Love handles. Sound nice don’t they, but they could also be described as belly fat and that doesn’t sound good at all. The fact of the matter is that they are one of the first signs of a problem that, if left unchecked, may cause serious health issues later on. Exercises to lose love handles seem an obvious answer but do they work? In this article we’ll look at some of the more popular ones and try to answer the question.
Torso Twists
Thai is a simple exercise to do but if done correctly certainly targets the right areas. To begin you should stand upright with feet about shoulder width apart and your arms outstretched to the sides, at roughly shoulder height, so that your body forms the shape of a T. Once in position twist to each side until your arms are alternately stretched out right in front of you. Repeat as many times as you can up to 100 times a day. Do Torso Twists work? Certainly.
Side Planks
Quite rightly this exercise is believed to be one of the most effective you can do to target love handles.
Lie in a push-up position but resting on you elbows instead of your hands. Do this close to a wall. Turn your body to face the wall by resting on the elbow farthest away and with on foot on top of the other. The idea is to get your body as straight as a plank (hence the exercise name. Once in this position breathe in and out hard forcing your stomach to move in rhythm with your breathing. This is quite a hard exercise to master so try and find some video to give you a better idea of how it’s done. But, as I said at the beginning, it is very effective.
Leg Lifts
For this exercise you need to lie on the floor facing the ceiling and with your arms outstretched to the sides forming a T. Then, without bending the knees, lift one of your legs up as far as you can, then bring it across your body with the aim of trying to touch your foot to the floor. The important thing here is not to twist and to keep as much of your body on the floor as possible. This exercise should be done slowly and repeated 20 times alternating legs each time. Again, a very effective exercise to lose love handles.
So we have looked at three of the most common exercises to lose love handles and asked the question, do they work? The answer is yes, but not on their own. Remembering what was said at the beginning of the article. Love handles are an early symptom of a potentially greater problem and whilst any exercise and particularly the ones described above will help reduce the love handles and improve health it is essential to address the underlying problem, namely the unbalance between calories consumed and calories used. This is only possible by following a scientifically calculated diet and combining it with not only the exercises given above but with more general cardiovascular exercise to increase the metabolic rate.
My name is Neil Hawkesford. I’ve had a long interest in keeping fit so I’ve decided to pass on some information and tips that may help others.
For more information please take a look at these sites:
My Love Handles Gone.Com
Squidoo Article