This article provides some advice on toning bums, tums and thighs. For each exercise start with 10 repetitions, then repeat the circuit as many times as you feel comfortable. As you get fitter and stronger, perform more reps each time, moving to 20, then 30.
Single arm crunchies
Start as with normal crunchies lying on the floor with knees bent and hips width apart. Engage your abs, keep your neck and head in line with your spine, avoiding any curvature. Place your right hand behind your head and rest your left hand on your thigh.
Lift both shoulders off the floor while sliding your hand along your thigh to your knee. Hold, then return to the floor. Do not pull on your head. Switch hands and repeat. Aim to do 20 reps in total (10 on each side, alternating after each one).
The idea is that rather than performing the more common straight crunch your twist slightly to work one side of the stomach and then the other.
Knee Push Ups
Push ups are a great exercise, they strengthen your arms, shoulders and back as well as the chest. They will not make you look bulky! Performing knee push ups makes the exercise easier so that you should be able to perform 10 repeats. With your palms flat on the floor and fingers facing forwards lower your chest to the floor, keeping your back straight. The push yourself up. If your knees hurt try kneeling on a towel for better comfort.
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Inner thigh raises
The legs hold our biggest muscles, and exercising the legs is key to toning the thighs and buttocks.
These are done by laying down on your side with your legs straight and one foot resting on top of the other. Start on your right side.
Support your head with your right arm and place your left hand in front of your chest. Contract your abs and then move your left (top) leg so that it is pointing away from you, still on the floor.
With your right leg straight, lift it upwards off the floor. You should be able to lift it 10-15cm (4-6 inches) comfortable. Hold the lift for a few breaths and the relax, lowing the leg, but do not touch the floor. Repeat, ensuring that your foot does not touch the floor during the exercising. Perform 10-20 reps before rolling on to your left side to do the same with your left leg.
Squats
Squats are one of the best exercises, both for building strength and toning. Athletes, footballers, dancers and martial artists all perform squats to build strength and muscle. These are key to toning up the thighs and bottom.
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Squats work the largest muscles of the body, the glutes, which are the muscles that form the shape of the bum. They also work the thighs and hips too.
To perform a squat simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your toes pointing forward or slightly to the side. Then bend at the knees and keeping your back straight lower your body downwards as if you are about to sit down. Make sure that your bodyweight is kept to the rear and that your knees do not extend further forward than your toes.
Squat down as far as is comfortable, aim to squat so that your thighs are parallel to the floor. It may take some practice to go this low.
If you struggle to squat low enough you can assist yourself by holding on to the back of a chair with arms stretched out. Face a chair away from you and then as you squat support yourself and aid yourself when push to come up again.
Warming up and cooling down
It is important that you perform a warm up and a cool down before and after your main exercises. A warm up ensures that blood is flowing to your muscles and that your ligaments and tendons are ready for some work. This is a good time to do your cardio workout – a gentle job for 10-15 minutes is a good way to warm up.
The cool down is best done with stretching. Stretching helps your body to become more flexible and this reduces risk of injury from exercise. Also when you can move through a greater motion you can work yourself harder, such as squatting lower or running with a longer stride.
Ideally by the time you have finished your cool-down your heart rate should have returned to normal and you are no longer sweating heavily.
Web resources
- “The ultimate legs, bums and tums workout“, by Jacqui Ripley, iVillage
- Advice and instruction on exercising thighs: www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt.html
- Which is best? spinning…or bums, tums and thighs?! - NetMums.com
I have a high stomach and find it so hard to lose weight here, I eat healthy and walk daily, please advice….I’m 5ft3″ and weigh 9stones…I’d like to lose a stone and tone up….
Hi Mary. Really for you diet is the key for now. You need to try to reduce your sugar intake as much as possible, cut out high GI carbohydrates (all breads, biscuits, cakes etc) and many medium too. Get a majority of your carbs from nutritious vegetables (many colours).
For exercise, a combination of intensive cardio and weight training (on different days ideally). By intensive cardio we mean that you have to workout hard, for short intervals (can be 20 seconds to 60 seconds) you workout as hard as possible, with 100% effort. Then slow down and recover, then repeat.
Do this, and also start some weight training, and the toning will come naturally. First, fat loss (diet) and fat burning (exercise).
hi, I’m just wanting some help on how to tone my bum and thighs I’m of slim-med built just want to know the best and fast way to getting results
Hi Rebecca, you cannot really beat squats and lunges. Just perform as many as you can of each then stretch afterwards. Simple, yet very effective.
This is a great workout, and certainly the right way to go about getting into shape. Although diet is important, all too often women obsess about it too much and neglect the basics, like doing squats and exercising hard to get fit. Women want to look “fit” without being FIT.
Belly Jackson recently wrote What Is Cross Fit and How Does It Work
I gave birth 6 months ago and am finding it hard to lose the baby weight. I have always been a size 10/12, but since having my son I am a 12/14. My problem areas are my tummy, hips and bum. I don’t have time to exercise or the energy to diet. I am 5’5″ and weigh 10lbs 10oz.
Thanks
Hi Victoria. The only way you are going to lose your baby fat is through diet and exercise. I am sure that you do have time for exercise, and the energy to diet. For exercise all you need is about 20-30 minutes a day. This can be in the evening after your baby is asleep. As for diet, a healthy natural diet is key. If you eat a healthy diet with no sugar, no processed food, no junk food, no soda etc. then you will probably have more energy than you do now.
If you are willing to commit to a diet a exercise plan I can provide some more information. There is also a free weight loss eBook here that you can download that provides some good introductory nutrition and fitness advice.
i love this, im very skinny but the excess skin i has has no muscle or tone, so if i do this every night hopefully i will get some results xx
You should do. Remember to eat protein every day to help tone the muscles.
HI just wanted to know how many calories you lose doing these exercises if anything,i do the btt in my local gym as a group class and need to input it in my fitness pal but not sure what to enter it as. Is it strength or cardiovascular and what is the description of what is done and how many repeats
It is difficult to say with any accuracy. Probably around 150 Calories for the 15 minutes, but that is a real estimate. These are mostly anaerobic exercises, so strength exercise.
Hi, I don’t need to lose any weight (5’6″ and 54kg and 48 years old), but do need to tone my tummy, bum and thighs. These exercises sound ideal, but you don’t give any indication of how often they should be done. Every day, every other day, twice a week?? Which is ideal for simply toning, as I don’t need to lose weight?
3 times a week would be good for toning.
hi im a slim/med build and want to build as much muscle on my glutes as i can do you reccomend ths class for me ? x
Hi, yeah, these classes, or classes that focus on these exercises will help you. To build glutes the main exercises to do are squats though and you can do these at home. Just start performing squats, both bodyweight squats and weighted squats.
i have a small upper body but i really want to lose my bum and thighs, i wear a uk 8/10 (8 in most cases) top and 10/12 bottom. I really want to know how to lose my bum fast and how many times i should do the squats in a week.
Hi Lara, if you goal is to make your bum smaller then more cardio to burn off fat is probably best. However, this may affect upper body too. Squats will build up your glutes and without fat reduction could make your bum seem larger. Really you need to focus on being healthy and working on your fitness and do some strength training, then let nature take care of how the body fat is distributed.
hi
i am 14 years old and i am quite happy with my body but i think the only thing i would like to change about it is my HIPS, THIGHS, and BUM ! it is summer in australia and im too scared to wear my bikini because of these problem areas on my body, i need urgent help ! i don’t need to loose weight nessisarily, just TONE these areas. could you please suggest ways that i could get rid of my flabby hips, thighs, and bum.. and transform them into an ideal shape ?? thankyouu 
x
Hi Katherine, really you need to take regular exercise. A combo of running and bodyweight exercises really will sort out those areas. Fitness is the key and squats and lunges should be your main exercises.