The 3 Best Exercises for Love Handles
Love handles refer to excess fat around your waistline. If you want flat, toned abs, you need to lose all of this excess fat first. But if you’re wondering what type of workouts will trim these trouble areas fast, read on.
The fact is that no matter how hard you work out or how good your diet is, there’s just no substitute for genetic factors when it comes to getting rid of your love handles and achieving a lean midsection.
Many people try “spot reduction” by doing endless amounts of crunches in the vain hope that they can burn away their belly fat (which is technically subcutaneous). This simply doesn’t happen; spot reduction isn’t possible.
That said, certain exercises will target your love handles more than others.
Table of Contents
#1: Swiss Ball Crunches
Swiss ball crunches rely heavily on good form to make the exercise effective, so you’ll want someone to help you out or invest in a solid gym membership if you want to see results from this one.
Also important is the positioning of your elbows. You need to keep them at roughly 45 degrees from your body as shown here. Just remember – your neck should be the only thing moving during this exercise. Your shoulders and hips should remain still through the entire range of motion.
The fact that you’re using a swiss ball makes this exercise even more effective than regular crunches because you’ll need to engage your abs even more for stability while doing the exercise.
#2: Kneeling Cable Crunches
This is similar to the Swiss Ball Crunch, but it doesn’t require the use of an unstable surface like a swiss ball. That means that if you don’t have access to one or can’t get down on the floor due to back issues, this might be an easier option for you.
Again, keep your elbows at roughly 45 degrees from your body, and remember not to let your shoulders rise up toward your ears – only raise them until there’s about a 90-degree angle between your upper arm and torso. This is where the effectiveness of this exercise comes from.
If you want to make it even more effective, hook a resistance band over your knees for extra resistance.
#3: Lying Hip Raise
This exercise targets the lower abs directly, though if don’t have access to any weights you can simply do hip raises by holding onto something heavy on the ground like a weight or medicine ball which will keep your hips stabilized while exercising.
You’ll want to keep your back flat against the floor while doing these – no arching! The range of motion isn’t very far, so don’t worry about having some kind of super-long lever while doing this one. You’ll probably only get about 10 – 15 degrees of motion.
As you get stronger and master the form, hold some kind of weight in your hands while doing this exercise. This will increase the intensity and effectiveness of the exercise even further.
One last tip: don’t do these on a slick surface – you’re likely to slip and injure yourself!
Conclusion on How To Get Rid Of Love Handles
There you have it – the 3 best exercises for love handles. If you want to get rid of your stomach fat, remember that doing crunches alone won’t do anything except perhaps make you more flexible (which can be a nice benefit in and of itself). Make sure to incorporate all 3 abdominal muscle groups in your workouts if you want a lean, flat belly!
As with any exercise routine, you need to be sure to work it into your daily routine and not go overboard. Of course, if you’re struggling with excess fat around the midsection then there’s nothing wrong with doing these 3 exercises multiple times per day until you get better results.
For best results, however, remember that nutrition and cardio both play vital roles in your midsection development.
As long as you’re sticking to a proper diet and doing cardio regularly, these exercises should help get rid of that stubborn belly fat in no time! Good luck and good shredding!
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