{"id":988017,"date":"2026-08-08T02:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/988017\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:15:23","slug":"4-standing-exercises-to-firm-outer-thighs-after-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/988017\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Standing Exercises to Firm Outer Thighs After 60"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strong thighs play an essential role in daily movement.<\/p>\n

Your outer thighs play a crucial role in daily movement, but they often don\u2019t receive the attention they deserve in workouts. The outer thighs help stabilize the hips<\/a>, support the knees, and keep the pelvis level so you can walk, run, and climb stairs with ease. Building outer thigh strength can also reduce your risk of injury.<\/p>\n

That said, firming and strengthening your outer thighs<\/a> can be a challenging process\u2014but we\u2019re here to help. We spoke with Domenic Angelino, MS, MPH, CSCS, CPT<\/b><\/a>, Chief Exercise Scientist at FitCraft<\/a>, who shares four standing exercises<\/a> to add to your workout routine to achieve real results.<\/p>\n

\tStanding Hip Abductions<\/p>\n

\u201cYou generally want to keep your torso rigid and straight while lifting one leg up laterally. This lets you directly train your hip abductor muscles, like your gluteus medius and tensor fascia latae,\u201d Angelino explains. \u201cThis exercise is great because you can perform it with just your bodyweight, with cables, or with resistance bands. Plus, you can perform it standing next to a wall for extra safety and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Begin by standing tall with your feet hip-width apart and hands on your hips.<\/li>\n
  2. Activate your core and shift your weight onto your left leg.<\/li>\n
  3. Keep your right leg straight and toes pointed forward as you lift it out to the side as high as you\u2019re comfortably able to.<\/li>\n
  4. Hold at the top for a moment before lowering for 3 seconds.<\/li>\n
  5. Repeat on the other side.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    4 Bed Exercises That Restore Thigh Strength Faster Than Squats After 65<\/a><\/p>\n

    \tLateral Lunges<\/p>\n

    Lateral lunges activate the vastus lateralis (the outer-side part of the front thigh) and the gluteus medius.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThis exercise is particularly helpful for training the outer thighs because it allows you to work in a very deep range of motion, essentially going as far as your mobility allows you to lunge down, and doing so with weight,\u201d Angelino says. \u201cWhen you press off the ground with your foot to stand back up, you\u2019ll be engaging outer thigh muscles that work at your knee joint, and outer butt muscles that work at your hip joint.\u201d6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.<\/li>\n
    2. Take a big step out to the side with your left foot, press your hips back, and lower into a lateral lunge.<\/li>\n
    3. Press through your left heel to rise back up.<\/li>\n
    4. Repeat on the other side.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      5 Bed Exercises That Restore Thigh Strength Faster Than Gym Machines After 60<\/a><\/p>\n

      \tSide Step-Ups<\/p>\n

      This exercise engages similar hip abductor muscles as the lateral lunge.<\/p>\n

      \u201cIt is also highly effective at improving iliotibial band strength. It\u2019s another part of your outer thigh that is responsible for stabilization. It can\u2019t be trained directly in a meaningful way in the same way that other muscles can, but it improves when it is forced to stabilize your legs during certain types of movements. Laterally stepping up and off of a box or raised platform will increase its activation and role in stabilization, compared to other exercises,\u201d Angelino adds.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Begin standing sideways next to a sturdy step or plyometric box.<\/li>\n
      2. Place the foot closest to the step firmly on top of the surface.<\/li>\n
      3. Activate your core and maintain a tall chest.<\/li>\n
      4. Press through the heel of the foot on the step to lift your body up until both legs are straight.<\/li>\n
      5. Use control to lower.<\/li>\n
      6. Repeat on the other side.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        This 5-Minute Morning Routine Builds More Strength Than Hour-Long Workouts After 50<\/a><\/p>\n

        \tSumo Squats<\/p>\n

        The sumo squat trains many muscles outside the outer hip, helping you produce greater force with each rep and utilize more weight.<\/p>\n

        \u201cUsing more weight means you\u2019ll be able to provide a stronger stimulus to your muscles and improve faster,\u201d Angelino says. \u201cThe sumo squat\u2019s wide stance, with your feet very far apart, is what makes it better at targeting the outer thigh muscles than a normal squat.\u201d<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Stand tall with your feet outside shoulder-width, toes slightly pointing outward.<\/li>\n
        2. Extend your arms ahead of you, place your hands on your hips, or hold a dumbbell or kettlebell with both hands.<\/li>\n
        3. Bend at the knees and hips to lower into a squat.<\/li>\n
        4. Descend until your thighs are parallel to the floor.<\/li>\n
        5. Press through your heels to return to standing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Alexa Mellardo<\/p>\n

          \t\tAlexa is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist based in Greenwich, CT. She has 11+ years of experience covering wellness, fitness, food, travel, lifestyle, and home.\t\t\t\t\tRead more about Alexa <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Strong thighs play an essential role in daily movement. Your outer thighs play a crucial role in daily…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":988018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[38],"tags":[1198,210,260027,181350,151940,67,132,68,9008],"class_list":["post-988017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-leg-exercise","tag-over-60","tag-standing-exercises","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-workouts"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117057481796812485","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/988018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}