Fitness expert shares best exercise to tone 'love handles' and stomach

27 September 2023 , 12:08

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A fitness expert has revealed her go-to exercise for love handles (stock image) (Image: Getty Images)

While we all have different hangups about our appearances, finding ways to tone love handles - the squishy bit at the side of the stomach - seems to be a popular search term, with TikTok views for #lovehandlesworkout reaching 65.7 million views.

Now, a fitness expert has revealed the one exercise you can do to help spot-train that area and reduce the size of your tummy, no matter what your level of fitness - and you don't need equipment or the gym. Senior Coach Tracy Thompson at Total Shape advises trying out Russian twists to help trim your waistline.

Explaining the benefits behind the exercise, she revealed that the move targets the muscles at the side of your stomach, and your obliques, and can help burn excess side belly fat. It’s also a move that is possible for everyone, whether you’re a beginner or expert as it is easy to increase the intensity by adding weights to help burn more calories.

In order to do the exercise, WebMD says to sit in an upright position with your feet lifted off the ground, or if this is too hard, keep your feet on the floor. Holding your hands together, rotate your torso from side to side while holding your balance and moving your arms. As your core gets stronger you can develop the move by lifting your legs and adding a weight.

Tracy believes you could see significant improvements to your love handles in just a few weeks if you stick to a plan of combining three sets of 30-50 reps of Russian twists five days a week, with regular cardio and a healthy low-fat diet.

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Discussing the underlying cause of love handles, Tracy explained that the build-up of fat retention boils down to simply not burning as many calories as you consume. She said: “It's important to keep healthy and involve exercises that target specific areas into your workout routine to maximise fat burning.

“As most people tend to gain weight around the stomach area and hips, it can be dangerous, as the fat deposits in the abdomen can be directly connected to the build-up of cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks. Despite love handles being a stubborn area to slim down, the good news is that it is not impossible. By combining consistency with exercises and good nutrition, you may be able to burn down those love handles.”

Eve Wagstaff