Workouts To Get Rid Of Love Handles

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles

Apr 8, 2010 | By Ripa Ajmera

Love handles are the slang term given to the flabby area on the sides of the waist that some people have a lot of difficulty getting rid of. The anatomic word for this part of the stomach is "oblique." The oblique muscles are called love handles because they give someone who is holding you at the waist a good place to find a grip on your body.

Pilates

Pilates is a form of exercise developed by and named after Joseph Pilates. The purpose of Pilates workouts is to help strengthen your abdominal muscles and buttocks, which also helps improve your posture and increase your overall flexibility. Pilates exercises are particularly good for people who want to get rid of love handles because they help your whole body become leaner. This is an important thing to remember for people interested in ridding themselves of love handles because you cannot have thinner, more toned abdominal muscles until you put in the effort necessary to make your whole body thinner.

Yoga

Yoga is sometimes thought to be similar to Pilates exercises---and some of the poses in yoga are indeed similar. Like Pilates, yoga workouts coordinate movement with breathing, which helps you deeper into the poses, which helps stretch and tone your entire body.
One yoga exercise that is particularly good for getting rid of love handles is the gate pose, as it works all the layers of your stomach muscles. To do this exercise, start by standing on your knees with your stomach tucked in. extend your right leg with your right knee facing the ceiling, your toes pointed down and your heel on the ground. Slide your right hand as far as possible down your leg, keeping your left hip over your left knee. Reach your arm up and to the right. Hold the pose for between 5 to 15 breaths and then repeat on the other side.

Cardiovascular Workouts

Exercises that concentrate solely on reducing your love handles are not as effective as ones that tone your whole body for getting rid of love handles. The body's metabolism needs to be increased to burn the extra fat in your body. Cardiovascular exercises not only help increase your metabolism, but also help rid you of love handles effectively. Examples of cardiovascular workouts include biking, jogging, walking, running, swimming and using an elliptical trainer in a gym. It is a good idea to do cardiovascular exercises for at least between 20 to 45 minutes each day.