For decades, men and women have been searching for exercises to get rid of love handles. Those small bundles of fat that exist to the side of the belly and back are unsightly to all. Finding exercises to get rid of love handles has proved elusive because the muscles that make up the love handles (the lateral obliques) are hard to target with one particular motion. This has made it difficult to find exercises to get rid of love handles that also don’t work out other areas of the body.
The key to getting rid of love handles is not necessarily specifically designed exercises to get rid of love handles, but overall metabolic rate increase. Yes, it would be great if there were certain exercises to get rid of love handles that one could perform and those unsightly bulges above the waist would disappear. Unfortunately, those magic exercises to get rid of love handles don’t exist. People claim that side bends, stretching to one side while holding a weight in the opposite hand, are one of the exercises to get rid of love handles. This line of thinking is incorrect. Since love handles are fat laid on top of muscle, this exercise to get rid of love handles could actually do more harm than good! Increasing the mass of the muscle via exercise will cause the muscle to get larger. While this might speed up the body’s metabolism somewhat it will also make the love handles more prevalent. This is the exact OPPOSITE of what one wants to have happen.
Instead of relying on exercises to get rid of love handles, a good fitness routine and low calorie diet are better solutions. A good fitness routine doesn’t need to be based around exercises to get rid of love handles, but focused on improving cardiovascular condition and building lean muscle mass. Contrary to popular belief, lean muscle mass is just as important to improving one’s metabolism as cardiovascular exercise. The reason for this is that lean muscle mass burns more calories on average than fat. A person weighing 200 pounds with 10% body fat is burning less calories an hour sitting down than a person who weighs 210 pounds with 5% body fat. Increasing the amount of lean muscle mass in the body will increase the number of calories burned. Since burning calories is the key to reducing body fat and love handles are comprised of body fat, improving metabolism will help love handles shrink quicker than any exercises to get rid of love handles. Also, other fatty areas will see a reduction as well. Lean muscle mass is achieved by working out areas of the body with more repetitions at lower weights, roughly 80% of maximum weight. This will help the muscle stay lean and toned as opposed to creating a bulky, weightlifter physique. An increased metabolism will be bolstered by cardio work (running, cycling, elliptical machines, etc) and make workouts more efficient in burning calories.
There are no magic exercises to get rid of love handles, but combining cardio work with exercises that promote lean muscle mass growth will help improve metabolism and kick fat burning in to high gear
