First, let's just get something out of the way real quick. The word tone does not really describe any physiological process. But, as I regularly coach women, I know exactly what you mean when you say that you want to 'tone your inner thighs.'



There are only two physiological processes that can improve the appearance of your body. One is fat loss. Lose fat - fit into smaller jeans. The other one is muscle building. Now don't freak out, I don't mean to turn you into Arnold Schwarzenegger. Building a little extra muscle will make your body firmer and curvier.

In order to tone your inner thighs, you have to lose fat from them, and build a bit of muscle.

Before I show you how, I have to get something else out of the way first. You cannot choose to lose fat from a specific place on your body. So if you are going to lose fat from your inner thighs, you are going to lose fat from all over your body (this is a good thing).When building muscle, it is possible to target specific areas of your body.

The best approach to toning your inner thighs is to:

1. Include exercises for the entire body in order to burn that fat everywhere (including inner thighs).

2. Include exercises to build a little extra muscle around the inner thighs and thus make them firmer.

Luckily, the same exercise that tone your inner thighs will help you burn fat all over your body. I'll give you the effective exercises, but before I do, I want to tell you about the one exercise - that you probably love - that is not effective.

The fancy name for the exercise is hip adduction, but you may know it as the 'innie machine.' It's the one where you sit with your legs spread wide and try to close them against resistance. It is probably the all-time favorite for female gym members around the world.

I understand why you may want to do that exercise: it seems to be the best way to work the very area your are concerned about. But there is one big problem with this approach.

The best way to target a muscle is to use it according to its function. The collection of muscles that for your inner thigh are technically called the 'adductors' and these adductors' primary roles is not to move your upper thigh in as you would on the 'innie machine.'

The adductors are designed to stabilize your body during single leg activities such as walking and running. Therefore, the best exercises for your inner thighs are those where you are on one leg. Some of the best ones are: split-squats, lunges, step-ups, and single leg squats. You can google these to see how to perform them.

Get off the 'innie machine' and start doing these exercises and you will start burning fat all over you body, tone your inner thighs, and fit back into your skinny jeans.