7 Best Outer Thigh Workouts

When it comes to leg training, most people focus on glutes, quads, and hamstrings. But your outer thighs — crucial for stability, athletic movement, and that sculpted side-leg look — deserve attention too.

This guide will break down:

Outer thigh anatomy
How to build muscle and tone the area
The 7 best exercises for outer thighs
Tips for fat loss
Sample workouts to build strong, defined outer thighs

outer thigh exercises

What muscles make up the outer thighs?

Your outer thigh is primarily composed of hip abductors, which move your leg away from your body's midline and stabilize your pelvis during movement.

Gluteus Medius & Minimus: The "side butt" and its smaller sibling, essential for hip stability and leg abduction.
Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL): Small outer hip muscle that works with the glutes.
Piriformis: Helps rotate and abduct the hip when the leg is flexed.
Sartorius: Longest muscle in the body; helps flex and rotate the thigh.

toning outer thigh muscle exercises

How to build your outer thigh muscles

You can't spot-reduce fat, but you can build muscle in your outer thighs and reduce overall body fat to reveal it. Here's how:

Strength Train: Use compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, lunges) as your foundation.
Track Your Nutrition: Eat in a calorie surplus to gain muscle or a slight deficit to lose fat. Aim for 0.8-1g of protein per pound of body weight.
Train 2-3x per Week: Progressive overload is key—improve weight, reps, or difficulty weekly.

The biggest macro that contributes to muscle gain is protein. Utilizing a higher protein diet will have significantly better results in building muscle and losing fat than those with lower protein intake¹. A gradual increase of 1 pound a week has shown to be the most effective route for building muscle and not adding excess fat².

exercises for outer hips and thighs

7 Best Exercises for Outer Thighs

From compound exercises like goblet squats and Romanian deadlifts to isolation moves like lateral raises, we've got your lower body, outer thighs, in particular, covered with these 7 moves.

1. Goblet squats:

The goblet squat is a squat variation where you hold a dumbbell at chest level.

Why it works: Squatting with a dumbbell or kettlebell at chest level builds total leg strength, especially glutes and outer thighs.

How to do a Goblet Squat:

To get into the squat position, pick a dumbbell up and hold it vertically with both hands under the flat part of the dumbbell. Set your feet about hip-width apart for your squat
Think about twisting your feet out in your shoes (without actually moving your feet) to help activate all of the muscles of your outer leg and, most importantly, glutes and outer thighs. Keep the tension as you begin to lower down in the squat while keeping a tight core and upright posture.
Lower down until parallel to the floor and pause to ensure you don’t springboard off your knees. You should feel the glutes squeezing the most here. Begin your ascent back to the starting position and repeat.

2. Romanian deadlift:

An important hinge exercise that targets your hamstrings and glutes, the Romanian deadlift.

Why it works: Builds hamstrings and glutes, including the glute-ham tie-in near the outer thigh.

How to do the Romanian Deadlift:

Grab a barbell or set of dumbbells and stand with feet hip-width apart, legs extended, and a tall posture with a slight bend in your knees.
Keep your back flat and start your hinge by pushing your hips back like they are reaching to the wall behind you. Allow your upper body to come forward at the same time as you slide the barbell or dumbbells down your leg (not touching).
Keep hinging but don’t necessarily reach for the ground; keep your arms pulled back and think more of folding your body up like a briefcase as you take your chest to your thighs. Don't lean forward.
Once you have reached your end range of motion, you should feel your hamstrings and glutes working. Slowly begin your ascent back to the starting position.

3. Curtsy lunge:

Functioning as a single-leg exercise, the curtsy lunge is a lunge variation we love. It will provide the best way to target and feel your outer thighs working and improve hip stability to help your body move better.

How to do the Curtsy Lunge:

Using a barbell, dumbbell, or your body weight, start standing in a hip-width position. Begin by taking your right leg and right foot back diagonally like you are reaching 7-8 PM on a clock.
As you reach back, lower your body almost into a single-leg squat with a diagonal kickstand. Your right knee should hover above the ground.
Keep your body upright as you lower to your deepest controlled depth.
Keep your hip pulled in, and when you begin to rise, power through that front leg, pressing the ground away. Repeat on the other leg with your left foot.

4. Lateral lunge:

outer thigh toning exercises

Although it is popular for inner thighs, this single leg movement also serves as an outer thigh and glute exercise. You've got to love a move that hits your inner and outer thigh!

How to do the Lateral Lunge:

Start standing in the same athletic hip-width stance as the above exercises with your knees slightly bent. Start with bodyweight or hold dumbbells at your sides without touching your hips.
Take a step out to the left to extend left leg, keeping both feet pointing straight. Keep the left leg straight and your left heel pushing into the ground as you land and lower into a single leg squat on the right leg. Keep your knee in line with your hip and toes.
Load into your glutes and outer thighs to absorb the force trying to push you to the right; after you have lowered down to parallel, push the ground away with power and return to the starting position bringing your body back together.

5. Cable lateral leg lift:

One of the few weighted isolation exercises that target the outer thigh area, the cable lateral leg lift strengthens the muscles as they take the leg away from your body in abduction.

A bonus is the constant cable tension during this movement. Don't forget your glute stretches when you're finished!

How to do the Cable Lateral Leg Lift:

Attach the cuff of the cable to your ankle on your right leg. Standing tall with the cable machine on your left leg and your right leg facing forward, keep your leg tight and your foot flexed as you take your leg straight out to the side.
Make sure your foot does not turn and stays facing straight forward. Keep your leg straight keeping toes pointed forward, raise it as far as possible without compromising form or position. Control the weight back down to starting position and repeat. Switch sides to target the opposite leg as well.

6. Clamshell:

This glute isolation exercise will help give you a serious burn to the outer thighs. It's excellent for strengthening the abductors, which are responsible for stabilizing the pelvis.

How to do the Clamshell:

Lie on your side with a band around your knees. Bend your legs so your feet are behind you and your leg is making a 90-degree angle. Think foot in line with the knee, knee in line with the hip, and hip in line with the shoulder.
Keep your feet together and raise your knee toward the ceiling. Focus on not letting your hip roll back as you move your knee. Return the knee down and repeat desired reps. Switch legs.

7. Glute Bridge Hip Abduction:

Glute bridges are great for, you guessed it, your glutes, and the hip abduction added at the end of the move is awesome for lifting your butt and sculpting your outer thighs. Adding a resistance band is a great way to make this move even harder.

How to do the Glute Bridge Hip Abduction:

Laying on your back, bend your knees, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Begin with the inner sides of your knees touching each other.
Raise your hips into the air, driving your right and left knee outward, so they push to each side. Continue lifting your hips as you contract your glutes.
Bring your knees back together before lowering your hips to the ground.

Slimming and Toning Your Outer Thighs

When it comes to losing weight in this area, make sure to have compassion for yourself. Women, in particular, may have a more challenging time with this area due to higher estrogen, a larger pelvis for giving birth, and the fact that it’s usually their most stubborn area for body fat loss³.

Remind yourself that if you don’t see results immediately, keep at it because it may be the last area where the fat comes off. We covered the importance of building muscle. Now, let’s talk about losing fat and reducing saddlebags in your outer thigh workout.

How do you lose fat and tone your outer thighs?

If you're aiming to slim down this area:

Create a calorie deficit: 200–500 fewer calories per day.
Strength train consistently
Track macros, especially protein (0.8-1g per pound of body weight)
Be patient: Outer thighs are a stubborn fat area for many, especially women.

outer thigh toning workout

Workouts For Toning Outer Thighs

Work these moves into at least one leg workout per week. For ideal results, incorporating these moves twice weekly (you could do option 1 at the beginning of the week and option 2 toward the end of the week) will ensure you're getting enough volume to grow your outer thigh muscles.

Lower body Workout option 1:

Goblet Squat: 3 sets x 10 reps
Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets x 6 reps
Curtsy Lunges: 3 sets x 10 reps per leg
Lateral Leg Raises: 2 sets x 15 reps

Lower body Workout option 2:

Goblet Squats: 3 sets x 5 reps
Romanian Deadlifts: 3 sets x 12 reps
Leg Lateral Lunges: 3 sets x 10 per leg
Banded Clamshells: 2 sets by 20 reps

Remember: Building Muscle is Key!

You should now have a better understanding of the importance of strong thighs and how to grow them. Remember, you can't burn thigh fat off specifically. You can build muscle in that area and then enter a calorie deficit as a way to lower your body fat.

And if you keep strength training and progressing, track your diet, master the big lifts and learn from the smaller ones, you'll be well on your way to legs that are not only sculpted but more importantly, properly strengthened.

Related: 9 Best Inner Thigh Exercises

References:

Campbell BI, Aguilar D, Conlin L, et al. Effects of High Versus Low Protein Intake on Body Composition and Maximal Strength in Aspiring Female Physique Athletes Engaging in an 8-Week Resistance Training Program. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. 2018;28(6):580-585. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2017-0389
Miles DS. Weight control and exercise. Clinics in Sports Medicine. 1991;10(1):157-169. Accessed August 21, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2015641/
Bulun SE, Simpson ER. Competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis indicates that levels of aromatase cytochrome P450 transcripts in adipose tissue of buttocks, thighs, and abdomen of women increase with advancing age. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1994;78(2):428-432. doi:10.1210/jcem.78.2.8106632