Hi Kathy, Supposedly the plie squats are good for the inner thighs. Since I'm not doing a lot of intensity yet, I can't tell yet. I just started doing squats because I'm still afraid of them from when I hurt myself the last time. I'm going to keep it to just 10 without weights until I get this excess fat off. The plie squats are much easier on my knees than the regular squats.

The knee lift idea came from the Walk Away the Pounds video I do. I've been doing it as part of the cardio work (without extra weights) and it has really strengthened my quads. I'm thinking it will help with all of the muscles around the knees. I'm using ankle weights and am just standing in place lifting the knee. I raise my knees so they are waist high and the thigh is parallel to the floor. Sort of like in this picture (but I go a little higher than they are doing):


I just bought some new ankle weights tonight. This new set goes up to 10 pounds. I really needed some higher ones for the leg curls... but I'm not yet ready for that much weight on the knee lifts.

I like doing all of this with the dumbbells. I think it's helping with my stabilizer muscles. At least I hope so - I need all the help there I can get.