Exercise That Gets Rid Of Love Handles

Love handles, muffin top and spare tire are slang terms for extra fat that is created and stored around a person's midsection. Flabby love handles hang or bulge over jeans or trousers and are especially visible over the abdominal obliques located along the sides of your stomach. To cinch in your waistline and get a handle on your love handles, eat a healthy diet and engage in a regular routine of aerobic exercise, coupled with specific exercises that target your obliques.

Aerobic Exercise

Although aerobic exercise, also known as cardio, can't spot-tone a specific area of your body, it can reduce fat from your body as a whole, including love handles. Long-duration cardio raises your metabolism to burn calories and fat. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends a minimum of two hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate cardio or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity. Swimming, cycling, brisk walking and rowing offer moderate results, while jogging, jumping rope and running can yield significant fat-burning benefits.

Captain's Chair

Rated the most effective abdominal exercise for obliques by the American Council on Exercise, the captain's chair helps reduce inches off your waistline and diminish your love handles. Although traditionally performed on a piece of gym equipment with the same name, you can also execute a variation of the captain's chair by sitting on a sturdy wooden chair. Plant your feet firmly on the floor. Place your palms on the chair seat and curl your fingers around each side of the seat. Keeping your spine tall and straight, exhale as you gradually raise your knees up to your chest. Hold the position for a count of three. Inhale and slowly lower your feet back to the floor. Complete 10 to 15 repetitions.

Plank with Leg Lift

The plank with leg lift not only helps to sculpt your waist and shrink love handles but also aids in flattening belly bulge. To execute the exercise, place your body into the starting position of a basic pushup. Straighten your elbows so that your arms extend down to the floor with your hands under your shoulders. Without dropping your hips, exhale and lift your left leg as high as possible. Inhale and slowly lower your leg. Repeat the exercise with the opposite leg. Complete 15 repetitions.

Stability Ball Leg Rolls

Jorge Cruise, fitness television star and author of "8 Minutes in the Morning to a Flat Belly," promotes strong obliques as vital to a lean, love handle-free waistline. Add a stability ball to leg rolls and your body recruits even more muscles to complete the same movements. Begin by lying flat on your back with your arms out to the sides, airplane style. Hold a stability ball between your ankles and extend your legs up to the ceiling. Keeping both shoulder blades on the floor, exhale and slowly lower your legs to the left. Return to the start position as you inhale, then exhale and lower your legs to the right. Perform five repetitions.