One of the questions I get asked most often is ” how to get rid of love handles”? This question is interesting as even people that work out on a regular basis often have trouble getting rid ot their love handles. It is one of those stubborn areas that loves to hang on to the fat! Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. In this article we will be looking at some tips and tricks to say good bye to love handles once and for all.
What are love handles and why do they stick around? Love handles are excesseive fat or weight in the abdominal area particularly on the sides of the body. The reason why they are such a problem for some people it because it is a difficult area to target and isolate and often people just give up. Well, the big secret is that love handle fat is not any different than fat on any other part of the body. Fat is Fat. Now let’s explore ways to get rid of this fat and tone up the area.
The first thing you should kno is that fat cannot turn into muscle. It is scientifically impossible. So you need to hit that area from two different angles. The first one is to burn the fat and the second is to tone the muscle underneat the fat. The second thing you need to know is that there is no such thing as “spot reducing” So no matter how much fat you have around your tummy, doing spot reducing exercises is really pointless.
So the solution to those problematic love handles is to burn fat, but not in the traditional way that you hear all the people at the gym tell you to do. They will tell you to just increase your cardio time, or to walk on the treadmill longer, or stay in your “fat burning zone. Well, sorry but that stuff just doesn’t work for fat loss. The best prescription for fat loss is one word: INTENSITY! You’ve got to increase the instensity of your workouts. For example instead of doing an hour of walking on the treadmill, you should do 30 minutes of alternating hight intensity and low intensity. Preferably 2 minutes of high and 3 minutes recovery time. Alternating back and forth. Do this type of workout 3-4 times a week and watch the fat come flying off. This fat will include your love handle fat.
Now the second imortant piece of the puzzle is to strenth train. You want to strenthen the muscle groups surrounding your midsection. Or these days people refer to it as your core. Stenthening your core will enhance the muscle tone in all underlying areas that contribute to love handles. So even if you have some residual fat there having the toned muscles will give your body a very toned and fit appearance. Futhermore, in a round about way, the toned muscles do burn fat. Let me explain…the more percentage of muscle you have in your body, the higher your metabolism will be. So although there is no such thing as spot reducing, strenthing your muscles in all areas of your body will increase your metabolism and burn more fat. Also you’re going to look much leaner and fit with this approach.
So, is it possible to rid yourself of “love handles” ? Sure it is. As this article discussed you can rid yourself of love handles by intense interval training combined with an all around strength training program. While you want to do an all around strength training program paying extra attention to your core area, and isolating the oblique abdominal muscles will really do the trick.
Don’t wait any longer, get started today and watch those love handles melt away. Good luck!
