“Love handles”, “muffin tops”, “spare tire”, these are just some of the terms that have been given to that area around the waist where fat accumulates and spills down over the waistline of a trouser. With the recent focus nowadays on health and fitness, these phrases are no longer considered an endearment but a wake-up call.
According to most scientific studies, there is a direct correlation between the amount of body fat around the area of the stomach and the risk of developing life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular problems and diabetes mellitus to name a few. As a result, fitness regimens today like love handles have been improved to specifically concentrate on decreasing that fatty belly. Now, it’s time to discover how to lose those love handles.
As for the love handle type most often called “beer belly”, these can be significantly reduced by a combination of cardiovascular exercise, strength-training exercise, and a healthy diet. Cardiovascular exercises are those exercises which cause increased heart rate resulting to significantly burned calories and melted fats. Kickboxing and swimming are referred to as full body workouts while running, jogging, stair-climbing, and cycling are more focused on the lower body-all of these belong to the cardiovascular exercises-category. Studies have already shown that a daily 20-30 minute cardiovascular routine remarkably diminishes love handle fats.
To flatten your stomach, the next technique is engaging in strength-training sessions. During these sessions, you apply love handle exercises. Try side bends as an exercise for those love handles, the most common and easiest one. The procedure in doing side bends is simply standing upright with knees slightly bent and bent apart, then slowly lowering the torso laterally. Stay in this position for a few seconds then back to the starting position. Repeat the same thing to the opposite side. Try to maintain an upright position while doing this, avoid bending backwards or forwards and keep your trunk and legs in line. The purpose of this is to achieve a more defined waistline since it stretches and tones the external oblique muscles.
Another one of those simple yet highly effective love handle exercises is the torso twist. This is accomplished by standing up straight with feet apart and in line with the shoulders. The torso is then gently twisted to one side while keeping the hips and legs firmly in place. Hold this position for a few seconds then come back to the starting position. Do the same thing again on the opposite side. This targets the transverse abdominal muscles which are located on the lateral side of the belly. It is important to note that these exercises should be done gently and with caution because too much and abrupt stretching and twisting may cause injuries to those muscle groups.
The twisting crunch is also another great way to trim down those love handles. This is just like a regular sit-up or crunches but with a little variation. Instead of sitting straight up, reach your right elbow to your left knee and then vice-versa.
To cap it all, the secret of an effective exercise to flatten your belly is a healthy diet, one that would lessen calorie intake for a lower overall body fat composition.
Here is a complete guide on exercises to get rid of love handles and check out these weight loss exercise programs.