You’ve tried crunches, cardio, and side bends, but nothing you do seems to lose your love handles and rid you of your stubborn belly fat. It might be time to change up your gym routine—or start a new one.
Commonly called “love handles,” that belly fat collecting around your torso is a key indicator of poor overall health. To get the best moves for a slim torso, we asked Sadik Hadzovic, an IFBB Men’s Physique professional, for his 10 favorite exercises to lose love handles.
“This workout is effective because it’s fast paced and designed to target both the rectus abdominals and the transverse abdominals,” he says. “To burn fat, you must do more then just crunches and situps; you need to recruit your entire body to enter a thermogenic state that leads to an accelerated rate of fat loss.”
Let’s break it down.
What Are Love Handles?
If you’re looking into exercises to lose your love handles, you need to be sure that you’re targeting the right part of your body first.
Love handles refer to excess fat that accumulates around your sides and lower back. This subcutaneous fat creates that pinchable area above your waistband. While the name sounds endearing, some people prefer to shed this excess weight, though it can be frustrating to eliminate.
What Causes Love Handles?
Poor diet, lack of exercise, elevated stress, and insufficient sleep all contribute to fat accumulation. Men particularly struggle with this area because they have more fat cells in their midsections. Understanding these root causes is the first step toward addressing the problem.
Simple Ways To Get Rid of Love Handles
An effective oblique workout plan includes targeted exercises to reduce love handles with healthy lifestyle habits. You can try these simple tips to start reducing stubborn side fat:
Cut out added sugar: Eliminating processed sugars helps prevent fat storage and reduces carb cravings.
Stress less: High cortisol levels encourage your body to hold onto belly fat. Practice stress-reduction techniques to help keep hormone levels balanced.
Get enough sleep: Aim for seven to eight hours of quality sleep each night to keep your metabolism functioning optimally and support fat loss.
Stay hydrated: Drinking plenty of water helps prevent your body from retaining excess water weight and supports overall metabolic function.
Cut back on alcohol: Alcoholic beverages add empty calories that accumulate around your midsection without providing nutritional value.
Consume more protein: Include lean proteins at every meal to support muscle building throughout the day.
Fill up on fiber: Vegetables and complex carbohydrates keep you satisfied longer and stabilize your blood sugar levels.
Workout Directions
Hadzovic suggests you do these exercises as a workout once a week, as well as adding individual exercises into your regular strength and conditioning routine.
On other days, churn through high-intensity interval training three times a week. And stick to a clean diet—”abs are made in the kitchen,” as they saying goes.
10 Exercises to Carve Your Core
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Parilov
Sledgehammer Overhead Strike
Sets: 3 Reps: 20 Grab the sledgehammer with your left hand on the bottom and your right hand near the hammer. Raise the sledgehammer above your head and over your right shoulder, and then bring it down toward the center of a tire, similar to chopping wood. Switch sides.
Sets: 4 Duration: 30 sec. Perform the plank facedown on a mat with your feet together. Lift your hips off the ground and support your body weight on your forearms and toes, maintaining a neutral spine and a tight core.
Sets: 4 Reps: 10-15 Stand with the bar above the center of your feet—your stance should be a bit more narrow than shoulder width to give your arms room. Grab the bar overhand, bend through your knees until your shins hit the bar, which must remain above the middle of your feet. Keep your shoulder blades directly over the bar. Pull, keeping the bar close to your body, roll it over your knees and thighs until your hips and knees are locked.
Sets: 4 Duration: 30 sec. Rest: 30 sec. Stand with your feet hip-distance apart, your knees and hips slightly bent, and your core “locked in.” Grip the ends of the rope in both hands, allowing your arms to hang straight down at the center of your torso. Lower yourself into a half squat. In a single movement, explode your body upward, extending your knees and hips as you swing your arms up over your head. Immediately return to start and continue the movement.
Sets: 4 Reps: 15 Sit on the floor with both legs bent and feet on the ground. Extend arms straight out holding a weight or medicine ball. Lower your upper body back until your back is at a 45-degree angle to the floor. Rotate your arms from side to side, twisting your upper body. Make sure not to lift or move your feet.
Sets: 4 Reps: 20 Stand in an athletic position, with your feet shoulder-width apart, at a comfortable distance from the box. When you’re ready to jump, drop quickly into a quarter squat, then extend your hips, swing your arms, and push your feet through the floor to propel yourself onto the box.
Sets: 4 Reps: 20 Stand up straight, with feet a bit wider than hip-distance apart. Grab hold of the handle with both hands, keeping your palms facedown and arms in front of the body. Maintain a slight bend to the knee and drive the hips back, lowering the body—but not too low, this isn’t a squat! Then, in a fluid motion, explosively drive the hips forward while swinging the kettlebell, keeping the glutes and core engaged.
Duration: 1 min. Kneel on the floor and sit back with your butt on your heels. Place hands on the sides of your legs. Pull your shoulders back then pull your abs in as if trying to touch your belly button to your spine. Hold the vacuum for 20 or more seconds, then maintain the contraction for one to two seconds, alternating contractions and releases.
Start standing with your feet together. Bend at the knees and waist and place the palms of your hands on the ground. Kick your feet backward so that you are in a plank position. Kick your feet back in, stand back up, and immediately jump in the air. Land on your feet.
