12 Best Workouts for Love Handles

LAST UPDATED: February 20th, 2023

Love handles is a cute term for the extra fat above the hips.

If you have love handles you know how it looks when you wear a tight tee.

Find out more about this occurrence and how to get rid of it.

What causes love handles?

The extra fat piles up around that area.

You can have fat on other parts of your body too, but there is a reason why you have love handles in particular. (1)

This is the most common type of belly fat.

There are different reasons for muffin tops (another cute name for fat above the hip).

The most common reasons for love handles are:

• Hormones, especially too much cortisol
• Body fat
• Aging
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Diet high in sugar, fat
• Drinking beer
• Lack of sleep
• Slow metabolism
• Stress

How do love handles affect your health?

Love handles aren’t harmless and you are at risk of getting some of the following diseases:

• hypertension
• diabetes
• cholesterol
• liver diseases
• heart diseases

How to get rid of love handles?

Besides changing your diet habits (eating healthy, no junk foods, no sodas, or beer), you should try some of the best exercises to lose love handles.

12 Best Workouts for Love Handles

1. Uphill running

Running uphill probably has more benefits than you thought.

To run uphill you need extra energy, so you burn more calories.

The hills are a great effort for your muscles and body as a whole.

Running uphill affects your body in a way that it feels like you are moving faster and stronger.

And that has a big impact on losing love handles.

If you have nowhere to run uphill you can choose uphill running on a treadmill.

2. Butterfly crunches

20 reps and 3 sets of this exercise is enough if you want to strengthen abdominal muscles.

How to do this exercise?

Lie on the floor with your arms placed above your head and your legs bent at the knees slightly, so that your feet are both together.

Quickly raise your torso to a sitting position and reach for the ankles with both hands.

Then slowly lower yourself back.

Try to be stable during every rep.

3. Plank

Plank is one of the most effective belly fat-burning exercises.

Also, one of the most effective exercises to get six-pack abs.

It will help you do daily activities or even sports more easily.

You will strengthen your whole body, your abs, and your hip muscles, which are engaged throughout the exercise.

Stay in a plank position for about 30 secs.

When you get in better shape increase to 60 secs.

The best plank variations for love handles are side plank and running plank.

4. Russian twist

The best exercise for belly fat and love handles.

This is a great exercise for your side abs.

It’s really easy to do it.

Simply sit on the floor, bend your legs slightly at the knees and lift them off the ground, and then turn your torso left and right.

After just a few turns, your muscles will burn.

5. Stairs running

Stairs running is similar to uphill running because it’s effective and it burns calories.

Don’t exaggerate in the beginning and make sure you warm up first.

You can start jogging 10-15 minutes on a flat surface before stairs running.

It’s recommended to start with 10-15 minutes of moderate stairs running, and then increase the time every week by 10 percent.

6. Deadlift

Definitely, an exercise that burns fat.

Deadlifting combined with a proper diet is one of the best ways to burn those extra pounds, especially your fat layers.

It is probably one of the most effective exercises for overall building your legs and lower back.

Deadlifting is excellent if your purpose is building muscles and improving your strength.

This is a very demanding exercise that activates practically all your muscles.

If you are a gym rookie, then it’s best to do other exercises for a while to get in shape and then to start deadlifting to avoid injuries.

7. Hanging leg raises

This is an effective exercise for your abs.

And one of the best exercises for love handles.

Grasp the beam, stretch your arms, and then lift your legs toward your stomach.

You can bend your legs at the knees and lift them that way, or you can lift them with your knees straight if you want a more demanding version of this exercise.

In both cases, your abdomen will be engaged.

As you hold on to the beam and as you lift your legs, the muscles of your arms and legs will also be activated, so this can be considered an exercise for the whole body.

You can do 10-15 lifts per set.

If that’s too much, then lift until you reach your maximum, rest for 1-2 minutes, and then do the next set.

8. Battle rope workout

A great exercise for strength, lean muscles, and fast metabolism.

How many sets and reps?

Do 2 sets of this exercise.

Do it for 2 minutes.

Battle rope workout will help you boost your metabolism, burn more calories, and get rid of love handles.

9. Box jumps

When performing this exercise, you must pay attention to the jump, landing, and the very end of the exercise if you want to build more strength, stability, and power from start to finish.

There are many variations of this exercise and each has its own goal but jumps require high energy expenditure as well as high-calorie loss, stronger legs and core.

That’s why this is one of the best workouts for love handles.

The intensity of the exercise can be changed with jump variation and box height!

For maximum strength, do 3 to 6 sets every two to three minutes.

And if you want to get in shape, do this exercise for 10 minutes, changing your leg to jump from the box to the floor.

10. Kettlebell swings

One of the best workouts for love handles, definitely.

And not only that, it will activate your quads, glutes, hips, abs, and shoulders.

So, you will increase fat-burning rates significantly.

How to do this exercise?

Stand with your feet slightly apart and parallel, and hold the dumbbell between them.

Squat and grab the dumbbell with your right hand, stand up and hold the dumbbell in front of you, parallelly with your right shoulder.

Hold for one second, then raise your arm with the dumbbell over your head, straight.

Go back to the starting position and do nine more reps, then repeat the same with your left arm.

Do 20 reps in 3 sets.

11. Squats

Definitely, one of the best workouts for love handles.

Squats activate almost every muscle in the legs, but also activate the hips.

So, you will strengthen your hip, and abs, and burn love handles.

The best squat variation to lose love handles is barbell front squats.

12. Farmer’s walk  

One of the best workouts that increase strength and burn fat.

How to do this exercise?

Grasp the dumbbells and simply walk.

Your body needs to be straight while moving.

It also needs to be tight and it’s better to do smaller steps.

If you choose to do it with big weights, watch your back during lifting and lowering weights.

Best Workouts for Love Handles – Supplementation

How to get rid of love handles in a month?

If you combine the above-mentioned exercises and tips with proper supplements, you can maximize your effort and get rid of love handles faster.

The natural supplement I recommend is called PhenQ.

PhenQ Ingredients

• α-Lacys Reset – boosts your energy and metabolism.
• Capsimax powder – this is a strong thermogenic mix of capsicum, piperine, vitamin B, and caffeine. It is a fat-burning mix.
• Calcium carbonate – calcium assists your cells to store less fat and burn the stored fat.
• Nopal – a plant extract that suppresses your appetite.
• Caffeine – improves your mood and boosts metabolism.
• Chromium picolinate – reduces hunger, and boosts fat loss.
• L-carnitine fumarate – turns fat stores into energy.

Also, PhenQ is a very effective appetite suppressant that will stop binge eating and help you lose weight.

This is the most used weight loss supplement among my clients at the gym.

You can read more about PhenQ and check the price here.

Best Workouts for Love Handles – Bottom Line:

Drinking beer, having a sedentary lifestyle, and eating sweets are the most common causes of love handles.

Avoid sweets, pastries, and alcohol.

Eat high-protein foods, nuts, avocados, and fish.

Increase physical activities.

What exercises to do?

Start walking more.

Run uphill.

Use the stairs rather than the elevator.

A cardio workout is the best.

Also, you can do cycle crunches, plank, and Russian twists.

When it comes to supplements, I suggest PhenQ because it is an effective natural supplement that will help you fight love handles.