Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS, Fitness — Written by Kristeen Cherney — Updated on July 6, 2020
What are love handles? “Love handles” are areas of skin that extend outward from the hips. When combined with tight clothing, love handles can become more pronounced, but they aren’t caused by tight clothes alone. They indicate excess fat accumulation around the hips and abdominal area. Learn more about the causes of love handles and how you can treat them. The underlying cause of love handles is fat retention. Generally speaking, fat cells accumulate when your body takes in too many calories or you don’t burn as many calories as you’re consuming. Over time, these fat cells can become noticeable as they accumulate in certain areas, such as around your waist and hips. Fat can accumulate anywhere in the body, but there are certain factors that increase the likelihood for retaining fat in the hip, lower back, and abdominal areas. Factors that contribute to love handle formation include:
A quick search on the internet reveals targeted exercises for specific areas of the body, including love handles. But fat reduction can’t be achieved with spot exercises alone. While strengthening and resistance activities can help with muscle tone and flexibility, they don’t shrink fat cells. Try combining cardiovascular exercises with weight lifting and targeted movements for optimal results. If you’re trying to lose weight and overall body fat, you may need up to five hours of moderate exercise per week. It’s also important to maintain a healthy diet and avoid taking in more calories than you’re burning. For gradual fat loss and weight maintenance, incorporate aerobic activities, such as walking, bike riding, and swimming. Even if you can’t fit in a full-length workout every single day, you’ll reap the benefits of simply being more active. Here are just some of the exercises that target the back, abs, and hip regions. Side planksThere are several modifications for side planks that can make the move more or less challenging. To perform the basic side plank:
For a more challenging move, try raising your knees off the ground so that the only parts of your body touching the ground are the side of your foot and your forearm. You can also incorporate hip dips. To do this, while in your side-plank position, slowly lower your hip an inch or two and then slowly lift it back up. Repeat this for 30 seconds to a minute. Bicycle crunchesIt can be tempting to rush through bicycle crunches, but the key to this move is slow, controlled movements.
Russian twistsThis is another seated exercise. You can modify it by adding weight. If you’re new to this exercise, try doing it without weight, first. As you get used to it, you can try holding a hand weight, filled water bottle, or even a can of soup or vegetables to increase the resistance.
Mountain climberThis move can help increase your heart rate as you strengthen your muscles. Work up to increasing your speed as you get stronger.
You can increase your speed and extend the time as you develop more strength. BridgeThis exercise not only targets the lower back, it’s also great for your glutes:
To make the move more challenging, you can try lifting one foot off of the floor as you lift your hips. Switch which leg you lift with each repetition. Adopting healthy habits can help you to get rid of love handles and also prevent them from coming back. If you need to lose weight, the Office on Women’s Health recommends losing one to two pounds a week to ensure gradual, but steady losses. Dietary changes and portion control can complement increased exercise and fat-burning activities.
Aside from changing your body from the inside, you can also help camouflage the appearance of love handles from the outside. Select pants that fit at the waist, rather than at your hips. This can help reduce the constriction around the hips that emphasizes love handles in the first place. Also, make sure your pants and underwear aren’t too tight. Certain forms of plastic surgery are sometimes used to reduce fat retention in specific areas of the body. One of these procedures is called liposuction. During liposuction, a surgeon injects a solution into the targeted region, such as your hips, to liquefy fat cells. Then they remove the fat cells using a vacuum-like aspirator. Results may be seen within a few days of treatment. Liposuction isn’t a whole-body solution. It only treats specific, targeted areas. Plus, without lifestyle changes, the fat cells are likely to return. Liposuction is recommended only for people who are slight to moderately overweight. Other procedures may be used to support weight loss in adults who are obese. These include gastric bands or gastric bypass surgery. If you’re obese and have love handles, such procedures may be more effective than liposuction. Only consider these procedures if you have a BMI over 40 or a BMI over 35 combined with other related health issues. Love handles can be a side effect of excess body fat, especially fat in the area of your hips and lower abdomen. Increased activity and healthier eating can contribute to shrinking love handles as part of overall fat loss, but it’s important to remember that this can also take some time. Stick with your plan for a healthier lifestyle, and you’ll eventually reap both the aesthetic and underlying health benefits. If you’re unable to lose weight despite diet and exercise, see your doctor for advice. They may order blood tests to check for possible underlying issues, such as hypothyroidism, or have recommendations for surgical procedures. Last medically reviewed on September 19, 2018 |