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Eliminating excess fat from your love handles or belly area can be quite a challenge. Instead of focusing solely on exercises for specific body parts, it's crucial to work on overall weight loss to target the fat around your sides. However, you can achieve faster weight loss and tighten your muscles to make your waistline look slimmer by incorporating exercises that focus on your abs and obliques. Combined with a healthy diet, these exercises can help you feel more confident.
Steps
Schedule your workouts
Warm up before exercising and cool down after your workout. Warming up your muscles before any physical activity is essential. To warm up, you can walk briskly for 5-10 minutes, do jumping jacks for about a minute, or perform lunges for one minute. In short, increase your heart rate and prepare the muscles you'll be using. To cool down after your workout, walk for 5-10 minutes or continue with low-intensity cardio.
- Stretch your muscles before starting the workout or after finishing, as well as before cooling down.
Exercise cardio five times a week. Aim to complete at least 30 minutes of cardio in each session, or up to one hour for faster weight loss results. Cardio activities include bootcamp, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, flow yoga, and using full-body workout machines.
Strength training 2-3 times a week. Dedicate around 30 minutes for each session of strength training. Popular exercises include pilates, barre, weightlifting, or bodyweight exercises.
- Muscles burn fat more effectively. Strength training also boosts your metabolism.
Combine HIIT with cardio. Alternate between moderate-intensity intervals and high-intensity bursts for 1-4 minutes throughout a 30-minute session. This is the most effective full-body fat burning method.
- Be sure to hydrate and consume a healthy snack post-HIIT. Eating unhealthy food after exercise may prevent achieving your desired results.
Stop exercising immediately if you experience chest pain. Likewise, rest if you feel joint pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. Don’t push through these symptoms. It's important to seek medical advice, especially if chest pain or breathlessness occurs.
Avoid focusing on trainers or programs promising targeted fat loss. You might be tempted to find exercises for specific 'problem' areas, but scientific research shows this is not effective. Moreover, many exercises for particular body parts don’t burn enough calories for weight loss, meaning you may not see noticeable changes. The only way to reduce fat in any area is by losing weight overall.
- Focusing on your core won't reduce love handles, but it will tone and slim down the area.
Side Oblique Exercises
Hold a plank for 1 minute. To perform the basic plank, start by placing your hands and knees on the floor with your knees spread apart to shoulder width. Lift and extend your knees until your body forms a straight line. Keep your wrists under your shoulders, relax your neck, and tighten your core muscles. You can try the high plank position by supporting yourself on your hands or the low plank by resting on your forearms. Both positions are effective.
- If you can't hold a plank for 1 minute, aim to maintain the position as long as you can and gradually increase the duration. You can also try a plank with your knees on the floor to reduce the load on your arms.
- To challenge yourself further, attempt to hold the plank for 3 minutes.
Side plank for 1 minute. From the low plank position, shift your weight onto one arm and tilt your body until you’re balanced on that arm and foot. Keep your body in a straight line and tighten your core muscles.
- Repeat the same movement on the other side.
Rotate your hips side to side to perform hip-plank rotations. Return to the low plank position with your forearms on the floor. Rotate your hips from one side to the other, lowering your hips to touch the floor. Complete 20 reps or as many as you are able.
- Lower your hips further to work your abdominal muscles.
Challenge yourself with shoulder taps. Start in the high plank position, then tap one hand to the opposite shoulder and alternate sides. Aim for 20 repetitions.
- Move quickly to raise your heart rate. This exercise mimics light cardio.
Perform high-low plank transitions by alternating between the high plank and low plank positions. Start in the high plank position, then lower each arm one at a time to transition into the low plank. Next, raise each arm one by one to return to the high plank. Repeat this movement 20 times.
- Focus on executing each movement correctly rather than rushing through it.
Bring your knee toward your chest to perform mountain climbers. Begin in the high plank position. Drive one knee toward your chest, then return to the starting position. Alternate legs quickly for 1 minute.
- This movement is also similar to light cardio.
Perform the Russian twist to work your core and obliques. Sit on the floor with your knees bent in front of you. Lean back slightly with your hands in front of you, engaging your core to stay steady. Rotate your torso until your hands nearly touch the floor beside your right hip. Return to center and rotate to the left. Complete 20 repetitions.
- To increase resistance and build muscle, try using weights while doing this exercise.
Target your core with bicycle crunches. Lie on your back with your legs raised and knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Place your hands behind your head, lifting your head and neck to engage your core. Extend your right elbow toward your left knee, then switch sides. Repeat the movement 20 times.
Strengthen your lower back and glutes with the bridge pose. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Push through your feet and lift your hips and lower back until your body forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Hold this position for 30 seconds, tightening your core and glutes, then slowly lower your body. Repeat the movement 10 times.
- Focusing on your lower back and glutes will help tighten your core and give your waistline a slimmer appearance.
Repeat each exercise one more time to complete a full round of training. Performing a series of movements such as plank, torso twists, crunches, and the bridge pose will help strengthen your core muscles, including the abs and obliques, in about 10-15 minutes. Repeat this method 2-3 times a week for optimal fitness improvement.
- Complete another round to finish your workout. Take short breaks in between to hydrate and recover your energy.
Maintain a healthy eating regimen
Replace refined flour and sugar with complex carbohydrates. Instead of consuming refined carbs like white bread and sugary snacks like pastries, opt for foods rich in complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, chickpeas, oats, and quinoa. You can also choose whole-grain products like whole wheat bread and pasta.
- While you don't need to eliminate carbs from your diet, aim to reduce their intake.
Laura Flinn
Certified Personal Trainer (NASM)
Certified Personal Trainer (NASM)
Experts say: You can burn fat while losing weight by maintaining a healthy diet, which means limiting sugar and simple carbohydrates; including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and lean protein. Additionally, incorporating exercises that target the core muscles will help tone and firm your abs.
Prepare meals where vegetables and fruits make up about 50% of the portion. Along with cutting back on unhealthy foods, it's essential to incorporate more healthy options into your diet. Aim to consume five servings of vegetables daily, including dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, and broccoli, along with fresh and cooked vegetables. Additionally, try to eat four servings of fruits per day, including fresh fruits, dried fruits, or smoothies.
- If you find it difficult to consume such large amounts of vegetables and fruits initially, gradually increase the servings. Even small increases will positively impact your health.
- Vegetable and fruit juices boost your intake of vitamins and minerals, but they also add sugars. Therefore, it's better to eat whole fruits and vegetables rather than juicing them.
Consume about 50-60g of protein each day. Many people, including athletes, consume more protein than they actually need. While supplementing protein is important alongside exercise and dieting, you may already be getting enough. Try to select lean protein sources such as skinless chicken or turkey, pork, lean beef, soybeans, nuts, beans, fish, egg whites, and low-fat dairy products.
- As a general rule, aim for a serving of meat the size of a deck of cards in 2 out of 3 meals, along with a portion of low-fat dairy at each meal. If you're following a restricted diet, consult your doctor to ensure your protein intake is sufficient.
Replace trans fats and saturated fats with healthier alternatives. Add olive oil, nuts, avocados, and olives to your diet to provide monounsaturated fats (3 servings per day). Include fatty fish like tuna, salmon, and mackerel for omega-3 fatty acids (2-3 times per week). These heart-healthy foods can also help manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Avoid saturated fats found in red meats and full-fat dairy products, as well as trans fats found in processed foods.
- Incorporate healthy fats in moderation, and if you're pregnant, limit fish consumption to no more than 340g per week.
Stay hydrated by drinking about 2-3 liters of water per day. Listen to your body's needs and drink water when you're thirsty, especially after exercising. You can also enjoy unsweetened tea or coffee to get a caffeine boost without adding extra sugars or calories to your diet.
- Avoid carbonated beverages or fruit juices. Only consume sports drinks if you've been engaging in intense exercise for at least one hour.
Advice
- Incorporate a variety of exercises throughout the week. Mixing up your routines helps keep things interesting and allows you to target different muscle groups.
- Stress and lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain. Try practicing meditation and aim for 6-8 hours of sleep each night to maintain overall health.
- Wearing well-fitted clothing can make your hips appear slimmer.
Warning
- Extreme diets are not an effective solution for weight loss. Avoid drastic calorie reductions or fasting, as these methods tend to do more harm than good. Instead, focus on moderation by reducing your daily intake by around 300 calories and increasing your consumption of fruits and vegetables.
