"Love handles," or the layers of fat around the midsection, are the bane of body-conscious men and women. Fad diets and workout videos often come with promises to instantly get rid of love handles, but in reality, it takes a focused combination of a lean and healthy diet, slimming cardiovascular workouts and toning exercises to develop a trim belly.
Crunches
Crunches are a staple of belly-trimming exercise. For an advanced crunch, begin by lying flat on your back with your feet held straight in the air. Keep your legs up and your feet together throughout the exercise. With your arms crossed over your chest, bring your elbows to your knees. Focus on letting your abdominal muscles drive the movement, not your head or chest. Hold for a moment, return to your starting position and repeat. To do a standard crunch, follow these motions with your feet resting flat on the floor, legs shoulder-width apart and knees bent. A reverse crunch also uses this position, but rather than lifting your shoulders off the ground, you'll lift your knees and glutes off the ground to meet your elbows. Start with just a few repetitions per set and add repetitions each time you work out. Approach crunches with caution if you have a history of lower back problems.
Stability Ball Exercises
The stability ball, also dubbed an exercise ball or Swiss ball, serves as a handy tool for targeting love handles. By working the obliques, stability balls help trim and tone the body's core. For a stability ball twist, lie with your back on the ball and your feet flat on the floor as you hold a medicine ball or a dumbbell at your chest. With your glutes planted on the ball, smoothly rotate your torso to one side until your knuckles face the wall. Resume the starting position and repeat, switching sides as you go. For a roll-and-curl exercise, assume a push-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor and the front of your shins resting atop the stability ball. Tighten your abdominals and glutes, and then bend your knees inward to roll the ball toward one side of your chest. Roll the ball back to its beginning position and repeat with the other side.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise is essential to trimming the layers of fat that make up love handles. This sort of exercise also helps increase the body's metabolism, which assists in losing weight. Engage in 20 to 45 minutes of cardiovascular activity at least three times per week. Running helps reduce body fat while conditioning the core abdominal muscles. Other cardiovascular exercises for busting love handles include swimming, biking, jumping rope, hiking, walking or jogging. At the gym, treadmills and elliptical machines provide cardiovascular workouts, while programs such as Pilates, stair-stepping and kickboxing offer the necessary exercise to help you shed calories around the midsection.
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