So a person posted a question on my blog asking, "I tried everything to make them [love handles] fade, but nothing works. Do you have any tips?"
Any successful weight loss regime will consist of diet AND exercise. As for the diet, you have to get rid of the junk and start eating right (Read the previous post).
As for exercise, my trick has been a combination of both weight training and cardio. I do 3 days of very focused strength training per week along with 3 or 4 days of cardio (20-40 minutes per day) on opposite days from my weight training. The 7th day is a day of rest. (I can give you more specifics about my workouts, you only have to ask). Granted, I am a LOT more active than just that with both mountain biking and running, but during my intitial weightloss (the bulk of 40 pounds) it was only as described above.
A lot of people have asked about particular exercises to target love handles (or other problem areas). Contrary to popular belief (and exercise machine ads on late night t.v.), there is NO way to focus on one part of the body when it comes to fat loss. The human body just doesn’t work that way. Although you can build up a certain muscle by targeting that specific muscle, you can not target a particular part of the body when it comes to burning fat. No. The ab lounger alone will NOT give you a flat tummy. No. The thigh master will not burn the fat off of your legs.
In general it seems the last area to lose fat for a particular person is the first area to gain it. Gender also plays a role. Men tend to store fat on the abdominal region (hence the term beer gut and love handles) whereas women accumulate it around the hips and thighs.
Training either of these areas exclusively (attempting to reduce fat in only that specific area) in the hope of losing fat, in that area, simply does not work. Fat instead is lost evenly, because that’s how your body uses it. When burning fat, your body uses the fat stores throughout the body to provide energy to burn. It’s a bit more complicated, but basically that’s how it works.
Another misconception is targeted weight training. A lot of guys will work arms and chest one day, while working back and shoulders another. Although this is great if your goal is to build mass, but not if your goal is to lose weight. If your goal is fatlosss, training every body-part with equal intensity coupled with aerobic/cardio training remains the most effective means of losing fat.
Someone pointed out that I lost my love handles from the before and after photos, but if you look carefully, the fat was burned evenly over the entire body, not just the love handles. Look at how fat my head was. geeez.
One more thing. Diet pills, fat burners, supplements that promise fat loss, especially those that claim they can target specific areas are stating nothing more than lies. If you look at ANY ad for these types of products, you will find a disclaimer that also states "When used in conjuntion with a proper diet and exercise program." Well, duh. Change the way you eat along with exercising and I gurantee you’ll lose weight. Don’t waste your money on these diet fads or rip-offs. I didn’t use them and you don’t need them.
Speedy Lizard 