Q:  I’ve been sweating blood over the last few months to bring down my waist measurement, but I just can’t get rid of my love handles. What’s the secret to getting rid of them? 

A:  Nobody loves love handles. Those unsightly pockets of fat that deposit themselves above your hips are not only off-putting, they’re also stubborn – very stubborn in fact. To get rid of them, you’ve not only got to train hard, you’ve got to train smart. My guess is that you’ve been blasting your mid-section with specific movements that are designed to target your intercostals and external obliques. And, I’ll bet those muscles have gotten firmer and stronger. Problem is, they’ve still got a covering of fat, right? You cannot spot reduce body fat off your hips (or anywhere else for that matter). The only way to reduce fat off your waist is to reduce fat off your whole body – it will come off proportionately. Obviously the areas of your body where you’ve got more fat piled up (i.e. those love handles) will take longer to melt away. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen – as long as you consistently work at it. So what should you do?

First, make sure that you’re not adding to your problem by way of what goes down your throat. Simply put, discipline yourself to avoid fatty foods. And don’t be fooled by the merchandisers who market their ice creams and snack foods as low fat. It’s either fat food or a bodybuilder’s mid-section – there’s no in-between. Assuming that you’ve got the nutritional side under control, it’s time to focus on the real key to getting rid of love handles – cardio exercise. Cardio exercise will not only burn off those excess calories which are stored as fat, it will also boost your metabolism to enable you to burn more calories even when you’re not exercising. So, what is cardio exercise? In respect to the goal of losing body fat, cardio exercise refers to any cardiovascular activity that is rhythmical in nature, involves large muscle groups and can be sustained for 30-40 minutes at a time. The best exercises are those that burn the most calories in the shortest time period and on that basis the elliptical cross trainer, the treadmill and the rowing machine are the top three choices.

Now when you enter the cardio section of your gym, you’ll notice a lot of people doing low intensity, long duration workouts that hardly seem to raise a sweat. Understand that these people will never realize their goals on such a regimen. Simply put, they aren’t burning enough calories to have any appreciable impact on their fat reserves. You, on the other hand, are serious about getting rid of those love handles. You will be focusing on burning as many calories as you can per session. Focusing on calories burned per session will also help you to avoid the monotony of cardio exercise. If you’re doing 20 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer, set your goal for, say, 380 calories. Now break this down to 18 calories per minute for the first 18 minutes and then go all out for the last two minutes to hit 23 calories per minute. So every minute you’ll be focused on your caloric goal. You simply won’t have time to get bored. The next workout strive to burn at least one more calorie per minute than in the previous workout. Do two such twenty minute sessions per day three times per week.

Measure your waist every fourteen days to monitor progress. Have a target measurement to reach before you concentrate on specific intercostal and external oblique exercises. Until you get there, put your full energy into those cardio workouts. Having reached that goal, incorporate the following external oblique movements into your routine after each cardio session:

Russian Twists: Secure your feet either by placing them under something that won’t move or by having a partner hold them. Lean slightly back and clasping your hands in front of you; moving only at the trunk, rotate to one side. At the end of your range of motion, quickly reverse the movement and rotate to the opposite side. Repeat in a rapid fashion for the full number of reps. You can also hold a weight or medicine ball to increase the difficulty. Do 3 sets of 15 reps

Swiss Ball Side Bends: Start with your right hip on a Swiss ball, feet laying sideways on the ground, and arms folded over chest. Bend at the side, slowly lowering your ear to the ground in a controlled fashion, then bring yourself back up so your body is straight. Repeat for three sets of 20 reps, then switch to the left side.