Can everyone have a thigh gap? Short story: No. And for good reason – we're all different. 'For some people, a thigh gap is a natural part of their bone structure and genetics,' says Dr Rekha Tailor, GP, cosmetic doctor and medical director at Health & Aesthetics.
In practise, it's rare enough that something like 5% women in this world will have a natural thigh gap without resorting to drastic and dangerous measures. Despite this (or maybe because of this) teeny, tiny percentage, thigh gaps have become the most coveted “It accessory”.
A thigh gap is when a person's inner thighs don't touch while standing with their feet together. For some people, there is no way to get a thigh gap since it largely depends on bone structure. Thigh gaps are a dangerous beauty ideal that can cause overexercising, extreme dieting, and anxiety.
Anatomically speaking however, femurs should hang fairly vertical from the pelvis in standing posture. Unless you are underweight or have femurs that are extremely bowed or your hip joints live unusually far apart inside the pelvis, your thighs will touch.
Genetics and body structure play the biggest role in whether you can gain a thigh gap. Simply put, most women have hips that are set too closely together for there to be a large gap between their thighs, even with very little fat on their legs.
Basically, having a gap between your thighs was considered beautiful, which shamed a ton of women whose thighs naturally touch. The mermaid thigh movement recognizes that other group of women—those who don't have a natural thigh gap—effectively giving every woman a body-positive trend to identify with.
A person's ability to have a thigh gap largely comes down to their genetic predisposition and bone structure. This means that even naturally slim people won't necessarily have a thigh gap, or that someone who is curvier may have a thigh gap.
You don't need a thigh gap to be a healthy person. In fact, very healthy and athletic women are unlikely to have a thigh gap, even if they have very low body fat. That's because athletic legs have muscle and muscle naturally makes the thighs touch.
Exercise – Thigh Gap Workout
What we can work on is, toning and strengthening the muscles on the inside of our legs. These are called your hip abductors. Working on these muscles will result in more toned and tighter inner thigh muscles, which can give a prominent gap.
Squats, lunges, and running won't increase the space between your thighs because targeted exercises help you tone muscle, not torch fat. And even then, muscle definition doesn't open your leg room. Also, thigh gaps are primarily genetic.
Few women achieve a thigh gap without the assistance of genetics, extreme dieting, or even surgery. In most cases, a thigh gap means a body is underweight. Several of my patients have told me that their weight was dangerously low when they had a thigh gap.
In other words, belly fat and thigh fat are genetically destined for their final location during development. It's not a difference that's acquired over time, as a result of diet or environmental exposure.
Something that's the new thigh gap is a new bodily beauty standard that people want to obtain or show off. It can be used sarcastically to call attention to the fleeting and arbitrary nature of such trends as well.
Increase resistance training. Participating in total-body, muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week may help you burn calories, reduce fat mass , and strengthen your thighs. Include lower-body exercises such as lunges, wall sits, inner/outer thigh lifts, and step-ups with just your body weight.
Stand straight before a mirror with your back upright, your left and right knees touching each other. If you see space between your inner thighs, you've got yourself a thigh gap.
A thigh gap is a space between the inner thighs of some women when standing upright with feet touching.
According to the National Centre for Health Statistics, the average female thigh circumference is 20.8 inches or 52.9 cm. This is based on a sample size of 4,065 women. As with male data, the average female thigh size grows and declines with age, although to a lower amount.
Unless your goal is to gain weight overall, you're better off focusing on building muscle mass. Strength training focusing on your quadriceps and hamstrings, as well as eating sufficient calories and protein, can help build greater muscle mass to increase the size of your thighs.
From the idea of a heavy person making thunderous noise while walking.
The short answer is that you probably won't lose much if genetics predispose you to fat storage in that area. The longer answer is that you can reduce your body fat with exercise and diet, but you'll lose that fat from all over your body. You can't spot reduce areas of your body with exercise.
The main culprit behind weight gain in your thighs is estrogen. This hormone drives the increase in fat cells in females, causing deposits to form most commonly around the buttocks and thighs.
20-29 years old: 52.9cm/20.83in (42.2cm-69.1cm) 30-39 years old: 54.2cm/21.34in (44.0cm-68.8cm) 40-49 years old: 54.4cm/21.42in (43.7cm-70.2cm) 50-59 years old: 53.2cm/20.94in (43.1cm-66.0cm)
What is Lipedema? Lipedema is a condition that causes excess fat to accumulate in the lower part of the body. Lipedema most often involves the buttocks, thighs and calves. The upper arms can also be affected.