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I have love handles. and I really hate them. please make them go away!
Love handles. Ah yes...the affectionate term given to that flabby area on the sides of your abdomen that you can't seem to get rid of.
The anatomic term for them is "obliques" and unfortunately this area of the body is often neglected when it comes to exercising the stomach and ab areas.
Again, I cannot stress enough that you have to start with long-duration aerobic exercise if you want to trim any part of your stomach. Spot toning will prove ineffective because you need to raise your metabolism enough to burn that extra love handle fat. Remember, it's all about total body fitness and losing weight all over.
If you've been reading this site, you're probably tired of me mentioning that, but that is the #1 misconception about stomach toning. You have to get your entire body into shape before you start seeing results.
Start a cardio exercise program at your home. Either buy aerobics DVDs or subscribe to a cool site like WorkoutPass.com.
This has got to be one of the coolest fitness sites I've ever seen. You'll gain access to hundreds of different exercise programs from one site, and you never have to leave your home. There are tons of different cardio exercise routines to help you burn fat and reduce those stubborn love handles.
While doing basic crunches will help eliminate some of the fat around the obliques, here are some other exercises that focus more on the love handle area.
Leg Flutters
A lot of people don't realize that in order to tone your middle and love handle area you also need to strengthen your back. This creates a balance in your torso and reduces the fat on your back.
Lie on your stomach and lift your head up slightly
You can keep your arms straight out at your sides or bend them with your elbows resting beside you.
Lift your feet and knees off the floor and flutter your legs rapidly back and forth. Do this for 20 seconds. Take a 20 second break and then repeat again.
Twist Crunches
This exercise will work your internal and external obliques as well as the rectus abdominis. These are the two muscle groups that live around your waist. Fat is generally stored on top of these muscles, thus creating the love handle effect.
Lie on your back with your knees bent.
Carefully lift your head up and place your hands behind your head without locking your fingers together.
Twist to the right bringing your left elbow to your right knee. Extend your left leg out.
Now twist back to the left bringing your right elbow to your left knee. Extend your right leg out.
Repeat 25 times.
Standing Trunk Twists
This is a good aerobic-type exercise that will help get your heart rate up as well as burn some calories in your middle.
Stand with your feet about a foot apart and knees relaxed.
Twist your torso to the left while keeping your hips and legs as stable as possible. As you twist to the left, cross your right arm in front of your body in a punching motion.
Twist back to the right and cross your left arm over your body in a punching motion.
Do 100 reps.
sugabuga...lol. love handles give you 'some' of your curve, not all, so dont be obsessed... ima 5'7'' and 130, bout right, for my build I guess... I had cellulite on my sides, and it was drivin me nuts, my legs werent bad, my @ss no worse than a normal chix... point... I had a nutty aerobics dance teacher last semester... we did evrythang!! and wut I loved that did away with my cellulite was the following exercise, in addition to nearly melting away all my love handle area... love it...
do this 30 min... or longer than 20
keep movin doin something, jump side to side, jump-jacks, punches, run in place, shuffle, whatev...
then to tighten targed area, grab up and left and pull right kneee, tae bo move-ish, do both sides, and really focus on extension and pulling keepin evrything tite.
also... left arm up(start) crunch down and at same time, pull up knee (side)... its like a side crunch standing up. then do right side. now jog doing this... privately...lol u'll look silly, but yea.
combo all this, my teach had us do this 40 minutes 2 days a week with reg abs of her choice, and wowee did that sh*t work...
YOU CANNOT GET RID OF FAT IN A SINGLE AREA ONLY WITHOUT SURGERY.
It's plain and simple. Just because you put on fat in certain areas more than others does NOT mean you can simply burn fat in those areas only.
Think of the fat content of your body as a lake. If you take a cup and scoop out some water, is there a hole in the water where you just scooped? NO.
If you want to lose body fat, you're going to be burning it all over your body. What I'd reccomend to do is use a BMI calculator and find out what your calorie needs are, and eat like 1000 calories or more less than that. Cardio excersizes help the most, such as biking or jump rope. Google the HIIT program (Yes, two I's) for more help on burning fat.
undeadxamity; she didnt say only in that area.. why would you assume that? she means mostly in that area.. and you can lose more fat in one place than others. by doing sit ups, you lose your tummy but not much leg.
On this I heard you the weight you want to be you have to take that number and multiply it by ten.
