Thigh Exercises - Work Your Thighs Harder With A Cable Machine!

by Amanda Wright
(Rudgwick, West Sussex)

If your gym has a low pulley cable machine that you can use for thigh exercises, you can work your thighs a lot harder than on the sit down machines.

To work the adductors (inner thighs). Attach an ankle attachment to a low pulley cable machine. Stand side on to machine, and attach strap to the ankle closest to the machine. Set the weight to a moderate weight that will allow 12 - 15 repetitions (the last few should feel quite hard!.

Take a stride out to the side, so you have some resistance to resist! Stand nice and tall, pull your belly button towards your spine, hips stay facing forward, breathe out as you pull your leg just infront of and past your other leg.

As with all thigh exercises, use small and controlled movements, you should feel a contraction in your inner thigh of your working leg.

To work the abductors (outer thigh) and gluteus medius. Same leg, now turn yourself around. Same starting position as above, but you are now going to take your working leg, the outside one, outwards to the side. You should feel this now in the outside of thigh and bottom.

Now there's more to these thigh exercises, if you are up for the challenge. Again same leg, now face the machine, again take a small step back, when ready, take your leg directly backwards, to work your hip extensors. Then again turn around, so you are now facing away from the machine, and perform a knee raise, this works our hip extensors. Again, aim for 12 - 15 reps for each exercise, and of course remember to do the whole lot on the other leg.

Give it a go, I promise that these thigh exercises work, also fantastic for hip mobility, as well as working your abdominals!!