LA fitness news

Love Handles

Although fat gets deposited all over the body, there are certain areas of the body that are more popular than others and the love handle area is one of them. Not fair really, but that’s the way it is.

The appearance of love handles is often made worse by the fact that the waistline of one’s trousers or skirt pushes the fat up and makes it bulge above the belt line but nevertheless, nature’s love handles are an issue for many of us.

Is there anything you can do about them?

Yes, but if you read this column regularly you’ll know that it’s not possible to burn fat from a specific area of the body.

What you have to do is lose general body fat through sensible eating and exercise - it’s highly likely that some of that fat will come off your waist and tone the muscles underneath (the obliques).

Here are six of the best exercises for toning these muscles:

1. Side Bends.

This is a simple beginner’s exercise that is very effective. Holding a dumbbell in each hand (start light and work up), begin in the upright position. Maintaining your posture and bend slowly to your right then return to the centre. Do 10 - 15 repetitions on the right and then switch to the left.

2. Knee Rolls.

Lay on your back on a mat. Bend your knees so that your thighs are at 90 degrees to your torso and your calves are at 90 degrees to your thighs. Arms stretched out on the floor to give some support. Roll your knees to the left (around 45 degrees is fine to start with) keeping your back and shoulders as flat as possible. Come back to the centre and repeat the movement to the left.

3. Twisting crunch (using an exercise ball).

This is pretty much the same as a regular crunch except you twist to one side as you come up. Top tip - just twisting the elbows won’t do it, you need to focus on twisting from your core. A tougher variation on this exercise is the side crunch. You can also do this exercise laying on a mat with your feet on the exercise ball (knees bent).

4. Russian Twist.

This is another good one to do on the exercise ball. Lie on the ball with your feet flat on the floor and your shoulders on the ball. Arms extending upwards and hands in the prayer position. Rotate your torso until your hands are pointing towards the wall. Return to the middle and then work the other side.

5. Side Planks.

Lie on your left side with your elbow and forearm on the floor and legs stacked. Raise your hips and extend your right arm straight above you. Once you have a straight line from your shoulders to your heels, hold for 30 to 45 seconds then switch sides.

6. Woodchopper.

This exercise needs a weights machine with a cable pulley. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your side facing the machine (cable level with your shoulder). Hold the handle of the cable in both hands and - using your torso - draw the cable across your body. Work one side and then the other.

There are loads of other exercises for the oblique’s and variations of these ones, which our LA Coaches will be very happy to show you, simply just ask the next time you visit us.