How do I get rid of love handles?
Start with cardio you’ll keep doing, like brisk walking or running. Ab exercises alone may not shift the fat. In a 6-week trial, one fold of skin above the hip didn’t budge.
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What is the best exercise to lose love handles?
Cardio you can keep up, like brisk walking or running. In trials, running brought modest cuts in body fat and waist size. Ab moves on their own did not.
Love handles are the fat on the sides of your waist, just above your hips. Cardio is any exercise that makes you breathe faster, like walking fast, running or swimming.
| Exercise | What trials found |
|---|---|
| Steady cardio, such as running | Modest cuts in body fat and waist size in adults aged 18 to 45 with overweight or obesity. |
| HIIT (short, hard bursts with rests) | Similar fat loss to steady cardio, in about 40% less time. |
| Weights | People lost about 0.8 kg less lean mass (mostly muscle) while losing weight. |
| Ab exercises alone, for 6 weeks | No clear change in belly fat, waist size or the skin fold above the hip. |
Sources: Wewege 2017; Bellicha 2021; Vispute 2011
In that cardio review, running cut fat but cycling did not. The NHS still counts riding a bike as cardio, so pick what you’ll stick to.
Go for a brisk walk today. Aim for a pace where you can talk, but not sing.
Do side exercises burn love handles?
Not on their own. In one trial, 24 inactive adults aged 18 to 40 kept their diet the same. One group did 7 ab exercises, 2 sets of 10, 5 days a week for 6 weeks.
Their waists showed no clear change. Nor did the fold of skin just above the hip bone. That fold is your love handle.
What did change was how long their muscles could keep going. They managed 47 curl-ups in a final test, against 32 for people who didn’t train.
In a second trial, 11 people trained one leg for 12 weeks. They lost fat, but from their arms and trunk, not from the leg they trained.
Both trials were small and short. So use side moves to get stronger, and cardio and food to lose the fat. For more moves, see core and ab exercises.
What is the best way to get rid of love handles?
Eat a little less and move more, together. The UK’s chief medical officers say diet is the important factor in managing weight.
They add that you may need more than 150 minutes of activity a week, alongside eating less, to lose weight.
Your love handles week: food, cardio, strength, sleep
- 1
Food
Swap one sugary drink a day for a low-calorie one.
- 2
Cardio
At least 150 minutes moderate or 75 vigorous, over 4 to 5 days.
- 3
Strength
All major muscles, including the abdomen, on at least 2 days.
- 4
Sleep
Poor sleep may make you more likely to choose high-calorie foods.
Sources: NHS: activity guidelines; NHS Better Health
Want a ready-made plan? The free NHS Weight Loss Plan app gives you a 12-week plan and lets you set a daily calorie goal.
To choose your cardio, see the best exercise for weight loss and walking to lose weight.
Which exercises for love handles are worth doing?
Moves that make the muscles at your sides work hard. They won’t burn the fat on top. They do count toward the NHS’s 2 or more strength days, which should work your abdomen.
| Move | How | Make it easier |
|---|---|---|
| Side plank | On one elbow, feet stacked. Keep a straight line from heels to hips to shoulders. | Do it up against a wall to keep your body in line. |
| Pallof press | Stand side-on to a band anchored between waist and shoulder height. Press it straight out without letting it turn you. | A common tweak: step closer to the anchor so the band pulls less. |
Sources: The Prehab Guys: side plank; Pallof press
The Prehab Guys, physio educators, give one cue for the side plank: don’t let your hips dip toward the floor.
Whole-body weights matter more than side moves. In adults with overweight or obesity, strength training meant losing about 0.8 kg less lean mass (mostly muscle) while losing weight. See keeping muscle while you lose weight.
Add a side plank and a Pallof press to the end of your 2 strength sessions this week.
How do I know my love handles are shrinking?
Measure your waist, not just your weight. In trials, cardio brought modest cuts in body fat and waist size without a change in weight.
The NHS says try to keep your waist to less than half your height. That check is for adults with a BMI under 35.
| Your height | Keep your waist under |
|---|---|
| 165 cm | 82.5 cm |
| 175 cm | 87.5 cm |
| 185 cm | 92.5 cm |
Source: NHS
Measure every couple of weeks, at the same time of day. The NHS says losing just 5 to 10% of your body weight can improve your health.
How to get rid of love handles: your checklist
- Do at least 150 minutes of moderate cardio a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous, over 4 to 5 days.
- Work all your major muscles, including the abdomen, on at least 2 days a week.
- Add a side plank and a Pallof press to the end of each strength session.
- Swap one sugary drink a day for a low-calorie one.
- Measure your waist every couple of weeks, not just your weight.
- Try to keep your waist to less than half your height, if your BMI is under 35.
Sources: NHS: activity guidelines; NHS: obesity; NHS Better Health
More on measuring: waist-to-height ratio vs BMI and body fat percentage for men.
When to speak to a GP
The NHS says see a GP if your BMI is in the overweight or obese range and:
- You want help to lose weight.
- Your waist is more than half your height.
- You have pre-diabetes (blood sugar higher than normal), diabetes, high blood pressure, joint pain, high cholesterol, sleep apnoea or heart and circulation disease. Sleep apnoea is when your breathing stops and starts as you sleep.
- Obesity runs in your family.
- You have, or think you may have, an eating disorder.
Haven’t exercised for some time, or have medical conditions or concerns? Speak to your GP first. The same goes before changing your diet if you have a special diet for your health or had an eating disorder.
Call 999 if you get sudden chest pain or discomfort that doesn’t go away. The same goes for pain that spreads to either arm, your neck, jaw, stomach or back. Also chest pain with feeling sweaty, sick, light-headed or short of breath.