In this article I’ll break down for you what really works to get rid of your love handles.
Now I’m not saying it’s bad to have a little something to hold on to, but let’s be honest nobody likes having love handles.
Love handles are the fat that builds up on the side of your hips right above your pants.
It seems like for the most of us our fat just seems to go straight to our love handles before any place else.
It’s no wonder why a lot of us out there are trying to hide it with baggy shirts.
Love Handles Causes
The causes of love handles are very simple. You’re body just builds up excess fat from eating too much then storing it on the side of your stomach for “safe keeping.”
Love handles, also known as the muffin top, are not attractive at all and I get more questions asking me how to get rid of them than anything else.
For a lot of people love handles are the hardest to get rid of, and it can be incredibly frustrating when you can lose weight everywhere but there.
It always seems like it’s the last place people will lose the weight but there are some nutrition and exercise tips I can give you to rapidly speed up the process.
So instead of having to buy one of those cheesy sweat belts I’ll give you the real world strategies so you can lose the love handles for good.
What Doesn’t Work to Lose Love Handles
Sometimes you’ll see people in the gym doing a Side Bends exercise and I always want to tell them they’re wasting their time.
The truth is spot reduction is a very ineffective way of losing your love handles. Spot reduction is when you try to lose fat in a specific area on your body by isolating the area with an exercise.
So think of it like you want to lose your love handles so you keep trying to just do Side Bends, but even if you do them forever you will not get results.
While doing isolation exercises focusing on the love handles is okay every once in a while it shouldn’t be your sole method of getting rid of your muffin top.
This study puts the nail in the coffin proving spot reduction is very ineffective for losing love handles or any other part of your body.
In the rest of this article I’ll break down for you what really works to help you drop your love handles.
What Exercises Lose Love Handles
Ok so I know I just said you can’t spot reduce your love handles, but I have a trick up my sleeve.
There are exercises to lose love handles out there but they aren’t what you typically would think of.
These use HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) strategies to burn fat all over your body while adding some specific muscle toning to your love handles.
There are some other methods such as metabolic resistance training that will also help to increase your metabolism and the building of lean muscle.
I would also recommend trying this HIIT workout routine I designed to help get your training program kickstarted for mega fat burning.
All of these training protocols when done correctly will burn a crazy amount of fat compared to the workouts most people do in the gym.
That’s all just a fun way of saying the best way to drop your love handles is to drop fat throughout your body.
With these exercises you’ll lose those love handles and help tone up them up at the same time.
10 Best Exercises To Lose Love Handles
In the video above you’ll see I’m using a couple simple pieces of exercise equipment like the kettlebell and superbands.
You can pick these up pretty inexpensively at your local Target or Wal-Mart. Or you can also pick them up at Amazon.
Just be sure to know I’m using a rather heavy kettlebell for the video, but you probably won’t need to start out that heavy. For you I’d probably find a 10-25 pound kettlebell for getting started.
Although I didn’t specifically state the order of these exercises for love handles I would recommend coupling the full-body exercises.
With these 10 exercises you can make hundreds of different combinations.
Now let’s dig deeper into these exercises to lose love handles with some descriptions.
Kettlebell Suitcase Deadlift
Place a kettlebell to the side of your foot then squat down to the floor to pick it up. While holding the kettlebell stand up tall.
Focus on keeping your hips straight throughout the exercise. Keep your chest up and when you squat to the floor make sure you push your hips back like you’re taking a seat on a chair.
Kettlebell 1-Arm Clean & Press
This movement is a little more advanced but it’s very effective total body exercise. Feel free to do some practicing on this one before trying it with the kettlebell.
Hold the kettlebell in one arm and then shoot your hips forward in a thrusting motion. While you’re doing this also explode upwards with your elbow lifting the kettlebell up.
Next bring your elbow down quickly and catch the kettlebell in your hand. Use your body as a spring to absorb the motion of the kettlebell.
Then bring the kettlebell back down with you before going on to the next repetition.
Kettlebell Alternating Swings
This is a variation on a typical kettlebell swing I like to use to focus more on my love handles.
Start like you would a regular kettlebell swing but after the first repetition bring the kettlebell back on the side of your hips.
Then swing it back up like you would a normal swing before bringing it back down on the other side of your body.
Keep swinging the kettlebell side-to-side on the outside of your hips.
Superband Tight Rotations
Using a superband (or other sturdy band you can find) wrap it around a solid object such as a pole.
Hold the other end of the superband in your hands and step away from the anchor location.
Then with some tightness on the band repeatedly swing your hips side-to-side while keeping your abs tight.
Try to increase the speed as you get the exercise down. You can also make the exercise harder by simply stepping farther away from the anchor point.
T-Stab Pushups
Get in the standard pushup position then after performing a full pushup rotate your body sideways at the top. Let your feet rotate with your body as you turn yourself so you’re now facing the wall.
After a quick pause at the top you’ll next want to bring yourself back to the pushup position. Do another pushup before repeating the sideways movement only to the other side this time.
Side-ups
Traditional Side Planks are great for focusing on strengthening your love handles, but there is an even better way to do them.
Get down on your side then lift yourself up like you’re doing a Side Plank only keep lifting your hips up and down from the ground.
Be sure to keep your body straight throughout the exercise while keeping your abs tight as well.
Mermaid Crunches
Another fun exercise I like to use to help tone up my love handles are Mermaid Crunches.
You’re going to lay on your side and wrap your bottom foot behind your top foot. Then place your upmost hand behind your head and your bottom hand on the ground for support.
Together lift up your legs and crunch up your elbow towards them. Keep your abs tight as you go up and down off the ground.
Kettlebell Reverse Lunges
Holding a kettlebell stand up tall with your abs tight. Then while keeping your chest up and looking straight ahead begin to take a big step back with one leg.
Lower that back leg towards the ground so it’s about an inch from hitting it. Next bring the leg back up before repeating on the other side.
Kettlebell 1-Legged RDL
Stand up tall and hold a kettlebell in your right hand. Slowly begin to lean forward as you lift your right leg up off the ground as you go down.
Keep your opposite leg straight with a slight bend in it and your back straight. Try to lower yourself so your back is right above parallel to the floor.
Slowly bring yourself back up to the standing position. Repeat on this same side until your done then switch to the other side.
Tips to Lose Love Handles
The #1 thing you can do to most effectively lose your love handles is to focus on your diet.
There is no amount of exercising you’re going to be able to do if you’re putting too much bad food into your body.
Dieting is key to get rid of love handles and even if you don’t have much weight to lose you’re going to have to step it up a notch.
Keeping sugar and alcohol out of your body will have a big impact on losing the love handles. Also keeping processed foods and carbs low will help to slim down your waist.
This study found sugar will pack on the stomach fat no matter what kind of exercise you’re doing.
Really do your best to kick this bad habit because it’s also the one thing that will give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Even doing something as simple as getting rid of processed foods from your diet will help to reduce the fat on your body and your love handles.
The high amounts of refined sodium in processed foods is enough to cause your body to retain water making your stomach look bigger than it actually is.
Alcohol is another “bad guy” in the battle against your love handles. Drinking this little devil will shut off your fat burning hormones as it slows your metabolism to a stand still.
I would limit your alcohol intake to only 2 drinks per week on your cheat day unless you want to keep that belly for the summer.
That’s really just the icing on the cake when it comes to nutrition for losing your handles.
If you ready for the complete guide with meal plans to lose your love handles for good then check out my Flat Belly Formula system.
Final Word On My Exercises to Lose Love Handles
At the end of the day getting rid of your love handles is going to be done through proper dieting.
But there are some exercises you can use to help get rid of those stubborn love handles.
Use the ones described in my video above to get the full exercise benefits to slim down your muffin top.
Spot reduction really is a bad way to go about losing your love handles, but these above HIIT full-body exercises will for sure help to tone up and lose fat overall.
This is what’s really going to help you get rid of your love handles for good.
Most people have the hardest time trying to get rid of them but it really doesn’t have to be so difficult.
As long as you’re willing to put in the work for what really works then you’ll be there in no time.
Love handles are very unsightly and a big point of insecurity for many us.
I know a few people who don’t even want to wear a bathing suit at the beach because they don’t want people to see their love handles.
This doesn’t have to be you though. Just be sure to get your nutrition right and do the exercises to lose love handles above so you aren’t left at the pool with your shirt on this summer.
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