Tone your inner thighs: A superfast short-shorts shape-up - Target Training

Shape, May, 2002 by Stacy Whitman

TRAINER'S STRATEGY

Do an isolation move, then a compound move and another isolation move to fatigue all inner-thigh muscles.

WHY IT WORKS

"The inner-thigh muscles are hard to target," says trainer Jill Watson. For quick results, she says this three-move combo works all five adductor muscles to the point of fatigue if you progress from more weight and fewer reps to less weight and more reps with each exercise. It targets inner thighs from multiple angles, a "must" for maximum benefits. Watson starts with a machine-based isolation move that "puts positive stress solely on the addudor muscles," she says. Once your adductors are whupped, double your inner-thigh benefit with a compound move, the side lunge, which brings in assisting muscles (like the quads) and works both inner thighs in each phase of movement. The last isolation move finishes the job by targeting your inner thighs from yet another angle.

MUSCLE MECHANICS

Your inner-thigh muscles, or "hip adductors," move your legs toward and across the midline of your body. They include the adductors magnus, longus and brevis, and the gracilis and pectineus. The gracilis and pectineus are also hip flexors. All attach to your pubis bone and insert on your femur (thighbone). The gracilis, however, attaches to the head of the tibia (lower leg bone). The adductors stabilize and integrate the movements of your legs and pelvis as you walk, stand, climb and lunge.

DETAILS

Incorporate these moves into your strength-training routine. Begin each session with a 5-minute cardio warm-up. End each by stretching your inner-thigh muscles, holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds without bouncing.

SHAPE READER MODEL

RELATED ARTICLE: MUSCLES WORKED

Reader model Lisa Hourin, 29, does weight-lifting and cardiovascular exercise for 45 minutes each 3-5 times a week. A personal trainer, she advises clients to do a variety of activities. "Get outside if you're normally in a gym and vice versa," she says. "It will alleviate boredom and give your body new stimuli so you keep seeing results." ' WHAT WORKS As a 1988 Olympic bronze medalist in pairs figure skating, Jill Watson knows the importance of developing your inner-thigh muscles. "Unless you do specific exercises to. strengthen them, the adductor muscles are likely to atrophy," says Watson, a certified trainer at Cardio. Fit in Mission Viejo, Calif., and an Olympic figure-skating coach. If you let them waste away, you could wind up with an imbalance between' your inner and outer thighs that puts you at risk for injury. "Outer thighs tend to be stronger because we work them more in everyday activities such as walking," Watson adds. "It's essential to create a balance between the opposing muscle groups both for overall tone and to keep yourself from getting hurt."

WHAT WORKS As a 1988 Olympic bronze medalist in pairs figure skating, Jill watson knows the importance of developing your inner-thigh muscles. "Unless you do specific exercises to strengthen them, the adductor muscles are likely to atrophy," says Watson, a certified trainer at Cardio Fit in Mission Viejo, Calif., and an Olympic figure-skating coach. If you let them waste away, you could wind up with an imbalance between your inner and outer thighs that puts you at risk for injury. "Outer thighs tend to be stronger because we work them more in everyday activities such as walking," Watson adds. "It's essential to create a balance between the opposing muscle groups both for overall tone and to keep yourself from getting hurt."

These exercises target your inner-thigh muscles:

1. pectineus

2. adductor brevis

3. adductor longus

4. gracilis

5. adductor magnus