The faster you want to lose weight, the more effort you are going to have to put forth. This includes not only exercise, but also your diet. If you keep eating unhealthy foods, you will sabotage the work you put in at the gym. When it comes to your love handles specifically, focus on overall weight loss and oblique exercises. The obliques are the diagonal-shaped muscles on your sides.
Step 1
Reduce your food intake to promote weight loss. Aim for 1,200 total calories a day if you are female and 1,800 calories a day if you are male.
Step 2
Select foods that are high in nutrients and and fiber like fruits, vegetables and greens. Include lean meats, fish, beans, whole grains and low-fat dairy products in with your meals as well. Restrict your intake of foods that are highly refined, processed and high in sugar.
Step 3
Choose a type of cardiovascular exercise and do it interval style. Start with a light five-minute warm-up, then increase your intensity to 75 to 80 percent maximum effort for 20 seconds. Reduce your intensity to about 50 percent maximum effort for 40 seconds and repeat this pattern for 30 minutes. Finish with a light five-minute cool-down and work out three days a week on alternating days.
Step 4
Perform weight training to build muscle and raise your metabolic rate. Do exercises that work as much of your body as possible like bench presses, upright rows, back rows, triceps dips, twist curls and walking lunges. Aim for eight to 12 reps, do three or four sets and work out three days a week on noncardio days. Take short rest breaks in between your exercises to keep your heart rate elevated.
Step 5
Grasp a pull-up bar to do hanging oblique knee raises. Place your hands approximately shoulder-width apart and let your legs hang straight down. Pull your legs up, bend your knees and move them toward your right shoulder. Lower your legs, repeat on your other side and continue to alternate back and forth for 15 to 20 repetitions.
Step 6
Position your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor and carefully place your lower shins on top of a stability ball to do prone oblique rolls. Start out in a push-up position with your arms, back and legs perfectly straight. Roll the ball on the floor as you tuck your knees into your body and toward your right shoulder. Extend your legs back out, repeat to your left side and continue to alternate back and forth for 15 to 20 repetitions.
Step 7
Grab a medicine ball to do Russian twists. Sit on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat and back 45 degrees to the floor. Hold the ball in front of your chest with your arms extended. Twist back and forth to your right and left side 15 to 20 times while keeping your lower body still.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform three or four sets of your oblique exercises and do them right after your cardio workouts.
Things You'll Need
- Pull-up bar
- Stability ball
- Medicine ball
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