Building impressive legs is more than just crushing your quads and raising those calf muscles. To sculpt some seriously impressive pins, you’ll also need to dial into the details in order to create legendary legs. Fortunately, bodybuilders like two-time Olympia Figure champion, Erin Stern know that photoshoot-worthy legs are the result of quality workouts that are completed away from the flashbulbs. Here’s how to replicate her reps.
Short on time? This is the type of session that will get you in shape for the summer and can be done at the gym or at home. “Three exercises for inner thighs that don’t require using the adductor machine,” touted Stern as she demonstrated a convenient workout for her almost 400K Instagram followers.
Erin Stern’s Top 3 Inner Thigh Exercises for Muscle Growth
Deep Sumo Squats
Stern suggests that any variation on the deep sumo squat is a great way to tax the inner thighs. If just starting out, you can master the form with your body weight or be like this Olympian who demonstrated her discipline with a heavy dumbbell. While this move certainly hits the quads, you’ll also activate those harder to reach muscle groups, such as the adductor magnus that runs down the rear of the inner thigh, and the gracilis muscle in the mid-inner thigh.
In terms of positioning, “Get the upper leg below parallel,” advised Stern. For a deep squat, try to get the hamstrings below the knee. “You’ll get the adductors to really work here,” she explained.
Lateral Lunges
While the quads are once again doing the the work out in front, your inner thighs will be recruited during lateral lunges, even more so when utilizing a dumbbell for additional load. Inner thigh muscles worked here include the adductor magnus and also the adductor brevis and longus muscles that run towards the upper-inner thigh.
“Lateral lunges and variations like the Cossack squat are effective at targeting the inner things,” adds the coach.
Bench Adductor Lifts
Also known as the Copenhagen hip adduction, this move taxes the adductor longus, brevis, magnus, and gracilis, collectively known as the “hip adductors.” This is a particularly efficient exercise, because it isolates said adductors and requires only your bodyweight to make serious gains. As the top leg holds the bodyweight on an elevated platform such as a bench, your bottom leg is raised to the level of the bench for the contraction, and then slowly brought back down.
“This one hits the inner thighs on both sides, and as a bonus, hits the abs!” explained Stern after completing her winning workout. The key to all these moves is to focus on the contraction and avoid injury by finding the stretch but not going beyond what is comfortable. And, the best part about this workout is that it doesn’t require a machine, or any specialist equipment. So, in just three moves, you’ll be shaping some photo worthy thighs.
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