Can You Slim Your Legs with Exercises?

What makes our legs more or less slim?

Here’s everything that contributes to the appearance of leg volume.

🦴 Bones

The bone structure of each person is unique and genetically determined.

The size and shape of bones directly influence the overall shape of the legs. People with thinner bones will naturally have slimmer legs compared to those with thicker bones.

💪 Muscles

The muscle mass of the legs, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and glutes, can vary depending on physical activity and genetics.

More developed muscles give a wider appearance to the legs, while less developed muscles make them appear slimmer.

Muscle tone also plays a role in the appearance of the legs.

🍔 Fat

The distribution and thickness of subcutaneous fat are influenced by genetics and hormones.

Some people store more fat in their legs, making them appear wider.

Reducing overall body fat through healthy eating and exercise can contribute to slimmer legs.

🧴 Skin

Skin elasticity and thickness vary with age, genetics, and overall health.

Thinner and more elastic skin can give a slimmer appearance to the legs, while thicker skin may make them look wider.

🦵 Other tissues

Connective tissues, such as ligaments and tendons, play a role in the structure and function of the legs.

Although they have a lesser impact on leg slimness compared to bones, muscles, and fat, they still contribute to the overall leg shape.

Muscle strengthening exercises mainly affect muscles and fat. There are some components that cannot be influenced.

Can exercising really help slim down the legs?

Compared to doing nothing specific (i.e., sitting on the couch), it is reasonable to believe that regularly practicing exercises can alter the appearance of the legs.

Before discussing which exercises to do, let’s first understand how exercises theoretically can change the appearance of the legs.

🔥 Overall body fat reduction

Engaging in cardiovascular exercises (which elevate your heart rate and make you breathe harder) burns calories to provide energy to your muscles.

Over time and with regular practice, this cardiovascular activity can contribute to reducing overall body fat, including fat stored in the legs.

💪 Muscle toning

By strengthening your leg muscles, you can improve their definition and shape, which can give your legs a firmer and more sculpted appearance (but not necessarily less volume).

⚙️ Metabolism improvement

Increasing muscle mass through exercise can boost your basal metabolism, which is the amount of calories your body burns at rest to maintain vital functions.

The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism, which can facilitate weight loss, including fat loss in the legs.

🔄 Improved blood and lymphatic circulation

Regular exercise promotes blood and lymphatic circulation throughout the body, including the legs.

Better circulation can help eliminate toxins and metabolic waste from tissues, reduce water retention, and promote healthier skin.

This can contribute to reducing the appearance of cellulite and improving the texture of the skin on the legs.

What do studies say about validating these theoretical hypotheses? Here’s a brief summary.

🇯🇵 A Japanese study [Miura 2009] examined the effects of three sessions per week of single-leg cycling for one hour in sedentary young women under 30 years old, over three months.

Despite improvements in endurance in the trained leg, there were no significant changes in fat or non-fat tissue areas between the trained and untrained legs!

🇩🇰 A Danish team [Kolnes 2021] synthesized knowledge on the impact of physical exercise in people with obesity.

Even without weight loss, exercise improves body composition by reducing fat mass and increasing muscle mass in this population.

What should you take away from this? If you’re implementing exercises specifically to improve the appearance of your legs, it’s beneficial to objectively measure before and after (with photos or tape measurements) to assess the potential impact of the exercises on you.

Which exercises to prioritize?

There are two types of exercises to prioritize, which I have been doing myself for years as part of a broader lifestyle approach.

I’ll describe them with photos 🙂.

+++ Cardiovascular Exercise

This type of physical exercise will help slim your legs.

The idea is to engage in at least 1.5 hours per week of physical activity that causes continuous breathlessness: you can talk but are out of breath throughout the effort.

Breathlessness indicates that your body is burning calories and thus fat.

Activities such as brisk walking, running, cycling, swimming, or even fitness classes or dance are ideal.

Depending on your starting level, walking briskly at 5 km/h on flat ground may suffice. Conversely, if you are already very fit, you may need to walk uphill, run, skate, etc.

In my case:

• I run for 30 minutes twice a week.
• I walk on flat terrain for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours 2 to 3 times a week.
• I walk uphill and downhill with steep elevation gain for 15 minutes twice a week.

Leg Muscle Strengthening Exercises

These exercises are aimed at building muscle volume in your legs. However, they are relevant for slimming legs because they increase your muscle mass, which in turn increases the calories you burn at rest “doing nothing.”

Here are the exercises I do 1 to 2 times a week. It’s ideal to perform exercises that engage multiple muscles simultaneously, which is what I do.

🚨 These exercises are not suitable if you have knee pain or if you feel you’re not in good physical condition.

In these situations, I recommend consulting with your physiotherapist to find exercises tailored to your needs!

➡️ Exercise 1: Single-leg squat.

Balance on one leg, then squat down as low as possible. Rise back up while maintaining a slight knee bend before repeating.

I do 20 repetitions on each leg in sequence, and 3 sets. Adjust the volume according to your fitness level! You can also go deeper, up to 90 degrees: again, I adjust based on my current condition.

➡️ Exercise 2: Jump squats

Stand with your feet slightly apart. Squat down to 90 degrees on both legs, then jump into the air. Land back on both feet, squatting down to 90 degrees again, and repeat.

I do 3 sets of 20 jumps.

➡️ Exercise 3: Single-leg glute bridge

Lying on your back with knees bent, lift your hips while extending one leg. Raise the extended leg as high as possible, then lower it back down while keeping your hips elevated.

Remember to engage your core and squeeze your glutes throughout.

I do 3 sets of 20 leg lifts on each side (20 on one side, then 20 on the other).

Sometimes I add other exercises, but these three are the minimum I’ve been doing weekly for the past 10 years!

What else can you do to achieve your goals?

The most challenging part is usually maintaining these practices over time. Here are some tips to maximize your chances of sticking with them 🙂

📣 Commit to someone. Tell someone close to you or a professional that you intend to do X sessions of Y per week.

📝 Record your physical activity in a notebook or on an app.

📊 Quantify using a pedometer or an app like Strava.

🤝 Combine usefulness with enjoyment by exercising with someone else. This can even be done remotely by scheduling a call with someone. Or it can replace a weekly bar meetup to catch up with friends: you can arrange to chat while walking!