Love handles, you either love them or hate them. It’s a highly subjective topic so we won’t get into whether or not they’re attractive.
However, if you clicked on this title, it’s probably safe to say that you want to get rid of your love handles.
What are love handles?
Just to be clear, love handles are a build-up of excess fat deposits above the hips or, to be more precise, above the gluteal muscles (buttocks).
What causes love handles?
Love handles are often due to an unhealthy diet (too rich in sugar or fats) combined with a sedentary lifestyle.
Fat cells accumulate when your body takes in more calories than it is able to burn. Depending on the individual, this fat is stored as love handles, or it may be deposited in other areas (abdomen, thighs, buttocks, arms…).
Other factors that contribute to the accumulation of fat include: hormone imbalances, fatigue, stress, and age.
What are the best exercises for getting rid of love handles?
I hate to disappoint you, but spot reduction of fat doesn’t work. There is no exercise that specifically targets love handles and helps you lose fat from this area.
But don’t worry! I have a solution for you.
To get rid of your love handles, I recommend engaging in any kind of physical activity. For instance, adding strength training to your routine is particularly beneficial. Compound movements (like squats, lunges, burpees, planks, etc.) are effective exercises for burning fat.
This doesn’t mean that these exercises will remove fat directly from the area of your love handles. However, depending on the individual, they can improve overall muscle tone and aid in weight loss.
With patience and perseverance, you’ll see results.
Find a workout plan on the Fitness Coach app.
What’s the best diet to get rid of love handles?
Avoid extreme or fad diets. They don’t work and can be harmful to your health (read the article “Dieting is a bad idea”)!
Actually, you can eat whatever you want, provided you follow this rule of thumb: eat nutritious foods about 70-80% of the time, and allow yourself less healthy options, or “fun” foods, 20-30% of the time.
Read more articles on nutrition and weight loss.
Stack all the odds in your favor to lose your love handles
To maximize your chances of success, here are some other actions you can take.
As is the case with many things in life, there’s more than one way to reach your goal. For example, you can:
- Reduce stress: try calming or mindful activities like meditation, deep breathing exercises, yoga, outdoor activities, reading, journaling, drawing, etc.
- Get enough sleep: turn off all the screens and develop a new bedtime routine.
- Drink more water: reduce your consumption of sugary drinks, alcohol, and caffeine, in favor of the only drink essential to human health: water
- Improve your lifestyle: cut back on partying, junk food, etc.
- Reconnect to your personal needs, learn to really listen to yourself, trust yourself, accept that things take time, and above all, be kind to yourself.
