Home Exercises To Tone Thighs

You don't need a gimmicky infomercial product or a gym full of machines to tone your thighs. You can target the muscles of your upper legs--quadriceps, hamstring and abductor/adductor complex--at home with little more than your body weight and a pair of dumbbells. For additional resistance, add an inexpensive exercise tube ring. Perform these exercises one after another for a total of three sets. According the Mayo Clinic, you should allow your muscles 48 hours of rest between strength training days to let the muscle fibers repair. In time, this yields greater muscle size and strength than if you had trained every day.

Dumbbell Lunges

This classic move builds both strength and stability in your entire leg musculature, particularly your quadriceps and gluteals. If you have weak knees, modify the lunge to a more restricted range of motion and stop if you feel pain. To begin, stand with a dumbbell in each hand. Swing one leg forward, striking the ground firmly with your heel first and then your entire foot. As you do so, bend your back knee, bringing it toward the floor, and bend your front knee until your front leg makes a 90-degree angle. Make sure your front knee does not extend past your toes. Press through your front heel and push backward to return to the starting position. This is one rep. Perform eight to 12 repetitions on each side.

Dumbbell Dips

Think of a dip as a reverse lunge. However, this exercise is slightly easier on your knees than lunges and targets your hamstrings and gluteal muscles. To perform a dumbbell dip, stand with feet hip-width apart with a heavy dumbbell in each hand and space behind you. Swing one leg backward, hitting the ground with your toe as you lower your back knee toward the floor and bend your front knee into a 90-degree angle. Pulse lightly at the back of the move, and then push off of your toe to return to the starting position. This is one rep. Perform eight to 12 repetitions on each side.

Tube Walking

In all of your thigh training, don't neglect your abductors--the muscles that move your legs away from the center of your body to each side. Use a piece of exercise tubing, which is shaped like a giant rubber band, to provide greater resistance. Place the ring around your ankles and stand with your feet hip-width apart, just far enough to create slight tension in the band. Lower your hips into a squat position and step to the side with one leg. Bring the opposite leg toward it, maintaining the lowered squat position. Walk all the way to one side of the room, and then repeat toward the other side to work your opposite leg.

Squat Jumps

The American Council on Exercise recommends plyometric training to increase strength in your legs by stretching a muscle before performing a jump. This yields a higher vertical jump for greater strength and performance in sports and other active endeavors. You should be able to perform a basic squat with proper form before attempting this exercise. If not, visit the ACE exercise library to learn more. To perform squat jumps, bring yourself into lowered squat position--this provides the stretch--then explode upwards, jumping off of the floor. Land just behind the balls of your feet. This is one rep. Work up to performing 12 squat jumps. Ensure you have a soft landing space, such as a mat or carpeted floor. To protect your joints, avoid performing the move on hard surfaces such as concrete.