Lately I’ve been receiving lots of requests for exercises for losing love handles. “Love handles”, “belly fat”, “muffin top”, whatever you want to call it,
are as unpleasant as they are hard to get rid of. These are that flabby area on the sides of your abdomen that droop over your pants and are the most difficult to get rid of because they are not separate entities from the rest of your body, as people usually think. It is physically impossible to lose fat from one section of your body and not the rest, unless you have liposuction done. So unfortunately, you can’t get rid of your love handles without getting rid of the excess fat from the rest of your body as well. The best way to do this, of course, is exercise and healthy diet.
But keep in mind that no matter how hard you exercise, spot toning will prove ineffective. This is because you need to get rid of the fat covering your adbomen before you can see the results of your crunches, sit ups, whatever… This means raising your metabolism enough to burn that extra fat. The hard cold fact is that you have to get your entire body into shape before you start seeing results.
If you are a bit lazy about getting to the gym, try to start with a cardio exercise program at home by buying some aerobics DVDs. You have to get into a routine that incorporates exercises that will help you work your love handles (the oblique region of the torso) over time and with effort. Beside having a long-term healthy diet, you must do cardio-vascular and resistance training to burn fat and build muscle, and also targeted abdominal exercises to help firm the muscles under the fatty area. So here are some exercises that focus more on the love handle area:
Advanced Crunch
Lie on your back with your feet straight up in the air. Keep your legs up, cross your hands over your chest and bring your elbows to your knees by flexing your stomach (not for those with a previous back injury!).
Leg flutters
Lie on your stomach and lift your head up slightly, then keep your arms straight out at your sides or bend them with your elbows resting beside you. Lift your feet and knees off the floor and flutter your legs rapidly back and forth for 20 seconds.
Elbow to opposite knee
Cross your left leg over your right leg. Flex your stomach and twist to bring your right elbow to your left knee. Do the same with your left elbow and right knee. Repeat 25 times for each side.
Standing Trunk Twists
Stand with your feet about a foot apart and knees relaxed. Twist your torso to the left while keeping your hips and legs as stable as possible. As you twist to the left, cross your right arm in front of your body in a punching motion. Twist back to the right and cross your left arm over your body in a punching motion. Do 100 reps.
Reverse Crunch
Lie on the floor in the same position as the regular crunch and lift your knees and butt toward your elbows. Leave your head and upper body flat on the ground. Only move your legs and butt. Be careful if you have had a back injury.
Hip Rollers
Twist to both sides keeping your shoulders on the floor and stay in the bent-knee position when rotating left and right. This exercise will help you build your abs, back and hips. Repeat as many times as you want.
Remember to incorporate these exercises with a healthy diet, and cardio exercises (at least 3 times a week for 30minutes), and you’ll be on your way to a flat stomach in no time!
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