Hello,

I consider myself to be in pretty good shape. I run 3 times a week and visit the gym at least twice a week. The only place on my body that I carry weight is on my inner thighs. When I stand shoulder width apart they are almost touching :( I really hate the way they look.
I know you can't target a specific area to loose weight, but I was wondering if anyone knew any excersises that work the muscles in that area. I'm about 5'3 and I weight about 120-125 pounds, so I don't think I'm overweight, but I don't know...

Am I the only one who finds touching inner thighs really un-attractive?

What weights are you using at the gym? Are you using any cardio machines?

Like I said earlier I usually run 6-8km as often as I can per week and I've started doing an hour of cardio at the gym because the legs have been bothering me as of late. I use the step machine and the elliptical trainer for half an hour each. I then use the inner thigh machine but it doesen't seem to be doing much

Are you actually carrying a lot of fat in that area or are your legs muscular? If it's the latter, you can't really do anything short of starving yourself to lose muscle mass, which is obviously an unhealthy idea.

My legs are muscular. My inner thighs are really the only place I carry fat

Unfortunately, it is a very unattractive place to carry fat :(

I am a pilates instructor, and I have found that using the inner thigh machine at the gym can simply add bulk to the area, especially if the user has a smaller, wider build. You could simply reduce the amount of weight on the machine, while increasing the reps. I would also suggest that you do some simple floor excercises for a month, and see if there is a noticeable difference.
Start lying on your side, with your top leg bent, and either in front of or behind the bottom leg. Lift the leg, and lower ten times, pulsing at the top ten times as well. Do this on each leg a few times whenever you are excercising. The big key here, and with all pilates excercises, is to really reach the leg long as you perform the movement, this will help to elongate the muscle, giving you a longer, leaner appearance. You might try looking up a pilates studio in your area, or getting a pilates book from the library, the leg work is exceptional.

Another thought, the reason why your inner thighs may be holding weight, could be hormonal, or perhaps you are relying more heavily on another muscle when performing excises for inner thigh, in which case, I'd recommend a local Pilates Instructor.

How long would you say it takes for noticeable loss of bulky fat on the inner thighs with the floor exercise with pilates? I do pilates, but find I am very impatient with results!

Hi ldegueme, That's a good question; and of course, results can be quite different for each person depending on a number of factors. But, I'd say if one does 3 pilates workouts a week, after four weeks, you'll see a visible improvement.

I've found that one workout a week can help maintain strength, but to be at my personal best body level, inner thighs and all(to keep toned, strengthened and to keeping body fat low), I need three workouts a week, plus a healthy diet, with lots of fruits and veggies, lean meat, and whole-grains.