Your thighs can tell a story about your overall health. Most body fat accumulates around the midsection, putting the internal organs and heart in jeopardy. The thighs are also good fat storage areas. These muscles are big, leaving plenty of room for fat. The good news is, these areas are easy to target, because so many exercises work your thighs and cause you to “feel the burn”.
It’s important for your health and weight control to feel the burn when you exercise your thighs, because this area really helps control your metabolism. The faster you can get these muscles moving, the higher your metabolism will become. This doesn’t mean weight training quickly between repetitions, but, rather, getting your legs moving quickly on a bicycle or through sprints.
Resistance training is also crucial in working the thighs. These muscles have to have strength to boost your metabolism. Cycling and running will easily build strength. Toss in some targeted weight training, and you have a great recipe for great-looking thighs.
Try these exercises to really feel the burn and work the thighs:
Cycling. Can be done on the road or on a recumbent/stationary bike. Vary your levels. Begin easy, and increase the resistance after 5 minutes.
From there, increase the resistance every 2-3 minutes. Bring it back down toward the end and always cool-down. Workouts can last anywhere from 5-30 minutes. Longer training sessions will be for athletes training for specific events.
Sprints. Running is great. Sprints are better. Always warm-up first, then find and open area, such as a football field at a park, and run 20-yard sprints. Progress to 30- and 40- yard sprints. Run 2 sets of 10 sprints at the beginning and work your way up to more sets and reps.
Lunges. Stand upright and take one step forward, bending the forward knee and keeping the foot flat on the ground. Keep your knees in line with your toes. The back leg will also bend and the heel can come off the ground. Don’t let the back knee touch the ground. Squeeze the glutes as you lunge to avoid too much hamstring action. Return to the starting position and switch legs. Start with no weights and progress to weighted lunges. Do 10-15 reps 3 times on each leg.
Wall Squats. Put a Swiss ball behind you in the small of your back against a wall. Bend at the knees, keeping the spine straight and hips back. Your thighs shouldn’t go lower than parallel to the ground. Keep your shins vertical, so your knees stay behind your toes. Do 2 sets of 15-20 reps. To really feel the burn, hold the last repetition as long as you can. This will help you work fatigues muscles and get results fast.
Power Jumps. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Now dip down at your hips and knees and explode up, jumping as high as you can. 
Land as softly as you can, and then lower yourself and repeat. Do 3 sets of 10 to 15 jumps. For additional ab work, while jumping bring your knees up and out at a 45-degree angle toward your shoulders. Gently tap your knees or thighs during this motion.
Feel the burn in these exercise. Power though the pain and your thighs will thank you.
