Thigh size and strength are very much determined by genetics, but you can have stronger, thicker thighs if you work on them appropriately. Whether you want to increase your performance, enhance your look, or just enjoy the fitness journey, a strong lower body is a must-have.

Every body is unique, and so is your thigh size. Shaped by a combination of genetics, the distribution of muscle and fat, and lifestyle, the thighs are as individualized as your fingerprint. Although genetics might play a significant role in establishing the natural size of the thighs, you can achieve improvement in strength and the appearance of your thighs with appropriate training.

Building thicker thighs involves muscle hypertrophy, which is the increase in size of the muscles due to strength training. This process targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. It also involves progressively overloading these muscles, increasing the weight, repetitions, or sets to challenge them over time. However, muscle gain is always variable from one person to another because it depends on limb length and genetic predisposition.

Rather than being concerned over how your thighs look, think about celebrating their function-they work so hard. They're necessary for standing up, walking, lifting weights, and balance. That is what gives them good shape, along with functional strength that's good for overall health and athletic performance, as well as aesthetics that will please the eye.

Recommended Exercises for Thicker Thighs

If you’re ready to build strength and muscle mass in your thighs, here are six highly effective exercises to incorporate into your workout routine. These exercises target the major muscles of the lower body while improving balance, coordination, and core stability.

1. Squats

How to Perform:

• Stand with your feet a little wider than your hips, toes pointed outward.
• Lower your body, keeping your back straight and your head up, until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
• Push through your heels to return to standing.
• Do 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

To increase resistance, try barbell lunges, goblet lunges, or resistance band lunges.

2. Lunges

Lunges are exercises that work the thighs, glutes, and calves and improve balance and coordination.

How to Perform:

• Step forward with one leg and bend both knees to 90 degrees.
• Push through the front heel to return to the starting position.
• Do 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps per leg.

To increase the difficulty, use dumbbells in each hand or try walking lunges.

3. Romanian Deadlifts

This exercise mainly works the hamstrings and glutes, with secondary activation of the lower back and core.

How to Perform:

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing your thighs.
• Hinge forward at the hips, but keep a slight bend to the knees and lower those weights toward the ground.
• Return back to the starting position by pulling in your hamstrings and glutes.
• Do 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.

4. Side Lunges

Side lunges work your inner thighs and help build functional movement for everyday use.

How to Perform:

• Step to the side with one leg, bending the knee and leaving the other leg straight.
• Push through your bent leg and return to start.
• Do 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps on each leg.

5. Bulgarian Split Squats

This single leg exercise will challenge your quadriceps, glutes, and adductors. It helps improve balance too.

How to Perform:

• Stand with your one leg on a bench behind your body.
• Keep lowering the body until your front thigh is parallel to the ground.
• Push through the front heel to return to standing.
• Perform 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps per leg.

6. Side Shuffle Switch

This high-energy move is great for activating the inner thighs and adding a cardio element to your workout.

How to Perform:

• Take three quick side steps to the right and lift your left knee on the final step.
• Repeat in the opposite direction.
• Perform 20 reps as quickly as possible.

To build muscles effectively, progressive overload needs to be focused on. That is the gradual increase in exercise difficulty through weight, repetitions, or sets. Progressive overload ensures that there is a continuous muscle growth and prevents reaching a plateau.

In addition to your workouts, be sure to allow time for recovery. Muscles grow when you are resting, so your aim should be 48 hours between sessions that work the same muscle groups. Include a balanced diet rich in protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats to fuel your workout and support muscle repair.

Though aesthetically pleasing, it's their function that is the real prize. Stronger thighs allow for everyday living to be executed with ease and increase athleticism while reducing injury risks. Keep your workout regimen built around strength, endurance, and mobility rather than simply appearances.

Remember, the size of your thighs is influenced by many factors, including genetics, lifestyle, and diet. Celebrate the progress you make and appreciate the unique strength and shape of your body.

Building thicker, stronger thighs is a rewarding journey that requires dedication and consistency. You can enhance your lower body strength and aesthetics by including exercises like squats, lunges, and Romanian deadlifts in your routine and focusing on progressive overload. Always remember to prioritize form, recovery, and a well-rounded approach to fitness for the best results.

High blood pressure (BP) has become a public health problem that is driving cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes globally. While medications are important to keep hypertension under control, lifestyle changes and healthy practices are also crucial.

Several global health guidelines recommend regular physical activity, but adhering to exercise programs daily becomes a challenge for many people. But in the overtly busy schedules, sparing 10 minutes for an exercise regimen can be easier than travelling to the gym.

A large randomized clinical trial, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), has proved that a traditional Chinese mind-body practice — baduanjin — may help lower blood pressure, that too, without any equipment.

Baduanjin is a slow, structured movement, focused on deep breathing and meditation.

Importantly, the clinical trial proved that the ancient Chinese technique could lower BP as effectively as brisk walking.

In people practicing baduanjin, BP reductions were seen after three months and were sustained for one year.

"Given its simplicity, safety, and ease with which one can maintain long-term adherence, baduanjin can be implemented as an effective, accessible, and scalable lifestyle intervention for individuals trying to reduce their blood pressure," said Jing Li, Director, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases in Beijing, China.

Baduanjin: The 10 Minute Routine

Baduanjin is a standardized eight-movement sequence that integrates aerobic, isometric, flexibility, and mind-body components.

It has been in practice for centuries and commonly performed in community settings across China. The routine typically takes 10–15 minutes and requires no equipment and only minimal initial instruction.

Because it is low- to moderate-intensity, it is considered safe and accessible for many adults.

Also read: Cardiovascular Diseases Lead As India’s Top Killer: US Cardiologist Points Out Risk Factors

The Clinical Trial

A team of Chinese researchers led the first large, multicenter randomized trial to look at the impact of baduanjin on blood pressure.

They followed 216 participants, aged 40 years or older, across seven communities to determine changes in 24-hour systolic BP from baseline to 12 and 52 weeks.

Compared to people indulging in self-directed exercise, practicing baduanjin five days a week reduced

• systolic blood pressure by approximately 3 mg Hg
• systolic blood pressure by 5 mg Hg.

Notably, the benefits were sustained even without ongoing monitoring, a key challenge for many lifestyle interventions that struggle to maintain long-term adherence outside structured programs.

"Baduanjin has been practiced in China for over 800 years, and this study demonstrates how ancient, accessible, low-cost

approaches can be validated through high-quality randomized research," said Harlan M. Krumholz, Editor-in-Chief of JACC and the Harold H. Hines, Jr Professor at the Yale School of Medicine.

"The blood pressure effect size is similar to that seen in landmark drug trials, but achieved without medication, cost, or side effects. This makes it highly scalable for community-based prevention, including in resource-limited settings," they added.

Also read: AHA Cholesterol Guidelines 2026: How Indians Can Improve Heart Health

How To Practice Baduanjin

• Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart and keep your movements slow and controlled.
• Coordinate each motion with steady, deep breathing, inhaling and exhaling smoothly as you move.
• Move through the traditional eight postures in sequence, focusing on posture, balance, and relaxation rather than speed or force.
• Practice for about 10 to 15 minutes a day in a quiet space, maintaining calm attention throughout.

If you believe only gym workouts matter, you might be mistaken. While gyms offer a structured space to exercise, busy schedules often lead many to skip workouts—and feel guilty about it.

However, a new study suggests that even short bursts of vigorous everyday activity—such as running to catch a bus or climbing stairs quickly—can significantly reduce the risk of several major diseases and even lower the risk of death.

The research, based on nearly 96,000 people and published in the European Heart Journal, found that just a few minutes of intense activity each day was linked to a lower risk of:

• Major cardiovascular disease
• Irregular heartbeat
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases
• Liver disease
• Chronic respiratory diseases
• Chronic kidney disease
• Dementia

“We know that physical activity reduces the risk of chronic disease and premature death, and there is growing evidence that vigorous activity provides greater health benefits per minute than moderate activity,” said Minxue Shen from the Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, China.

Also read:Just Twice A Week At-home Resistance Training Enough To Build Muscle, Reveal New Guidelines

Longer Workouts or Intense Bursts?

To explore whether exercising more intensely offers greater benefits than simply exercising longer, the researchers followed 96,408 participants for seven years.

Each person wore a wrist-based accelerometer to track movement, including short bursts of activity often overlooked.

The findings showed that compared to those who did no vigorous activity, participants with the highest levels had:

• 63 percent lower risk of dementia
• 60 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• 46 percent lower risk of death

“Our findings suggest that adding short bursts of activity that make you slightly breathless—like climbing stairs quickly or walking briskly between tasks—can have substantial health benefits,” Shen said.

“Even 15–20 minutes per week, just a few minutes a day, can make a meaningful difference,” the Professor added.

Also read: Exercising Could Make Your Brain Younger, Says Doctor

Is Vigorous Activity Safe for Everyone?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults (18–64) perform at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week.

The new study suggests that intensity also plays a key role—and may vary depending on the disease being prevented.

The researchers noted that these findings could help shape more personalised exercise recommendations in the future. However, they cautioned that vigorous activity may not be suitable for everyone, particularly:

• Older adults
• People with certain underlying medical conditions.

IPL 2026 is back, and for fans of cricket, it is the most amazing and eagerly awaited time of the year. Eight exceptional teams, an incredible line-up of cricketing sensations from all over the world, and an unforgettable clash of titans — IPL deserves all the hype it gets. And after last night's incredible battle between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, former captain Rohit Sharma also deserves all the hype he is getting. Not only did the Hitman score his fastest IPL 50, but he also managed to impress everyone with his transformation. Nita Ambani, Chairperson and founder of the Reliance Foundation and Dhirubhai Ambani International School, and a director of Reliance Industries (owner of the Mumbai Indians team too), was awestruck to see a fitter version of Sharma.

Read more: Checking BMI For Body Weight? It Can Wrongly Mark You As Overweight or Obese, Says Study

When Nita Ambani did not recognise Rohit Sharma

In a recent video shared on the Instagram page of Mumbai Indians, Nita Ambani is seen meeting the squad as they were training ahead of the 2026 IPL. As she encounters Sharma, she says, "My God, Rohit, I didn’t recognise you! You look like a young boy."

Rohit Sharma, now 38, will be turning 39 on April 30, but to a fan's eye, he seems to be ageing in reverse. On May 7, 2025, Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket. Earlier in 2024, he announced his retirement from T20Is after the 2024 World Cup win. Since then, he has focused primarily on ODIs and, as it turns out, on becoming a fitter version of his current self.

Read more: Exercising Could Make Your Brain Younger, Says Doctor

A fitter Rohit Sharma since retirement

Rohit Sharma smashed an impressive 78 off 38 balls in last night's match against KKR, and perhaps his success can be credited to his recent transformation. His physical transformation took place ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and he lost an impressive 11 kilos before returning to the game. But what his fans loved most is that he was never really lagging because of the extra weight — he was always fit, quick and proactive, but now he is a lot leaner on the outside. How did the former skipper achieve this goal? Let’s find out:

1. Hydration: For Sharma, fitness has to start with hydration, and this involves drinking plenty of water throughout the day in various forms — protein shakes, green tea and carrot juice.
2. High-protein meals: According to TheHealthSite, Sharma switched to a high-protein diet, which is one of the most important steps in a weight-loss journey. This means foods like eggs, oats, legumes, millet rotis, brown rice, grilled chicken and salads dominated his diet routine.
3. Workout regime: A workout regimen need not be about the kind of exercise one does, but also the timings. Reports suggest that Sharma kick-started his days with 30 minutes of cycling, followed by a core workout. And the best part — he relied on morning workouts for optimal results, as during the early hours of the day, scientists say it is the best time to break a sweat.

Cardio workouts like interval training, running and cycling help build stamina and endurance — these help ensure peak performance during stressful matches.