Muffin top, love handles, spare tire – however you refer to that stubborn fat that accumulates
on your sides, belly, and lower back, there’s one thing we can all agree on: it needs to
go! So, fellas, how about a few simple at-home exercises to chisel your waistline in a week?
Hey, try ‘em out for yourself!
1. Jumping Burpees Stand straight with your feet together. Bend
at the knees and put your hands on the ground. Then kick your feet back behind you so that
you end up in a straight-arm plank. After a moment, pull your feet back in towards your
chest, quickly stand up, and immediately jump up while reaching your hands towards the ceiling
and clap. Lower yourself back into the starting position and repeat from there.
First of all, burpees help get your blood flowing and your heart pumping in no time,
making them an awesome warm-up exercise. On top of that, burpees provide you with a great
full-body workout that targets not only your abs and obliques (that’s the muscles on
your sides where that fat is sitting), but also your arms, quadriceps, glutes, chest,
and hamstrings. Do 3 sets with 15 reps each.
2. Bicycle Crunches Lie down on your back and bend your legs so
that your shins are parallel to the ground. Raise your chest up and lift your shoulders
off the mat. Keep your hands behind your head with your elbows out. Move your bent right
leg toward your chest and simultaneously straighten your left leg so that it's parallel to the
floor. While doing that, move your left shoulder toward your right knee. Remember that your
elbows should remain out to the sides – this way, your stomach (not your neck!) will have
to strain the most. This kind of crunch in particular works the
sides of your stomach and hips. Do 3 sets with 10 to 20 reps each.
3. Kneeling Vacuum Kneel on the floor with your bum resting on
your heels. Put your hands to the sides of your legs and pull your shoulders back. Now,
imagine that you need to touch your spine with your belly button and suck your stomach
in as far as possible. If you can't pull it in very far at first, don’t sweat it! Your
results will improve with time. Hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds if you’ve never
done it before. Otherwise, you can hold your stomach in for 20 seconds. Some people don't
breathe while doing this exercise, while others try not to interrupt their normal breathing.
Choose whichever way is more comfortable for you, but don't relax your stomach muscles.
This seemingly simple technique works like magic if you need to reduce your midsection,
shrink your waistline, and carve your abdominal muscles.
Repeat this exercise 5 times before taking a break. If you're an experienced "vaccumist,"
you can do 10 reps and then stop for 1 minute.
4. Side Plank Lie on your right side and lean on your elbow
so that it's directly below your shoulder. Lift your hips and hold your weight on your
right elbow and foot. If this is too hard for you at the beginning, bend your right
leg and rest it on the floor while keeping your left leg straight – this will help
absorb some of the weight until you build up your strength. And finally, reach your
left hand up toward the ceiling. Just like a traditional plank, this exercise
works your stomach muscles, as well as your back, glutes, and core. But most of all, the
side plank focuses more on the obliques, which is a sure-fire way to get rid of love handles.
Try to hold this one for 15 to 60 seconds on each side. Do at least 3 reps.
5. Swimmers Lie down on your stomach with your arms stretched
out in front of you and shoulder-width apart. Your feet should be hip-width part on the
mat. Tense your stomach muscles and lift your left arm and right leg up at the same time.
Leave them in the air for 2 to 3 seconds, and then lower them back to the ground. Do
the same thing with your right arm and left leg in the air.
Do 10 reps of 5 counts on each side. If you wanna break a sweat and burn more fat, alternate
your legs and arms quickly 20 times on each side without letting them touch the ground.
Then do some slow movements. This exercise will take care of any lower
back fat. It sculpts your rear end as an added bonus!
6. Russian Twist Sit down on the mat with your legs together
and knees slightly bent. Lean your upper body back, and hold your legs off the ground. You
can bend your arms over your chest or hold them straight out in front of you – whichever
you feel most comfortable doing at first. Now, slowly twist your torso and arms to the
left side. Hold it there for 3 seconds, then return to the initial position. Repeat the
movement on the other side. Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps each.
By the way, if you do the Russian twist with some weight in your hands, be it a dumbbell
or just a gallon of water, you'll burn calories and build muscle mass at a much faster rate!
7. Woodchoppers Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width
apart and your core engaged. You’ll need something with some weight to it to hold in
your hands. Again, a medicine ball or a jug of water will do. Whatever it is, make sure
you can get a good safe grip on it. Now, twist your torso to the right and hold the weight
above your right shoulder. Then, turn your body and squat down while bringing the weight
to the outside of your left knee. Go back up to the right, and repeat. Keep your eyes
on the weight so that you don’t lose your balance. Also, if you're a beginner, don't
pick a heavy weight; otherwise, it can lead to a bad rotator cuff injury.
Do 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps on each side.
8. Reverse Crunches Lie down on the ground, lift your legs in
the air, and bend your knees at a 90-degree angle. Keep your abdominal muscles tight and
place your hands on the floor right next to your hips. Engage your lower abs to pull your
knees up toward your chest. At the top of the movement, raise your hips up in the air
so that your lower back and buttocks come off the ground by a couple inches. It's essential
to avoid any rocking movements while you're doing this. Pause at the top of the movement
for a few seconds, and then slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position.
Just like regular crunches, the reversed ones work the front of your abs, but they especially
hit your lower abdominal muscles. Do 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps each.
Aim to do this workout 4 to 5 times a week. It’s also a good idea to throw in some moderate-intensity
aerobic activities, like swimming, jogging, or cycling. That’ll really kick up the fat-burning
process so that those love handles melt right off!
And, of course, you’ll need to change your diet a little if you don’t want that fat
coming right back or not leaving at all! First of all, cut down your calorie intake. It doesn’t
have to be anything too drastic – 500 fewer calories a day means you’ll start to lose
about 1 to 2 pounds a week!
Avoid eating processed and fried food. It's usually high in added sugars, preservatives,
and additives. You’ll also wanna stay away from the usual offenders: sweetened drinks,
fast food, ready meals, junk food like cookies and chips, and fatty meat. Remember that high
amounts of added sugar get stored exactly around your stomach, which means (yep!) a
spare tire!
If you’re cutting fatty meats like bacon and sausage, simply replace them with lean
alternatives such as fish, chicken, turkey, and lean red meat.
It’s a good idea to replace foods rich in carbs with non-starchy veggies, such as cauliflower,
celery, peppers, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and the like. Try to eat 5 to 9 servings of
fruits and vegetables a day. By the way, some fruits are pretty high in carbs, so you might
wanna stick to berries since they don’t have as much sugar in them.
And finally, drink more water! It’ll help reduce your overall weight and calorie-intake,
so your love handles will shrink with time. Plus, if you’re working out, you need to
replace the hydration you lose through sweat.
Good luck out there, and let me know if these exercises worked for you!
And if you know any other ways to deal with love handles, leave them down in the comments!
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