“Love handles” is the slang term for the fatty bulges along the waistline due to adipose deposits in the region of the oblique muscles. There is actually reason to hate them; abdominal fat and love handles are unsightly are are correlated with issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiac problems, etc. So it is important to get rid of your belly fat and love handles. Here are some effective love handle exercises you can do at home.
1. Love handle exercises: Cardio-vascular workout increases your metabolism and burns deposited fat. If you burn more calories than your consume, you are bound to get rid of body fat. Simple activities like walking, running, swimming, biking, etc, for 30-45 minutes a day help significantly in getting rid of your love handles and belly fat. With a regular routine, you can see results in a few weeks. In fact spot exercises not supplemented by cardio-vascular exercises are inefficient in reducing abdominal fat. Besides, 5-10 minutes of cardio-vascular exercises prior to a rigorous workout warm you up and get your heart pumping to handle physical exertion.
At the least, I get 30 minutes of walking every day. I walk to the mail-box and park far enough from my office/shopping to get 10 minutes of walk; the minutes add up quickly to give you the needed workout.
2. Love handle exercises: Stomach vacuums help in strengthening the inner abdominal muscles that support posture and the back. Here is the procedure.
Stand upright with hands on your hips.
Exhale air out of your lungs while expanding your chest and sucking in your stomach.
Hold this position but continue breathing. Start with holding the position for 10 seconds and gradually increase to 30 seconds.
Then release the stomach to the normal position. And repeat.
Do sets of 10-15 about 3-4 times a day.
You can also do these exercises lying, kneeling or sitting down. Do them on an empty stomach.
I do my stomach vacuums while at work, while traveling or even in bed. So there is really no excuse for skipping them!
3. Love handle exercises: Crunches help to strengthen the external muscles of the abdomen (rectus abdominus) and the obliques. Basic and oblique crunches are very effective exercises to get rid of love handles. Here is the procedure.
Warm up with cardio exercises for 5-10 minutes before starting with crunches.
For basic crunches, lie on your back with knees bent.
Place hands behind the head or on your chest. If placing behind the head, do not apply force to the head/neck as it can hurt. Relax the neck muscles.
Curl your head, neck, and shoulders up off the floor and get them as close as you can to your knees. Use your abdominal muscles to support your body – do not pressurize your back.
Hold, then lower the upper body back to where you began. And repeat.
Obliques crunches are specifically designed for your love handles and are similar to the basic crunches. When raising the upper body, reach across towards to your left or right knee and alternate.
Do your crunches in sets of 8 each. Also do them in 2 paces – fast (crunch your abs smoothly, continuously) and slow (raise and hold for 5-10 seconds midway). Alternate the basic and oblique crunches. Fit in at least 4 sets in your routine.
Keep breathing throughout the workout.
4. Love handle exercises: Push-ups also workout the abdominal muscles and help in burning the fat in that region.
Warm up with cardio exercises for 5-10 minutes before starting with crunches.
Lie down on your stomach. Keep your palm on the ground with hands slightly wider than the width of your shoulders and raise your torso with your feet together and the balls firmly placed on the ground. Hold this position for 5 seconds if you are a beginner and for 10-15 seconds after practice.
Lower your body gently and stop before it rests on the ground.
Keep your elbows bent at right angles for firm support.
Use your abdominal muscles do all the workout.
If you find it hard or find yourself putting all the weight on your hands, try the push-ups standing upright and pressing against a wall.
Do at least 2 sets of 10-15 push-ups about 3-4 times a week for seeing the flabby love handles disappear.
Crunches and push-ups can be tiring initially. I have experienced that having fast music playing in the background helps to take the mind off the physical stress.
5. Love handle exercises: Yoga is a great aid to tackle love handles and belly fat. The B.K.S. Iyengar school of Yoga recommends the spinal twist pose (Marichyasana) to get rid of fat around the hips and waist. However, this posture is contraindicated during menses, diarrhea and if you have a headache or a migraine.
Begin when you are relaxed.
Sit at right-angle with both legs stretched out.
Keeping one leg stretched bend the other leg at the knee and draw it far enough inwards so that the back of the foot touches the buttock.
Firmly root the hand on the side of the bent leg on the ground so that fingers point outwards.
Exhale and lift up your spine. Move the other hand (on the opposite side of the bent leg) forward and stretch it across the thigh of the bent leg.
Twist your torso as much as you can from your waist (not chest).
Twist enough so that your arm can encircle your knee and there is no gap between your thigh and armpit.
Raise your other palm from the ground and join the palms behind you back. Twist further if you can and look over your shoulder.
Stay in the pose for 20-30 seconds.
It is important to learn Yoga from a practitioner first. Once you have a good understanding, you can practice it yourself. I have seen that initially when you lack flexibility it can be hard to twist all the way through. Stop where it hurts and rest in that position while breathing calmly. Once rested, try to twist a few more degrees.
With the crunches, push-ups and yoga, I have observed that it is very easy to get tempted to use the back to support the weight of the body. This not only defeats the purpose of working out the abdominals but it can also hurt the back. I have seen students herniate their back in the middle of a Yoga class doing this. I have also seen that stretching beyond the body’s limit can make it feel very sore and obstruct a regular exercise routine. So it is important to build up resistance gradually.
A good diet supplements a good workout. Eat fiber-rich food, plenty of fruits and veggies and stay away from saturated fats. Drink plenty of water to flush the body and keep you hydrated. I have personally benefited from all of these love handle exercises. I started with simple cardio workouts and stomach vacuums. After a couple of weeks of warm up, I added in the crunches, push ups and Yoga. I stuck to a routine of exercising for 1-2 hours a day for 4-5 days a week. Within six months, I lost about 20 lbs. and and an inch around the waist. Note though that the love handles and abdominal fat were the last to come off. Since then, I routinely employ these exercises for about 1/2-1 hour everyday to maintain my weight and body fat.
