Going to commercial gyms is not just my thing neither is going to health clubs.
But I found my self needing to use one at some time during my ”love handle period”. I was away from home at that time and I really needed to burn some fat, so I found my self a gym.
I was impressed with what I saw when I went in. They had all the machines you need to gain a model look. But to my disappointment the people I saw there doing love handle exercises were all getting it wrong.
They spent their time doing all the crunches that just don’t work on love handles. From ab crunches to twisting all were done but unfortunately they are ineffective against love handles. Abs machines which cost as much as $4000 were also used by some people but unfortunately these machines were still ineffective against love handles.
Truthfully speaking to effectively get rid of love handles, you have to know that crunches are not the majority ways of burning stomach fat.
In fact crunches rarely burn common abdominal fat let alone love handles.
To effectively eliminate love handles, you should aim at using more muscle during the exercises in other to burn the excess fat and crunches just can’t activate the required muscles.
Below are three effective exercises that get rid of love handles and how they are done.
These exercises are my favorite and they are:
Firstly, The Side Plank – Side plank has been proven by a recent experiment to be better at eliminating love handles then side crunches.
Method:
- Lie on your side with your weight concentrated at your elbow and forearm. Make sure your upper arm is vertically arranged.
- Position your feet with one in front of the other with your sole pointing in the same direction.
- Elevate your hip from the floor so you assume a diagonal position with your weight on your elbow, forearm and foot.
- Maintain this position for about 15-20 seconds then switch sides.
If you master the exercise and want it a little harder, you can extend the opposite arm and leg that is the one not supporting your weight. This will cause your imbalance there be causing the activation of more oblique muscles to prevent you from falling.
If the exercise is a little too hard for you, you can make it easier by placing your knee on the floor so it helps to support your weight.
Secondly, The Cross Body Mountain Climber- This is an exercise you should be doing if you wish to be free of love handles. It works greatly on the side of your abdomen and is a great metabolic exercise.
Method:
- Position yourself on the floor like you want to do some push-up.
- Tense up your abdomen.
- Move your knee towards your chest and toward the opposing elbow.
- Return your knee to its original, then do the same for the opposite knee.
The exercise should be timed as your ability to sustain an exercise session is more important than doing many reps and ending the session in 5 seconds. A session should last between 20 and 40 seconds.
Try to do as many reps as you can during a session. Repeat the pattern as fast as you can so it seems you are running just that you remain on the same spot.
Thirdly, The Push-up Plank Extension- this type of exercise seem easy when you see someone doing it but the moment you try it, you will find out it has a deceitful look as you would be shocked at how difficult the exercise really is.
It is a very important exercise in Combatting love handles.
The effect of this particular exercise is not restricted to just love handles as it also burns abdominal fat and strengthen your body muscles in general.
Method:
- Position your self like you want to do push-up.
- Tense up your abdominal muscles so you assume a rigid shape.
- Extend one of your arm straight out in front of you until it assumes a position parallel to the ground.
- Repeat the same movement with your second arm.
- Do about 6-10 reps of this.
Try to keep your abdominal muscles tensed so you don’t sway when you’re doing the exercise otherwise you will end up wanting your time.
If the exercise is too hard for you to perform, spread out your feet. This will make it easier but if you wish to make it more difficult, bring your feet closer. The closer your feet are to each other the more difficult the exercise will be.
These exercises should be done along with your regular exercise as the combination is just like a combo. Doing them along with exercises like sit-up or push-up will put an end to your bulging waistline. They could be performed after your regular exercises with no rest in-between or each method could be paired up with a regular exercise.
The pattern you choose does not matter as you will get about the same result which is a flat beautiful stomach.