Have extra fat around the side of the waist and lower back? They are nothing but love handles. Love handles, also known as muffin tops. The extra fat can pop out from those areas and can be extremely annoying for us. They may be a result of several unhealthy habits such as junk food, alcohol consumption, poor exercise routine or hormonal changes. However, it’s fortunate that there are exercises and a couple of precautions one can take to get rid of all these love handles.
We hear you and this article gives you the best exercises customized to reduce and get rid of love handles in a quick yet effective way. These exercises will help you get rid of love handles in days. The challenging task for most of us is to remove those love handles. Out of many exercises, we have selected 10 simple yet effective exercises to reduce love handles quickly. Continue reading to find out the best muffin top exercises.
Effective Exercises To Lose Love Handles (Muffin Top):
Given below are the 10 simple and best love handles workouts at home. Let’s have a look at them.
1. Russian Twists:
This seated exercise is great for strengthening your obliques and lower back muscles.
How To Perform:
- Begin by sitting on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
- Now, lean your torso back so that you’re at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. Clasp your hands together and lift your feet off the ground so that you’re balancing on your butt.
- Twist your torso to the right, bringing your clasped hands to the right side of your body and twist back over to the left, touching your hands to the left side of your body.
- Repeat the process for 1 minute.
2. Bicycle Crunches:
The bicycle crunch helps in activating the rectus abdominals and activating the obliques.
How To Perform:
- Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and your hands behind your head.
- Engage your abs, lifting your shoulders and upper back off of the ground.
- Now bend your left knee and bring it towards the right side of your chest. As you twist your body, extend your right leg straight out in front of you.
- Get back to the initial position.
- Bend your right knee and bring it towards the left side of your chest.
- Perform the exercise for 30 seconds.
3. Side Plank Hip Lifts:
A side plank works effectively in strengthening the oblique abdominal muscles, thereby maintaining a good posture.
How To Perform:
- Lie on your side with your elbow on the ground and your legs and hips resting on the ground.
- Engaging your abs and keeping your body in a straight line, raise the lower half of your body up off the ground into a straight plank position.
- Hold the position for 20 seconds and bring your hip down without letting it touch the floor.
- Switch your legs and repeat the same.
- Do 3 sets of 15 times each.
4. Woodchoppers:
Woodchoppers are one of the effective exercises to reduce love handles. This exercise looks like you are chopping wood with an axe.
How To Perform:
- Stand straight on your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the dumbbell in both hands.
- Squat as you rotate your torso to the left and bring the weight in your hands across your body until it is close to the left thigh.
- Hold the position for a few seconds and lift the weight across the body to reach the right shoulder.
- Engage your core. Make sure that your arms are extended and keep your back straight.
- Repeat the exercise by switching sides.
- Perform 10 sets of 15 repetitions on each side.
5. Hanging Leg Rises:
Hanging leg raises helps in maintaining a stable core and improving the flexibility of the spine.
How To Perform:
- Begin by hanging a rod over your head.
- Engage your abdominals and hip flexors to lift your feet off the ground by raising your legs until they are perpendicular to your torso.
- Hold the bar flexing your hips.
- Inhale as you engage your abdominal muscles and exhale while lifting the legs.
- Work up to 3 sets of 10 raises.
6. Side Stretches:
Side stretches are a common form of exercise routine. They are well known among beginners too in the form of warm-up exercises. They not only help get rid of love handles but also brings in relief for back and shoulder pain. They strengthen your muscles and improve the posture of the body.
How To Perform:
- Stand straight and still on the ground.
- Keep both your legs wide apart.
- Try and make sure your toes are placed on opposite sides.
- While you rest one hand, bring the other hand on the top of your head and bend/stretch towards another side.
- Repeat the same with another side.
- Do 20 reps on each side.
7. Side Squats:
Side squats help tone down the lower part of the body. They target around the waistline and thigh area. They are also well known to improve stamina and stability in the body.
How To Perform:
- Stand still on the floor and place your legs wide apart.
- Stretch your hands to the front.
- Sit on the left foot and fold on the knees.
- Make sure the right leg is stretched on another side.
- Slowly get into the original position.
- Repeat the same on another side.
- Do 20 squats for each leg.
- Make sure you place your upper body straight to avoid pains.
8. Scissors:
This exercise targets the abdomen and helps flatten the belly and reduce the muffin top. It is a great strength move and also stretches the lower back. It helps improve flexibility and tone down the lower abdomen area. It also strengthens the core and stabilizes the midsection of the body.
How To Perform:
- Lie on your back and place your arms next to your side.
- Place legs pointed straight into the air above the hip area.
- Press lower back onto the mat and make sure that your abs are tight.
- Raise your right leg up and lower your right leg again slowly, and lower your left leg in the same manner.
- Switch between left and right leg.
- Do 15 reps on both sides.
- Make sure you don’t go very fast hurting your lower back during the exercise.
- Move and raise the legs slowly.
9. Hip Lift:
This is yet another good exercise for the abs and muffin top region which helps by strengthening muscles. It further helps in developing and toning down the deep abs. It suits best those with back pain as it is less stressful with the back. It strengthens the main core areas in the body and helps improve the posture of the body. It also further stabilizes the movements.
How To Perform:
- Lie down flat on the ground.
- Pull your navel near the spine.
- Inhale deeply and gradually.
- Exhale slowly and lift your hips above the floor.
- Legs should be straight up pointed.
- As you push your legs up make sure that your hips should leave the floor.
- The Head should be resting on the ground while you perform the above steps.
- Inhale slowly and lower your hips down the ground.
- Legs should slowly return to the position.
- Repeat 12 times.
- Be gentle with your neck and hips while performing the exercise.
10. Toe Touch:
Toe touch is another popular form of exercise which is simple yet very effective to reduce fat near muffin tops. The flexible moves help strengthen the core and tone down the muscles. Inculcating the same in your daily exercise routine makes your exercises effective to burn down fat in muffin top areas.
How To Perform:
- Stand straight and still.
- Make sure there is some space in front of you and behind you.
- Bend at the waist region and make sure your legs are straight.
- Let your upper part of the body hang down in front of you in this way.
- Let your arms and hands hang down as well.
- Hold on for 20 seconds.
- Repeat the same for 20 reps.
Lifestyle Changes Recommended:
It’s all not about exercise only. While exercise certainly helps to reduce and burn down love handles, one should also inculcate certain dietary and healthy habits.
- Do not skip your exercise routine. Make sure you work out five to six times a week for 40 minutes a day for a minimum.
- Have high-fibre food including breakfast, try switching to fibre foods.
- Nothing such as fresh fruits. Always cut down on junk food and swap them with fruits.
- Cut down sugar. This is global advice one can give to all those who want to inculcate a healthy lifestyle and cut down on fats in the body.
- Skip out on all the baked and deep-fried junk foods that do no good to you and your lifestyle or body. They tend to accumulate an excess of bad fat which brings in new complications only.
- Have lots of water. Six to seven large glasses of water can certainly do wonders.
- Do not stay hungry. It is never the secret to lose out weight and burning fats.
These are the 5 simple, and best love handles exercises. The above workouts not only reduce love handles but also help in strengthening your abdominal muscles. Perform these exercises regularly to lose extra pounds and get a leaner waist. I hope this information is useful. Share your thoughts below.
FAQs:
1. Can Love Handles be eliminated entirely?
Yes, you can get rid of love handles or extra tires in your body. All you need is confidence and concentration not to divert from a regular and healthier lifestyle. Exercise and eat a balanced diet, all the excess fat is flushed out from your body.
2. What foods help you lose out on Love Handles?
Eggs, quinoa, chia seeds, flax seeds, fruits, and fibre foods are examples of what one needs to eat for supplementing with exercises in order to get rid of love handles. Never skip out on drinking enough water in a day. They help boost the metabolism and supplement a healthier lifestyle on the whole.
3. What food to avoid losing fat around the lower Abdomen and Belly areas?
Try and avoid baked foods, fried foods, alcohol, sweeteners, sugar, sodas, and aerated drinks. They have nothing but sugar and fat content in them which do no good for your body. Turn to have a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet along with exercises every day to get rid of love handles.
4. What are the Best Yoga Poses for getting rid of Love Handles?
Although yoga is not the first thing many people think of when wondering how to get rid of the fat near love handles, one cannot rule out the option or deny the fact of how effective this can be in reducing fat accumulated around the region. Be it melting the fat or getting rid of the bulge with fat, yoga helps to strengthen the muscles with the stretches and gives you the same slimming effects you get through going to the gym. The movements help tone down the body and strengthen the core for better results in days. The top yoga poses to get rid of love handles are warrior pose, triangle pose, arm leg in opposites pose, bow curve, side planks, down curve or down dog, sage tree, balancing star pose and upward facing dog or curve pose.
