Does Working Obliques Burn Fat On Them?

The obliques run down the sides of the abdomen in a diagonal direction. When fat builds up over these muscles, it is often referred to as love handles. Because this fat is close to the stomach, it has a tendency to build up inside the abdomen and turn into visceral fat. This raises the risk for cardiovascular disease. Working the obliques alone will not lead to fat loss, but exercise is still a major part of the equation.

Theory of Spot Reduction

Ab gadgets come in all shapes and sizes, and are touted on late night infomercials for their ability to remove stomach fat. This is the theory known as spot reduction, which is not possible. Oblique exercises will tone and tighten your muscles, but they only burn a minimal amount of fat.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardiovascular exercise is the type that's performed in a repetitive motion for an extended time. When you do cardio, your heart rate elevates, you break out in a sweat and you burn a high amount of calories. This, in turn, causes you to lose weight in your oblique area and throughout the rest of your body as a whole. All forms of cardio cause this effect, such as running, elliptical training, stair climbing, rowing, kickboxing and step aerobics.

Time Dedicated to Cardio

The amount of time you spend exercising needs to be addressed when it comes to leaning out your oblique fat. If you only work out when you feel up to it, you likely will not make any progress. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, it may take 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity performed five days a week to lose weight. Working out multiple times during the day to accumulate your time is just as effective as exercising in long sessions.

Notes and Weight Training

Adding weight training to your workout schedule will also help you shed oblique fat. When you lift weights, you build muscle, which is metabolically active. This means it burns calories at a fast pace while you are at complete rest. With a higher metabolism, you burn more calories around the clock and lose side fat more efficiently. You are best served doing a full-body workout to target as many muscles as possible. Perform exercises like chest presses, shoulder presses, back rows, dips, curls and lunges.

Fat-loss Diet

No amount of exercise is going to help you lose love handles if you do not tighten up your dietary habits. The best way to lose weight is to cut back on your daily intake and only eat foods with a high nutrient value. If you couple this with a solid exercise routine, you will create a two-pronged approach that will cause faster weight loss. A daily reduction of 500 calories will promote about 1 lb. of weight loss a week.