Photo Credit: Annelieke B
Q. Fitz, For about a year now, I’ve been doing exercises for my obliques. I’ve done them about three or four times each week and have done a variety of different exercises each workout. I’m also a naturally thin person who recently lost 10 pounds (so I’m really thin now) but I still have those awful love handles! How do I get rid of them? Tara
A. Ugh Tara! This is a question I’ve answered before, but since it’s such a tremendous source of frustration for so many…I believe the topic of love handles is worth visiting again. You’re actually the perfect example of how annoying they can be. You are a trim person who does a variety of abdominal exercises frequently. Most folks would believe that would be enough. Unfortunately for some people, it is not.
Love handles often have to do less with abdominal muscles and more with body type. For example. I’m a pretty trim chic, but when I have gained weight…it’s all gone to my boobs, belly and thighs. In fact, I used to be 40 pounds heavier than I am today, but I’ve never had love handles. Some people get it ALL in their hips. Even if they achieve their ideal weight, some of those people are still stuck with dreaded “saddlebags”. Your issue is the same. Great fitness. Lean body. One or two annoying pockets of fat.
The key thing to remember here is that love handles are pockets of fat. You can no longer shrink them by doing crunches than a person with chubby cheeks can shrink them by opening and closing their mouth a bunch. Side bends, twists and more will have no effect on a love handle. Some readers were very upset to hear that last time I addressed this issue, but one can only lose weight and fat by burning more calories than he consumes. The combination of healthy eating, cardiovascular exercise and strength training will help you lose weight wherever you happen to be storing it. Read The Exact Formula for Weight Loss to learn exactly how to do that.
Crunches will certainly keep your abdominal muscles strong, but will have very little overall impact on the pockets of fat above your hips. Often folks who are very over-weight will lose their love handles once they achieve an ideal weight. Others, like yourself, may be forced to maintain an extremely low body fat percentage or look at other options.
I’m sorry I can’t offer a magic pill or a few easy exercises which will provide a quick fix. Love handles are just ‘fat pockets’. So if you can get rid of some more fat, I bet they’ll continue to diminish! Let me know how things go Tara!
Fitz
