There is no spot reduction here. To reduce belly fat you need to reduce your overall body fat. The key to reducing body fat is a comprehensive workout program that consists of cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility exercises as well as exercises that specifically target those hated love handles. You also need to follow a healthy and varied diet.

Good examples of cardio exercises are: walking, swimming, dancing and jogging. Basically, anything that raises your heart rate above its resting level and sustains it at a higher level for 30 minutes 3 – 5 times per week will be sufficient. Strength training can be done with dumbbells, resistance bands and even just your own body weight as with isometric exercises. Flexibility can be as simple as a few stretches held in place for about 20 seconds but is best gained through a discipline such as Pilates or Yoga.

OK, so back to abdominal training and specific love handles exercises. Traditional crunches can be a part of your abdominal training, but should be performed properly (see below) and certainly shouldn’t be the only part. To most effectively train your abdominal muscles, you need to include around 80% rotational work. Rotational exercises are those that include twists that work the oblique muscles. Simple crunches are not considered rotational because you simply raise your body straight up and down.

To most effectively train your abs, vary the positions and equipment you use. This will ensure that your muscles are constantly challenged and this in turn will help strengthen and define them. Keep in mind that you don’t always have to lie on your back in the supine position to work your stomach area. There are hundreds of different ways to perform abdominal exercises, including standing exercises, exercises lying on your side, sitting on a ball, hanging from a bar, etc.

Never forget that you must perform love handles exercises correctly. If you don’t then you’ll severely diminish their effectiveness and, worse, may well injure yourself. Here are some important points to remember:

- Don’t ever pull on your neck or head

- Don’t allow your legs to move – they should stay completely still while your abs do the work

- Keep your belly button pulled in navel to spine throughout the entire exercise

Click here for more valuable tips on how to get the most out of love handles exercises.

Processed foods have become a problem in our fast paced society and are a major enemy when it comes to complementing love handles exercises. They are quick and easy and extremely tempting. However, processing strips them of many vital nutrients while adding many unhealthy chemicals. Stick with as many natural, whole foods as possible. Focus on good quality protein. This is a major building block in lean muscle in the body and helps stimulate and control metabolism. Fiber is also very important which is where fruits, vegetables and unrefined grains come in.

You should make sure that you’re getting at least 3 glasses of water per day, especially when exercising. Your body doesn’t need any more than that because it already gets a lot of water in the food you eat. Water is a great source of liquid because it doesn’t contain any calories at all. Whereas soda or other unhealthy fruit drinks may contain up to 200 calories per can. Just by drinking one of these per day that might be all you need to push yourself over your calorie intake. This means that your body will start storing fat and will have too many calories in it.

You also need to make sure you get a nutritious breakfast every morning. This is important for a number of reasons. Most people think that skipping breakfast will help them lose weight because they’re cutting out extra calories. In reality they’re stopping the metabolism from getting going. As you know, your metabolism burns calories. Starting it early will ensure it continues to burn fat throughout the day. It will also provide the energy you need to complete your love handles exercises program.

The best kind of sit up to start off with is based on the safe Pilates method. Simply lie flat on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor. You can either have your knees and feet together or a few inches apart. Now place your hands behind your head and, interweaving your fingers, cradle the base of your skull. Imagine you are pulling your navel back to your spine and flatten your stomach as much as you can. Breathe in and then, on your out-breath, lift your head and shoulders towards your knees, still cradling your head but taking care not to pull on it. Hold for a count of three and then lie back down, pulling in your stomach even more as you do so. Repeat slowly eight times and gradually increase repetitions.

You can also take a tip from your friendly neighbourhood feline and perform an easy exercise that’s similar to their stretching technique. To do a cat stretch, get down on the floor on your hands and knees. Relax your muscles and look straight ahead. Then, tighten your abdominal muscles while you push your back up as far as you can. Hold this position for the count of five, then release your muscles and relax your back. Again, build up the repetitions.

In order for abdominal exercises to work for you, you should perform them at least twenty minutes a day, three to four times a week, according to health experts. Another easy exercise that’s similar to pedaling a bicycle is aptly called “Bicycling.” To perform this abdominal – flattening exercise, simply lie flat on a firm surface. Place each hand beside your head. Then, pull your knees up and move your feet around in a circular motion like you’re actually pedaling a real bicycle. Do this to the count of ten, and then relax. Repeat this exercise at ten times.

Finally, remember to breathe in deeply and breathe out fully while performing the exercises. Your body- especially the heart and the other muscles- needs the additional oxygen so they can work properly. For comprehensive information on excellent love handles exercises Click Here.

When you picture the muscles around your stomach you have to think corset.  That’s right – the old-fashioned kind that holds everything in!   Those muscles form a band that reaches from your back right across and over your belly.  When they’re taut and toned then your stomach is flat.  When they’re stretched out of shape then everything hangs out.  The main muscles you want to think about are rectus abdominis (these stretch down the front of your abdomen), transversus abdominis (the deepest muscle stretching across your belly) and your obliques (particularly important for getting rid of love handles).

Learning how to exercise these muscles is not enough to guarantee a flat tummy.  You have to learn to exercise them in the right way.  That means not only toning your stomach but burning abdominal fat at the same time.  This I found out was the key to finally getting rid of my love handles.  My problem was that I didn’t have time for the gym or long workouts. 

I also wanted something that would get the fat off and keep it off.  So I was no easy customer – this was my body, my health and happiness!  I tried a bunch of exercise programs but none of them really worked for me and that was because they weren’t burning fat as well as toning it.  Once I found a program that did both, I gradually started to feel better about my body image.  It helped that when I finally found something that suited me the tummy fat began to melt away fast. 

As that was the main problem area it gave my confidence a huge boost.  That confidence in turn pushed me to challenge my body and build up to more advanced programs.  That’s the other tip I have for you – don’t  get complacent.  Don’t think that just because you’ve lost some the rest of the weight will just fall off.  This is especially true for love handles which tend to be more stubborn than other kinds of excess fat.  You need to keep at it, keep going and I promise you will see amazing results!

Click here now to find out which exercises really worked for me.

OK – so straight off bat the name’s pretty cute.  Your ‘love handles’ are a soft place to put your hands when you have your arms around someone special.  But the cute factor fades fast when you learn that the risk of early death dramatically increases if you carry extra weight around your middle.  Each extra 2 inches raises the risk factor by between 13 and 17% even if your overall weight is normal.

I have to tell you, it was reading that which scared me the most.  I want to be around when my kids grow up.  I don’t want to die early of cancer or cardiovascular disease.  It seems that abdominal fat is not like other fat.  It’s far more dangerous.  It can store and release ’messenger substances’ which lead to chronic disease.  Men with waist measurements over 45 inches have a doubled rate of death compared with those whose waists measured 29 inches.  The important thing is to keep your waist/hip ratio healthy.  In other words, lose those love handles fast!