How to get rid of love handles?

Many people have a great deal of difficulty in getting rid of their love handles, sometimes also referred to as bingo wings or muffin tops. Despite performing all sorts of exercises and changing their diet, love handles can often be stubborn and will not respond. Even small amounts of love handles can make a great body look unappealing. Even though love handles in some people are related to body type and genes, with the right exercise one can get rid of them. the trick to getting rid of love handles is a multi-prong attack, which include diet, improving metabolism and specific targeted exercises

Understand Metabolism

Enhancing your metabolism is key to breaking up the love handles which are primarily made of fat. The stress hormones, cortisol and glucagon, are responsible for burning fat. These hormones are often releases during stress, illness, intense exercise and low carbohydrate diets. So rather than becoming ill to release these hormones, you can instead increase the levels by eating low carbohydrate high protein diets. This forces the body to produce more cortisol and glucagon, which burn away the fat to produce more sugar. Make it a habit of eating three meals regularly and do not eat anything in between. If you develop hunger pangs, your body will release cortisol and glucagon. The last thing you should do is snack frequently as this will prevent release of the stress hormones.

What else should I do?

Next, get adequate sleep of at least 6-8 hours; when you do not get enough sleep your body increases cravings for sugary foods, which makes it harder to get rid of love handles.

When it comes to alcohol, you should not drink more than 1 bottle 2-3 times a week. Since alcohol contains sugar and add calories, too much will defeat the purpose.

Role of Exercise

However, changes in diet alone is not good enough to get rid of love handles. One has to combine it with exercise.

What is pylometrics

Pylometrics is the one exercise that definitely helps get rid of love handles. This fancy word simply means any activity where you jump, skip or hop. Pylometrics is also known as “jump” training and is frequently used to train people who play volleyball, basketball and tennis. One can perform a series of hops, jumps on one or both legs. You can jump on a bench or onto a box or jump over cones. Some movements will naturally be faster than others. Every time you land, the muscles get stretched and the next jump has more power and energy. This is one of the fastest way to burn away love handles. Do pylometrics twice a week for 10-15 minutes.

Add HIIT

HIIT is high intensity interval training is an exercise program that combines short periods of intense anaerobic exercise with less intense recovery periods. HIIT sessions can vary from 5-20 minutes and have been shown to improve glucose metabolism and lower insulin resistance. There are various HIIT regimens and it really does not matter which one you select- the important thing is to perform the exercise at least 2-3 times a week.

Targeted Core Exercises

Targeted core exercises that can get rid of your love handles include the following:

Russian Twist which is done by sitting on your buttocks with the trunk and both feet elevated. Then you rotate the abdomen on the pelvis. A variation of this exercise is to hold a ball with both hands and then rotate from side to side. Check out more abs exercise here 

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One arm dumbbell helps you tone the upper body while at the same time getting rid of your love handles. This is done by holding a dumbbell in your non-dominant hand while standing in front of the mirror. The lift the dumbbell high above your head. At the same time you can try squats and step-ups. Then alternate with the other hand.

Staircase is another great way to tone the lower abdomen and love handles. Staircase exercise can be performed anywhere, even in the home.

Bicycle crunch is performed by laying flat on your back and extending and flexing one leg at a time. Your hands should be on either side of your head.

Criss-cross is a great exercise that is done by laying on the floor with the hands placed on the buttocks. Then lift both legs up and criss cross, alternating each time with each leg. These scissor abdominal exercises target the trunk and leg muscles.

Finally, you do need to continue jogging or running as this will help you build exercise endurance. Plus, this running exercise will help you lose weight and keep your body in shape.

Remember, getting rid of love handle is not a one shot deal. You need to perform these exercises on a regular basis . Once you get rid of them, you will still need to perform these exercises regularly otherwise you will be back to your former self. Remember, there is no one exercise for love handles but a combination which if done regularly will help you get rid of love handles fast.