Man, do I hate love handles. They are stubborn and hard to get rid of. They are not very flattering on a female or male figure either. This is my most troublesome spot, grrr. Some of you may be thinking, "What love handles, Brittany?" Trust me, they are there. Not many of you have seen me naked or at least I don't think you have! Ha. Yikes.
So, how do we lose them? Here is your answer: proper nutrition, exercise and sleep. Sound similar to other exercise & weight lose approaches? Yep, like anything else you need to have a combined effort of those areas to see results. Doing a million crunches won't cut the fat off your back & hips...sorry!
Here is a workout I designed to help torch the love handles right off of you to reveal a sexy body underneath. Implement this into your weekly schedule and you should see progress in a couple of weeks. Good luck people!
peace & love
bj
Here are some helpful tips on how to perform these exercises and why they are great:
Plank Climbers
So, how do we lose them? Here is your answer: proper nutrition, exercise and sleep. Sound similar to other exercise & weight lose approaches? Yep, like anything else you need to have a combined effort of those areas to see results. Doing a million crunches won't cut the fat off your back & hips...sorry!
Here is a workout I designed to help torch the love handles right off of you to reveal a sexy body underneath. Implement this into your weekly schedule and you should see progress in a couple of weeks. Good luck people!
peace & love
bj
Plank Climbers
Start in plank position, with your shoulders pressed down, and your pelvis tucked. Drive your right knee to your chest, and tuck your chin, keeping your torso and hips stable. Step back to plank and repeat on the other side. This exercise engages the entire core and has upper body benefits as well.
Overhead Squat Swing
Use a kettlebell or dumbbell to blast off those love handles. Put your feet shoulder-width apart with the bell between them, slightly in front of you. Grab the handle with both hands and squat with your hips back. Hike the kettlebell back toward your rear end (don't let it swing all the way behind you; it should stop a little behind your knees). Keeping your back flat and your arms straight, immediately stand up and press your hips forward, swinging the kettlebell upward until it's overhead. As the bell begins to arc back down, bend your knees and squat, swinging it between your legs. This is great for core, legs and shoulders.
Side Plank With Twist
Start in a side plank with your left hand on the floor and your right hand reaching to the sky. Inhale and lift your body up until it arcs while reaching your right hand overhead. On the exhale, lift your hips, twist your torso and reach your right arm behind you under your left hip. Awesome exercise for obliques!
Standing Extended Side Crunch
This move is a great one. Stand with your arms stretched overhead. Bend sideways, lift one knee to the side and pull your elbow to touch your knee. Straighten and repeat. Do the other side. Great for balance and obliques.
Rotators
Positioning is important for this move. Start on your hands and knees with your hips and shoulders at the same level, and your knees elevated and spread wide. (You should have equal weight on all four limbs, with a flat back.) Hook your right foot over your left ankle and drop your right hip by pivoting on your left foot and aiming the hip towards your right elbow. Keep your arms locked and shoulders positioned directly over your hands throughout the movement. Return to your starting position and repeat on the right. Engages core nicely.
Burpees
Burpees are such a tough but amazing exercise to use in your love handle fat loss program. They burn a ton of calories in a very short amount of time and the variations for them are endless. For example, you can use just your body weight, you can hold two dumbbells and do them, put a jump in the beginning of the movement, use a barbell and even a frog hop. Heck, you can even throw in a pushup at the bottom portion of the movement to hit more muscle fibers.
Side Planks
Yes I know you can’t specifically target your love handles and make them shrink with spot reducing exercises, but side planks will help you tighten up and firm your entire mid section including your external and internal oblique’s. They will also help you tighten up the all important transverse abdominus. This muscle is chiefly responsible for providing lower back and lower spine support while acting as a girdle for your mid section.
Hill Sprints
Now you might be thinking I’m crazy because hill sprints don’t specifically target your love handle area. Yes I know that but there is a ton of anecdotal evidence showing that people who have added sprints into their fat loss program begin to lose inches off of their waist lines in just a few weeks from adding this form of exercise. Now why are hill sprints so good to lose belly fat and your love handles? Well, because it utilizes intense interval training. No boring and slow cardio here. A good workout to start off with is to find the biggest and baddest looking hill in your area. I don’t care how big it is. In fact, the bigger the hill, the better your workout and the better your results are going to be. Start at the bottom and from there, sprint up the hill as fast as you can and don’t stop until you reach the top. Once you reach the top, slowly walk back down and repeat this sequence. It might be really hard at first, but just stick to it and I promise it will get easier.
Cut the Carbs
Exercise alone might not keep those love handles at bay, so cut out processed carbs—you know, the delicious stuff like breads, bagels, and pasta—and watch your alcohol intake.
Get Your Zzzs
Studies show that getting a good night's sleep can work wonders on your waistline. Eight hours of uninterrupted shut-eye a night will give you results.
Overhead Squat Swing
Use a kettlebell or dumbbell to blast off those love handles. Put your feet shoulder-width apart with the bell between them, slightly in front of you. Grab the handle with both hands and squat with your hips back. Hike the kettlebell back toward your rear end (don't let it swing all the way behind you; it should stop a little behind your knees). Keeping your back flat and your arms straight, immediately stand up and press your hips forward, swinging the kettlebell upward until it's overhead. As the bell begins to arc back down, bend your knees and squat, swinging it between your legs. This is great for core, legs and shoulders.
Side Plank With Twist
Start in a side plank with your left hand on the floor and your right hand reaching to the sky. Inhale and lift your body up until it arcs while reaching your right hand overhead. On the exhale, lift your hips, twist your torso and reach your right arm behind you under your left hip. Awesome exercise for obliques!
Standing Extended Side Crunch
This move is a great one. Stand with your arms stretched overhead. Bend sideways, lift one knee to the side and pull your elbow to touch your knee. Straighten and repeat. Do the other side. Great for balance and obliques.
Rotators
Positioning is important for this move. Start on your hands and knees with your hips and shoulders at the same level, and your knees elevated and spread wide. (You should have equal weight on all four limbs, with a flat back.) Hook your right foot over your left ankle and drop your right hip by pivoting on your left foot and aiming the hip towards your right elbow. Keep your arms locked and shoulders positioned directly over your hands throughout the movement. Return to your starting position and repeat on the right. Engages core nicely.
Burpees
Burpees are such a tough but amazing exercise to use in your love handle fat loss program. They burn a ton of calories in a very short amount of time and the variations for them are endless. For example, you can use just your body weight, you can hold two dumbbells and do them, put a jump in the beginning of the movement, use a barbell and even a frog hop. Heck, you can even throw in a pushup at the bottom portion of the movement to hit more muscle fibers.
Side Planks
Yes I know you can’t specifically target your love handles and make them shrink with spot reducing exercises, but side planks will help you tighten up and firm your entire mid section including your external and internal oblique’s. They will also help you tighten up the all important transverse abdominus. This muscle is chiefly responsible for providing lower back and lower spine support while acting as a girdle for your mid section.
Hill Sprints
Now you might be thinking I’m crazy because hill sprints don’t specifically target your love handle area. Yes I know that but there is a ton of anecdotal evidence showing that people who have added sprints into their fat loss program begin to lose inches off of their waist lines in just a few weeks from adding this form of exercise. Now why are hill sprints so good to lose belly fat and your love handles? Well, because it utilizes intense interval training. No boring and slow cardio here. A good workout to start off with is to find the biggest and baddest looking hill in your area. I don’t care how big it is. In fact, the bigger the hill, the better your workout and the better your results are going to be. Start at the bottom and from there, sprint up the hill as fast as you can and don’t stop until you reach the top. Once you reach the top, slowly walk back down and repeat this sequence. It might be really hard at first, but just stick to it and I promise it will get easier.
Cut the Carbs
Exercise alone might not keep those love handles at bay, so cut out processed carbs—you know, the delicious stuff like breads, bagels, and pasta—and watch your alcohol intake.
Get Your Zzzs
Studies show that getting a good night's sleep can work wonders on your waistline. Eight hours of uninterrupted shut-eye a night will give you results.
