will look leaner all over. Some areas, such as legs, butt and tummy are the most difficult places to reduce and the fat will be the last place to leave.

If you didn't like Curves maybe a regular gym with a personal trainer to show you some exercises would be your best bet. Lunges and squats are your butt and legs best friend. There are umpteen variations you can do for both that will lean your legs out nicely. I get my ideas from Oxygen magazine, their Special issues for Butt and Legs are great for suggestions on workouts.

???

Seeing how the IT band is strengthened by abductors (outer thigh) muscles and the adductors (inner thigh) muscles are the opposing group, any runner will tell you that those muscles need to be trained and trained well.

Knee pain?

IT band is out of whack.

Diva0203, my advice to you is keep working those muscles. You got 'em, you may as well use 'em.

Either that, or find a good orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in knees. Sooner or later, you're gonna need him.

;-)

My legs were not going anywhere with suats and lunges when I added some leg lifts it made the world of difference but I do the fire hydrents (someone said that is what they are called) and lost an inch 1 and 1/2 on both legs combined. Now thought they are stuck again maybe time to add more reps.

Diva0302 -- Did you mention you had knee pain? I didn't see that...

AnAbsoluteDiva -- I interpreted the question as being, were inner and outer thigh exercises conducive to reducing the size of the thigh... Maybe I was wrong....

canadian mom -- the variety of squats and lunges I do hit the legs ALL around :yes:...Here is a sample of what I do: the side to side lunges, reverse lunges, front lunges, walking lunges, walking lunges with a front kick, walking lunges with a back kick, wheel lunges (front, side, reverse), plus I do these holding 10-20 lbs weights...Here I found Squat Exercises Photo Gallery plus I do others that are very good too not shown in that gallery... Much more fun than doing leg lifts... I just looked up firehydrant leg lifts, I haven't done those in a while, I just may try them this week... I love variety...

Oh dear, poor Diva :hug: , please by all means, use weights and don't be shy about using them ... As you lose the fat your muscles will show through and you will look awesome, but you must lose the fat on top of the muscles that's the point I was trying to make. Weight training is a girl's best friend for many reasons, here are a few : Found those reasons in this article Weight Training 101

Diva - I actually went to a physical therapist for my knee pain. I had tons of leg exercises but only 2 that worked the inner or outer thigh muscles. Both used some form of resistance or weight.

1. Get a band of some sort, attach it to something stable. I put mine under a coffee table leg. You do 4 directions. You face away from whatever the band is attached to, put one of your legs in the bands loop and you lift straight up. That works your quads. Then you turn 90 degrees in one direction. Then you lift away from the attachment point, you are working either your inner or outer thigh (depending on leg and direction of turn). Then you face toward the bind point and lift behind you, you are working your hamstrings, then you turn yet again 90 degrees and you are working your inner thigh (or outer thigh but the opposite of the second to last exercise). You then switch legs and work the next leg. I know it is hard to explain but basically you make a loop with a band of some sort, you put one leg in, you lift in the direction of creating tension, then turn 90 degrees until you have worked all 4 directions.

2 - Turned out leg lifts with weights. Bend one leg, straighten the other. For the straight leg, turn the leg out so that the inner thigh is facing up. Then lift your leg up.

If you have questions, feel free to PM me. It is important to strengthen your leg muscles if you have knee problems.

I've been through a recent round of PT myself. The exercise I am doing is called the bowler. Stand on left leg, hold light weight in right hand, sweep right leg behind and to the left side like you are doing a curtsy or bowling a ball. Lean over until your hand with the weight just touches the floor. At this point if you havent fallen over you should look like the pro bowler dudes right when they release the ball.

This is for my outer hip (piriformis) - not thigh, but it is to help with pronation which does affect the knee and ankle.

lol the one with the broom in back of the neck lol i always did that! guilty!

Weights are so important for women. Besidse the bemefits mentioned above, you might lose fat, but if you're not building muscle what's the point? You'll still have a soft body.

I used to have to do the 'broom' exercise for rep softball. Except we used our bats, in the middle of winter! Thank God I was a pitcher and had a towel in my bag, which went over it, but it was pure torture the first week for those who didn't. I wish I had this article then to give to my coach. I found them useless, even for making your body pivot.

Wow - this has certainly changed my approach to weight training at the gym!

Nice ARTICLE.
Accurate information.
Thanks for posting it.
cert pft fitmom1

Just one comment about the cardio. I also go on long walks for longer than an hour but as has been said here, that probably doesn't get my heart rate up enough to be harmful. But as for more than 60 minutes of intense cardio per day, my gym trainers in the past have said it is okay as long as you don't do it all at once. Example, okay to do an hour morning and an hour evening. I haven't seen this mentioned here -- the posts seem to be about doing it all at once -- and wondering what others here who are knowledgable think about this.

Thanks
Sue

Thanks for the information, it may save me a lot fo time

So... this article made me really depressed. I've spent a lot of time on those exercises and other similar ones that work my muscles. I know you can't spot reduce, but I don't have a ton of extra fat to lose, so isn't it worth it to start toning now so once the fat is gone you can see toned muscles? I always "feel the burn" from the abductor/adductor machines and from side bends - I don't understand how that isn't at least some kind of good sign (as long as it's more soreness than pain/injury).

Also, in the past, I've noticed that the side bends at least have tightened up my waist, or so I thought. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but when I did them a lot I thought my sides felt tighter instead of jiggly? Didn't measure size so I can't comment on that.

So I guess my main question is, aside from the ones in there that they say are dangerous (I've never liked the rotator abs thing anyway, b/c I never felt it in my abs), when should someone start doing the other exercises? 50 pounds from goal weight? 10 pounds from goal weight? Not till they're AT goal weight?

Thanks!

Laura, weight training is always a great idea, no matter how far you are from your goal, or whether you're at your goal. I think the point of the original list is to emphasize that spot reducing won't reduce actual fat. But building muscle generally does help to tighten you up (and, long term, reduces fat all over).

I personally think that the original article is a bit dodgy, because it assumes that the ONLY reason someone might work their legs is to spot reduce. That said, lifting weights with a proper program designed to build muscle all over (and for me, as efficiently as possible) is the right thing to do.

If you want help starting a program, post in the main forum. There are lots of people with lots of knowledge with lots of great ideas!

Thanks, Baffled. I know you can't spot reduce fat but obviously you can "spot tone" which is sometimes what I'm looking to do :) Any knowledge on whether the side bends do tone up obliques or if those fall under the category of "complete waste of time"?

I'm afraid I have no idea.

I will say that the only ab work I do is 3 sets of weighted crunches twice a week on a ball, in the course of my regular workouts, and I'm starting to be able to see my obliques. I think it's from all the other exercises I do, not particularly from the crunches. Those are tiny little muscles and I'm not convinced that they need their own special exercises. Personally, I like the compound exercises that work many muscles all at once. It's much more efficient and you don't find yourself doing crunches all day long. :)

Glad I found this, great info..thanks.

HA! I always just knew it about those hipductor machines!! EVERY woman at the gym does them though, theres always a LINE for that machine... I was always in it...up till now. Thanks!

This was really worth reading. Thanks for posting the info

thanks for that info. I was just about to say I definitely did more than that last time I lost a lot of weight, and my body composition improved, but I wasn't doing most at my target heart rate, I did a lot of walking and lifting and such. Definitely no more than an hour running per day, anyway. ^_^

Other than that, I am still a bonehead for doing upright rows and behind the neck presses, apparently. lol. I will have to work on that. ^_^

Yeah that got me too. I know that women don't build muscle as much or in the same way, but I started reading more online articles aimed for men. Ever since junior high all I've really wanted is some upper body strength. ^_^ And personally I don't care if my thighs are tiny, I'd just as soon have muscles in them again like when I used to run cross country in high school. Those were the days.. [sigh]

But yeah, the article seems to just be saying that spot-reducing doesn't work. I know that. Only time my legs slimmed down noticeably was from running a lot, which was because the muscles were toned and I lost fat from everywhere, not just legs.

I personally love the Adductor & Abductor Machines. They don't "shrink" my legs, but I definitely feel as if they have made my legs stronger. And if nothing else they've made me more flexible. The one at the gym I go to, I used to only be able to spread my legs to a 5, and after a month on it I can spread to a 6. So I think if nothing else I'm regaining my flexibility that I've lost over the past few years.

I go to Fitzone now [used to go to YMCA], which is kind of like a Curves. What I'm doing must be working because I lost 5.5 inches in my first month!

Those were the only ones on the list that I do.

OK...I'm trying to digest all of this as I read everyone's posts. I go to Curves and how I interpret this article is as follows:

In order to lose fat and strengthen muscle one must burn more calories than they take in through a reduced calorie meal plan and an increase in physical activity. When one uses stregnth training they are creating more muscle mass. Overall muscle mass increases the metabolism and therefore allows you to burn fat more effectively/efficiently. Using a single machine to "REDUCE" an area is pointless, but using that machine in combination with an entire routine can assist in overall body shaping. Increasing a muscle doesn't do any short-term good if it's covered in a layer of fat but long-term it will help in a number of ways (see above).

Now, with that in mind I'm not going to cancel my membership at Curves since it's not the ad/adductor machine that's bad or ineffective, It's an individual's idea that doing just that machine to reduce the inner/outer thighs that is incorrect. Am I getting this right? I use Curves 3 times a week and even though I skipped a number of workouts :(...I've still lost quite a few inches and can feel the muscles under the fat developing. Just this week I have added in an hour of cardio on my stationary bike at home 3 times a week (or twice a week if I get to aquasize once a week) as well in hopes of helping to burn fat a little faster and getting over my current plateau.

Does a routine like that make sense?

Tamara

I think you're almost right about that Tamara. The problem isn't necessarily the exercise but what it is we expect the exercise to do. That said, spending all day on the in/adductor machine isn't going to do even a tiny portion of the good that doing squats, lunges and/or step-ups would do. To me, it seems like a waste of time to work one angle of a giant muscle when I could just do some squats or lunges and work the entire thing.

I love the abductor/adductor machines, they're great for giving shape and they helped get me my curvy thighs and bum, and i definitely wouldn't stop using them just because of that article.

Now that makes me think that exercises effect us all differently then? If it's a waste of time...yet works for you...somethings not adding up!
T
hat was a great article..thanks for posting. :)

I think this thread should be made as a personal opinion, not a fact.

my trainer keeps telling me to do weights first and cardio second. he says that when you do cardio first you just burn off blood sugar. if you do it second, you are burning fat.

anyone heard the same?

Yup. I was always told to do weights first and cardio second (not counting a 5-10 min warm up of course). There are a few different reasons I've heard but I think the main one is having enough available blood sugar to do weight bearing activities. Cardio, whatever form, is monotonous in that you're doing the same movements over and over again and it's less important to have that blood sugar throughout the exercise. As well, it's very important you have the right technique when you're doing weights to avoid injury so it's probably not a good idea to exhaust some of your muscles through cardio and then try and lift.

I really thought this article was great and seemed accurate based on all the research I've done/things I've been told. I never used the adductor/abductor machines. I used to figure skate and play hockey competitively and while it's very important to strengthen those muscles I always was told to do lots of different variations of squats and lunges. Another problem with some of those machines is that if you're trying to drop weight you're sitting down for the exercise so you're not maximizing your heart rate/calorie burn. In something like squats you're standing the whole time...

I read a blog that recommended hitting the weights first. By weight training first, you’ll have more energy to lift and your body will release the hormones needed to stimulate growth. Weight training will also get your body into fat-burning mode to maximize your ability to maintain and build lean muscle tissue.

With your metabolism in high boost, your cardio workout will be much more effective. Remember - For every one pound of lean muscle you add, your body will burn 30-50 additional calories per day!

It was on kineda. It seems accurate enough! If I do weights, I do them before I start my cardio.

I noticed that too! What a bummer

^^

really? I don't have a car (good reason that i can walk.) and the only gym around my small town is curves.
Im glad i read this before i went to be a member.:p