How To Reduce Love Handles

“Love handles,” or pockets of fat that sit above your hip bones and cover your external obliques, are notoriously hard to lose.¹

Parashar S, Venkataram A. Aesthetic subunits of the trunk: Anatomy and behavior of skin and adipose tissue in each unit for better outcomes in liposuction. Indian J Plast Surg. 2018;51(2):115-122. doi:10.4103/ijps.IJPS_117_18 Still, workouts that target your external obliques may tone and reduce the appearance of love handles if they bother you.

Your external obliques are a group of abdominal muscles that can be tricky to target. You cannot spot-reduce fat loss. Research has found abdominal exercises do not work better than eating a balanced diet.² A balanced eating plan and regular exercise is important for overall health and longevity and is essential for weight loss..³

Read on to learn about four exercises that can hone in on your obliques and help tone the sides of your abdominal area. 

What Are Love Handles?

“Love handles” is a colloquial term for the bulges of excess fat that sit above your hip bone. Love handles can form near the area of your back, stretching to the sides of your waist, external obliques, and pelvis.¹

Your external obliques are part of your outermost abdominal muscles. Those muscles help twist your trunk from side to side.⁴

What Causes Love Handles?

Weight gain in your abdominal region causes love handles. Your body uses your food’s calories, minerals, and vitamins to function. Your body stores excess calories if you consume more than it needs.⁵

Other factors that cause weight gain include:⁵⁶

• A lack of sleep
• Certain medications (e.g., antidepressants and steroids)
• Emotions (e.g., boredom, sadness, and stress)
• Genetics
• Health conditions that make it hard to lose weight
• The type of food you eat (i.e., foods high in calories, fat, and sugar tend to be cheaper and more accessible than healthy options)
• Too much cortisol, which is your body’s stress hormone

You may accumulate weight in different body parts, such as around your abdomen, hips, and thighs. You may notice love handles if excess weight settles near your abdomen.⁷ Of course, all bodies are unique, and having love handles isn’t necessarily a medical issue.

Related Conditions

The weight gain that causes love handles may lead to overweight and obesity, which increases the risk for several health conditions.⁵

Generally, excess weight gain raises your risk of illnesses like:⁵

• Certain cancers
• Heart disease
• Kidney disease
• Type 2 diabetes

Of note: Fat distribution may impact your risk of those health conditions. The type of fat that settles in your abdominal region differs from fat in your hips and thighs.⁷

For example, a study published in 2019 found that excess fat that accumulates in the abdominal region, forming love handles, raises heart disease risk more than fat in the thighs.⁸

How To Safely Lose Weight Fast

Best Core Exercises 

Not only do core exercises help reduce the appearance of love handles, but they improve your balance and stability. A strong core helps prevent back injuries, too.⁹

Regularly exercising and eating a balanced diet can help you lose weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises doing moderate cardio exercises for 150 minutes weekly.³ For example, you can walk for 30 minutes daily, five days per week. 

The CDC recommends adding two or more days of strength exercises weekly.³ You cannot spot-reduce fat loss, but core exercises targeting your oblique muscles may help tone love handles.

Research has found that some of the best core exercises that target your external obliques, where love handles form, include:¹⁰

• Curl-ups
• Crunches
• Side plank
• Twists

Read on to learn how to incorporate those moves into a four-exercise 10-minute core workout that helps reduce the appearance of love handles.

10-Minute Core Workout

Try following this four-exercise 10-minute love handle workout. With moves approved by the ACE, this circuit works your oblique muscles.

Remember to engage your core as you perform the moves. Your core includes all the muscles on your body’s back, front, and sides, from the bottom of your rib cage to below your butt. 

Repeat the following circuit three times. Try to move quickly from one exercise to the next while maintaining the proper form. Aim to do the entire routine three times weekly for the best results.

Note: Some of these moves are advanced, so try learning them in stages. 

Wood Choppers

The standing wood chop is an advanced ab exercise that targets your obliques.¹¹

Follow these steps to perform the exercise:¹¹

1. Holding a dumbbell in both hands up by your left shoulder, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Keep your weight on your left leg. 
2. Twist to make a chopping motion down toward your right hip.
3. Allow your feet and knees to pivot with a twist. Raise the weight back to your left shoulder.
4. Repeat for 20 reps, then work your right side.

Seated Trunk Rotations

Also known as Russian twists, the seated trunk rotation works all abdominal muscles, including your obliques. Remember to brace your core muscles to protect your lower back and spine. You can modify the move by keeping your feet on the floor.¹²

Here’s how to complete the seated trunk rotation:¹²

1. Sit on your butt with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Lean your torso back at a 45 angle to the floor.
2. Hold a dumbbell or medicine ball with both hands.
3. Lift your feet, crossing them at your ankles and balancing on your butt.
4. Twist your torso to the right, and touch your dumbbell to the ground next to your body.
5. Twist back over to the left, touching the weight to the left side of your body. 
6. Repeat back and forth, all while balancing with your legs and torso raised off of the ground.
7. Work up to completing 50 rotations in each set. You can split it into five groups of 10 with a brief rest between sets.

Side Plank Hip Lifts

Side plank hip lifts give your obliques and hip muscles a serious workout. You can modify the move by keeping your knees bent.¹³

Here’s how you complete the exercise:¹³

1. Get into a side plank position with your elbow, legs, and hips resting on the ground.
2. Engage your abs and keep your body in a straight line as you raise the lower half of your body off the ground into a straight plank position.
3. Lower again, then repeat 15 times on each side.

Bicycle Crunches

The supine bicycle crunch is perhaps one of the most widely used oblique exercises. The move is an intermediate-level core strengthener. 

Keep your motions slow and controlled when doing bicycle crunches. Move from your trunk, not your hips. Press your lower back to the floor to protect your spine and engage your core muscles.¹⁴

Here’s how you complete the exercise:¹⁴

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your hands behind your head. Do not clasp your hands together. 
2. Engage your abs, lifting your shoulders and upper back off the ground. At the same time, move your right elbow toward your left knee to meet in the middle of your body.
3. Switch your position by bringing your left elbow to your right knee. 
4. Repeat 30 times. You can split it into three sets of 10 for each circuit if you cannot keep your torso raised off the ground for 30 rotations.

Lifestyle Tips

You can do endless crunches, but your abs will only be visible if you reduce excess fat through healthy eating. What you put into your body has much to do with how your body eliminates, processes, and stores excess calories and fat.³

Try some of the following tips for healthy eating to lose weight:³¹⁵

• Choose carbs with a lot of fiber, like beans and sweet potatoes, which help curb hunger by adding bulk to your meals and satisfying your appetite.
• Consult a registered dietitian nutritionist about how many calories your body needs daily. They can help you determine your calorie goal based on your activity level, age, health conditions, sex, and weight.
• Drink water instead of high-sugar beverages like soda. 
• Eat high-protein, low-carb meals to keep you full for long periods. 
• Limit ultra-processed foods that are high in calories, fat, and sugar.
• Make fresh fruit and vegetables, lean proteins, low-fat or nonfat dairy, and whole grains a part of each meal. 

In addition to exercising and healthy eating, a good night’s rest helps control your weight. A lack of sleep can make you hungry for high-calories and high-carb foods. Not getting enough sleep also raises your cortisol levels, contributing to weight gain.

Try creating a bedtime routine to promote relaxation and sleep. For example, limit your screen time and do not consume alcohol or large meals before bedtime. Keeping your sleep environment cool and dark can help, too.

How To Start Eating Healthy: 10 Changes You Can Make

A Quick Review   

This four-move, 10-minute love handle workout helps strengthen and tone your core. Still, a balanced diet and cardio exercises are essential for reducing the appearance of love handles. 

Consult a healthcare provider before starting a new exercise and diet plan. They can help you determine how many calories and nutrients your body needs daily to lose weight and maintain health.