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Strengthen And Tone Your Inner Thighs With These Workouts – 21 Inner Thigh Exercises

Strengthen And Tone Your Inner Thighs With These Workouts – 21 Inner Thigh Exercises

by | May 25, 2016 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief, Stretches, Workouts

The inner thighs, or adductors, are a very interesting muscle group.

They are an area of the body that almost every woman complains about. That most men don’t care about (but they should!).

But they are also an area of the body that anyone with knee, hip, low back or even ankle pain needs to work and pay attention to…Especially if you have knee pain!

It is one of those few areas where we can kill two birds with one stone and not only work on those aesthetic complaints but also alleviate and prevent injury at the same time!

Another area like this is the glutes…Glute activation moves not only activate the glutes to prevent and alleviate injury but can also make those butt cheeks strong and perky! (Plus, it is important to activate those glutes while you work your adductors to help maintain balance and stability around the hip joint and prevent and alleviate knee and ankle pain.)

But the inner thighs aren’t only interesting because most people want to tone them and because they can be responsible for pain, especially knee pain.

The adductors are also an interesting area to work because they can be both tight AND weak. And both issues can create and perpetuate pain.

So including adductor or inner thigh exercises in your workout routine isn’t as simple as just doing some lunges.

To properly strengthen and tone your adductors to prevent and alleviate pain, you’ve got to not only strengthen them, but also stretch them and improve your mobility as you strengthen. That is why many of these moves can be both stretches and strengthening moves. It is important that you not only strengthen, but strengthen through a full range of motion.

Many of these moves may help you also improve your range of motion and then maintain that range of motion by strengthening through it. All too often we spend time stretching to then only lift through a limited range of motion, which in turn only tightens everything back up.

It is very important that we strengthen through a full range of motion to prevent and alleviate pain and truly strengthen and tone those inner thighs. That is why moves like the Cossack Squat are so important to include because they stretch and strengthen at the same time.

To improve our adductor strength and mobility at the same time, it is also important that we include adductor foam rolling moves and even some Jane Fonda-esque moves in our inner thigh routine as well as the stretching and strengthening exercises.

Check out these 21 Inner Thigh Exercises to strength and tone your adductors. Then try out some of the Inner Thigh Workouts using some of these 21 moves!

Inner Thigh Workouts – Strengthen Those Adductors

Below are a few different inner thigh workouts you can do to strengthen your adductors and even improve your mobility.

A few of them also include glute activation exercises because it is important to balance adductor work with glute activation work so that you don’t end up causing an imbalance and contributing to knee, hip or low back pain. Working your glutes, abduction muscles and adductors can create balance around your hip joint so it is important that you don’t ONLY strengthen your adductors.

Abs, Adductors and Glutes!

The Glute And Inner Thigh Workout

Quick Stretch and Activation Series

Abs, Adductors and Glutes! Workout

This is a great workout to work your core using Sliders! It will toast your abs, glutes and adductors!

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Quads
Groin
Hamstring
Hips/Glutes
Back/Chest
Shoulders/Forearms

WORKOUT

Set a timer for 25 minutes and complete as many rounds of the following circuit as you can! Record and try to beat it next time.

CIRCUIT:
8-12 reps per side Slider Skater Lunges
10-15 reps Slider Plank Jacks
8-12 reps Slider Kneeling Adduction
10-15 reps Slider Glute Bridge and Curl

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Quads
Groin
Hamstring
Hips/Glutes
Back/Chest
Shoulders/Forearms

NOTES: This is a great workout using sliders. If you don’t have sliders, glyders or valslides, use towels or even paper plates!

Quick Stretch and Activation Series

This is a great workout to stretch out tight adductors while strengthening them and your glutes!

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Quads
Groin (see the video for an adductor foam rolling move!)
Hamstring
Hips/Glutes

WORKOUT

Set a timer for 30 second intervals. Complete 1 round of the first circuit of stretches and then 2-3 rounds of the second activation circuit.

CIRCUIT #1:
30 seconds Prayer Squat
30 seconds Side to Side Lunge
30 seconds Frog Stretch
30 seconds each side Pigeon Pose
30 seconds each side Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch
30 seconds each side Seated Hamstring, Glute and Spinal Twist Complex

CIRCUIT #2:
30 seconds each side Warrior II
30 seconds Boat to Bridge Squeeze
30 seconds each side Side Plank with Adductor Lift
30 seconds Lower Ab Criss Cross

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Quads
Groin (see the video for an adductor foam rolling move!)
Hamstring
Hips/Glutes

NOTES: This is a great extended warm up before a lower body workout and a great recovery day program. If you are doing this as a warm up, probably only do one round of the activation.

Strengthen Your Core With Standing Core Exercises – 20 Standing Core Exercises

Strengthen Your Core With Standing Core Exercises – 20 Standing Core Exercises

by | Apr 30, 2016 | Blog, Core, Exercises

Working your core doesn’t have to mean getting down on the ground and doing planks, crunches or sit ups.

There are actually a number of great core-intensive exercises you can do standing. And these Standing Core Exercises can be a great way to work your core in every plane of motion and get in a great full-body workout.

They are some of the best ways to work your core because they work your core in a compound movement instead of simply isolating your abs. That means you can burn more calories in less time and you also strengthen your core in a functional way that helps you lift more and move better in everyday life.

If you are looking to add some variety to your workouts and challenge your core in a new way, try these 20 Standing Core Exercises.

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Full-Body Foam Rolling Moves – The RAD Kit

Full-Body Foam Rolling Moves – The RAD Kit

by | Apr 2, 2016 | Blog, Foam Rolling, Pain Relief

I’m always looking for new tools and instruments to not only improve my personal health and wellness, but also improve the quality of training that I can provide for my clients.

And if those tools come in a nice kit that clients can even get for their homes so that they are doing more things throughout the day to move and feel better, that makes me even happier.

So of course I was super excited when I found RAD Roller at the LA Fit Expo. After seeing their great product, the RAD Roller, which was a nicer variation of the Peanut I teach everyone how to make, I went to their site and ordered my own RAD Kit. I wanted to test out their complete line so I got the RAD All-In Kit.

rad roller kit

It was $140, which some may think is expensive but it came with, what I felt, were the tools to roll out EVERYTHING. It wasn’t just a big roller for $70 bucks (although I do love my full-sized Rumble Rollers as well).

I got the entire kit, and here are all the moves and ways I felt you could truly use it to roll out everything from head to toe. And the best part, if you are a messy person like me, it is easy to store everything in one place because the balls have spots in the blocks! WOO HOO! No more random balls all around the apartment!

SIDE NOTE: I have fallen in love with the RAD Roller so much that I’ve become an affiliate of their products. So of course I think you should get their stuff to do the movements below. HOWEVER, if you have other variations of these tools, you still need to do these moves as I’ve found these are some of the BEST to help prevent pain and injury especially if you sit at a desk all day!

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31 Push Up Variations – Intermediate and Advanced Variations

31 Push Up Variations – Intermediate and Advanced Variations

by | Mar 7, 2016 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Push Ups

The Push Up is a must-do move even though most of us need to make sure we do extra pulling exercises because we sit hunched over a computer for 9 hours a day.

So while you definitely need to include rows and pull ups and all sorts of pulling exercises in your workouts, you can still include Push Ups.

Push Ups are an important bodyweight exercise to include because they work not only your chest, shoulders and triceps but also your entire core. As I’ve mentioned before, Push Ups are basically just a moving Plank.

They can help train the muscles of your core to work together correctly. They can help you develop and improve your mind-body connection so that your core engages and works properly during compound exercises.

However, doing the same basic Push Up over and over again gets boring. Plus there are so many different variations out there that can work not only your upper body, but also your core, in different ways to focus on different muscle groups.

That is why it is important to include different Push Up variations in your workout routine. Check out these 31 Push Up Variations below for some great upper body and core exercises!

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10 Bodyweight Travel Exercises And A Quick Travel Workout

10 Bodyweight Travel Exercises And A Quick Travel Workout

by | Feb 22, 2016 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Travel Workouts, Workouts

When you travel it can be hard to keep up with your workout routine.

You may simply be busy, or relaxing or without access to your usual workout equipment. But that doesn’t have to mean you fall off your workout routine.

While you can take time off on vacation, it can be useful to have some Bodyweight Travel Exercises and quick Travel Workouts on hand, especially if you travel often. These moves and exercises can be something quick you do in your off time, even if all you have access to is the space in your hotel room.

Try these 10 Bodyweight Travel Exercises and Quick Travel Workout.

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Why Can’t I Do A Pull Up? – Three Keys To Achieving That First Pull Up

Why Can’t I Do A Pull Up? – Three Keys To Achieving That First Pull Up

by | Feb 11, 2016 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Pull Ups

Many of the clients that I work with come into the gym unable to do a Pull Up. And most have it as a main goal they would like to accomplish.

Some clients may have never even really tried to achieve that first Pull Up, believing that there was no way they would be able to do one while others may have been working toward it for awhile with no real progress forward.

Because the Pull Up is a unique exercise that not only requires strength, but also a mind-body connection that many people with a desk job simply don’t have. So it isn’t as simple as doing some back exercise and BAM! first Pull Up!

It isn’t even as simple as slowly progressing variations from easiest to hardest and BAM! first Pull Up.

Helping clients, or even yourself, achieve that first Pull Up is about building the mind-body connection, reversing the effects of sitting, strengthening your back and forcing your body to take on more and more challenging Pull Up variations. It is about a complete program of foam rolling, stretching, activation and strengthening exercises.

It is about a program that boils down to 3 key things – Activation, not using Assistance and lower reps. End of story.

You can do all the Inverted Rows and Machine-Assisted Pull Ups assisted Pull Ups you want and never achieve that first Pull Up if you don’t think about these 3 things.

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