Many girls dream of toned and thin legs with slender hips but you may be very thin. And skinny legs with very less muscle mass may not appear good in short skirts, booty shorts or tight jeans. By being too skinny, you can become the subject of jokes and ridicule and may not feel your best. While you may not be able to gain weight on a body’s specific area, however, you can increase the muscle mass of your hips and thighs so as to create a fitter and fuller look.
Foods for Bigger Thighs
Calories and Weight Gain
As you can’t selectively lose weight from a specific part of a body, similarly, you can’t gain weight on your buttocks and thighs. But, you may follow a diet to gain weight over your whole body and simultaneously do exercises to increase muscle on your buttocks and thighs.
To begin, consult a dietitian to find out the amount of calories you require for maintaining your current weight-it depends on your gender, activity level and age. Add about 300-500 calories to this amount. Consuming this extra amount of calories will make you gain 1/2 – 1 pound per week. You should consume a nutritious diet to not only increase your calories but also get the nutrients that you require to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
Protein Foods
Include lots of protein rich foods (high-quality) in your diet to grow buttocks and thighs. Proteins provide amino acids that help in building extra muscles in the lower body. People who follow a diet for strength training require between 0.5 and 0.8 g of protein per day for every pound of body weight. This is equal to 80 to 110 g of protein for a person weighing 135 pounds or 106 to 145 g of protein for a person weighing 180 pounds.
You can add protein foods for bigger thighs in a lot of ways to your meals. Add an egg to your soup while it cooks or add a large slice of egg in a salad and it adds 6 g of protein or 72 calories. Add one portion of Greek yogurt to one bowl of oatmeal or a glass of smoothie and add 12 g of protein and 160 calories. Some more high quality proteins that you can add your diet are lean beef, tofu, fatty fish, beans, lentils and white-meat poultry (skinless).
Healthy Fat
Fat gives the highest amount of calories-9 calories per gram, whereas protein provides only 4 calories per gram. Hence, by including healthy fats in your diet you can easily boost your daily calorie intake. You can add a tbsp of olive oil to your salad dressing-it gives 125 calories. Snack on nuts-for instance, 2 oz almonds contains 325 calories. You can also add nut butters in your smoothies, toast or cereal-2 tbsp of peanut butter has 185 calories. You can also mix peanut butter in vegetable stews to get a unique flavor and creamy texture.
Other Foods for Bigger Thighs
For healthy gain of weight, you should fill your diet with plenty of nutritious foods. Apart from vegetables, add whole grains such as quinoa, brown rice, amaranth, or pasta or bread made from whole grain to provide quality carbohydrates. Carbohydrates form the major energy source for your brain and muscles; hence, they help in keeping you active along with boosting your intake of calories. Also include vegetables and fruits in your diet as they are a rich source of essential minerals and vitamins.
Drink Plenty of Water
Stay hydrated all through the day by consuming at least eight to ten glasses of fluids including water. This helps your body in processing protein and in keeping you active and healthy. Consuming enough water also helps in building thick muscles easily.
Take Supplements
You should consume supplements carefully as they are not proven to help growth of muscles. Do some research to determine which supplements are good for you. Creatine is one such supplement used for building muscle, which is safe when taken in recommended dose.
It’s imperative to not rely only on supplements for bigger butts and thighs but to also exercise and eat foods for bigger thighs. There exist no pills that can result in a miracle and make your butts and thighs bigger.
Exercises to Get Bigger Thighs
You shouldn’t worry in case you are starting strength training as a beginner. To get bigger thighs, you don’t need to lift much weight or do complex moves. Your workouts must focus on strengthening the hamstrings muscles on back of thighs, quadriceps on front of thighs and glute muscles in butt. It is good to do workout on lower body 2-3 times per week. Also make sure to include a few exercises of the upper body in your routine. Do some cardio exercise on days when you are not doing strength training.
Seven Exercises for the Butt, Thighs and Hips
Begin without weight and you can add weight later on to make the exercise challenging and increase your potential of muscle building.
- Squats with single leg: Stand ahead of a chair. Lift the right foot upwards and extend out ahead of yourself and sit in the chair. Now stand up on your left leg. Do 10-20 repetitions. Switch legs. When adding weight, hold dumbbells at the height of shoulders.
- Lunge with step-up: Stand ahead of a sturdy chair. Step on the chair with right foot. Now bring left foot upwards, bend your knee and keep the left thigh parallel to ground. Step off chair while reversing the movement. Now by taking a big step backwards with the right foot, come in a lunge by bending the back and front knees to 90 degrees angle. Pressing into back foot, come back to the starting point. Repeat 10-20 times. Switch sides.
- Sumo squats: Stand with feet at width more than your hips. Bend at the knees and hips, keeping the torso straight and shoulders back while lowering the butts downwards towards ground. Stop when you reach the ground, then stand up. Repeat 10-20 times.
- Hip thrusts with single leg: Lie on the back with left foot on seat of chair. Extend right leg towards ceiling. Push through left foot and raise hips off floor. Take them as high as possible. Then lower them slowly. Repeat 10-20 times on both sides.
- Step-ups on sides with side kick: Stand in front of a sturdy chair. Step right feet upwards, now bring left foot upwards next to the right foot, then raise left leg outwards towards your side as high as possible. Now bring left leg back, and then bring down first left foot, then right foot. Repeat 10-20 times on both sides.
- Fire Hydrants: Position yourself on all fours such that your wrists are aligned under the shoulders and the knees are aligned under the hips. Take right knee off floor and open the hip out to side as high as possible. Take it to the starting point. Repeat for 10-20 times on both sides.
- Side lunges: Stand straight with feet together. Move to right taking a big step with right foot. Bent your knee and lower into a lunge. Push the hips down and back while keeping the torso upright. Stop in this position, then pushing through the right foot; bring yourself to the left foot. Do 12-20 repetitions on both sides. A weight can be added by holding dumbbell in front of the chest with both the hands.