Most of us want to lose our belly fat and love handles for vanity reasons. Who wants a layer of fat hanging over his clothes and feeling the jiggle during daily activities? However, extra visceral fat around the waistline can pose ominous health risks. According to the American Heart Association, there is a direct link between excess belly fat and a greater likelihood of heart disease. Fortunately, aerobic and weight training can blast the fat from your gut and love handles.
Cardio Training
Before you think of toning up your ab muscles, you must burn off the fat that covers them up. Lose that flab by jogging, brisk walking, swimming, bicycling, jumping rope, kickboxing or any physical activity you enjoy that increases heart rate. Get at least 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic training for a minimum of five days a week.
Ab Crunches
This is a classic exercise to tone up your abdominal muscles. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet shoulder width apart with feet firmly planted on the floor. Place both hands behind your head to stabilize neck and keep your head in line with your spine. Lift your shoulders five inches off the floor, keeping your back planted on the floor. Release back to starting position. Do three sets of 25 reps.
Lying Side Oblique Crunch
Lying side oblique crunches do for the obliques--the muscles on the sides of your stomach--what ab crunches do for your central abdominals. Lie on your right side, legs on top of one another and knees bent. Place your left hand on the side of your head and lift your and shoulder four to six inches off the ground then release to the starting position. Be sure your head remains in line with your spine throughout exercise. Do three sets of 15 reps working your left obliques and repeat on the right obliques.
Strength Training
To scorch the fat on the gut and love handles, work all of your major muscles groups. Aerobic training burns the calories while you exercise and the ab exercises firm the waistline. If you increase overall muscle mass, you burn more calories at rest and trim fat around the belly and throughout your body. Aim to strength train at least two or three days each week.
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