love handles?

Question

i exercise - but i have love handles. i know i need to do more exercise, but is there anything that works better, or any tips?

Answer 1

Do crunches

Answer 2

Try to think of your entire waist as a single joint.

'Love Handles' develop when the lower margin of the 'external obliques' (V-shaped abdominal muscle layer) is underworked.

Toning up these muscles will show your 'iliac crest' off well, but it's a long job. Most abdominal exercises concentrate on the front of your waist, but in normal use, these muscles interact quite a lot with the muscles in your lower back.

Dancers tend to do a lot of something called a 'lateral trunk curl', or 'side situp'. It's like a standing side bend (the one where you touch your knee) but you lie on your side to do it. It actually works the 'Quad' muscle (Quadratus Lumborum), but the Obliques are active to support it.

DO NOT DO THIS EXERCISE. Dancers get away with it because they've done a lot of training. The right breathing pattern is important, too.

You should go to a PILATES class, which will teach you to lengthen and strengthen your entire 'core' (waist to you and me), and to co-ordinate your breathing muscles.

You should also sign up for regular salsa, flamenco or samba sessions, because these dances use a lot of waist movements.

After you have done these activities diligently for at least a year, you will be ready to try CAPOEIRA (a cross between dance & martial art, which uses a lot of rapid waist movement), and hardcore exercises like the lateral curl.

(Capoeira can be learned as a beginners' activity, but you will progress faster and enjoy it more if you have 'tuned up' your waistwork first.)

Answer 3

I would do lots of sit-up's, and you know when your standing up - put your hands on your hips and bend forward like 4 times - then side ways 4 times and back 4 times and then to the other side 4 times (this is what they used to make us do in gym class when I was a kid) - but these work. Just make sure you exercise some every single day - and watch what you eat too.

Answer 4

Cardio and crunches....or lipo if you have the $$. But sometimes lovehandles are just genetics. You may be stuck.

Answer 5

eat sensibly, exercise wont do it on its own.

Answer 6

liposuction