5 Ways to Melt Your Muffin Top

Love handles are common. In fact, they’re one of the biggest reasons women exercise and hire a personal trainer.

And while most women think that all there is to getting rid of love handles is doing some crunches, nothing could be further from the truth.

To melt your muffin top, you’ll need to follow a healthy diet and a rigorous cardio regime. But if you exercise correctly, you’ll definitely see results.

It’s all about the cardio

Getting rid of love handles involves doing 30 to 40 minutes of cardio at least three times a week, along with strength training two or three times per week.

To really blast muffin tops away, you’ll want to switch up your cardio approaches. This means that you don’t want to do the elliptical all the time. this can lead to a plateau.

The goal is to keep on challenging different muscle groups. One day you should run, the next you should swim, and then another you should row.

High-intensity interval training programs are also highly effective at diminishing love handles because they really burn fat.

Before toning your muscles, your first goal should be to lose weight and reduce your body fat. Once you’ve started that, you can start to do strength training exercises. As you burn fat and increase your metabolism through muscle building, those love handles will slowly go away.

5 exercises for busting love handles

If you’re serious about losing those love handles, you should combine these five exercises with an intensive cardio plan.

1. Crunches

This exercise works your internal obliques, external obliques, and the rectus abdominis.

Lie on your back with your knees bent
Place one hand behind your head
Lift your head slightly
Twist until your left elbow goes toward your right knee as you extend your left leg
Pull your leg back in and extend the other leg, twisting is so that this time your right elbow goes toward your left knee

2. Standing Twists

To do this exercise:

Stand with your feet hip-width apart
Keep your hips and legs facing forward
Twist to the right, extending your left arm out to the right
Twist in the opposite direction, extending your right arm out to the left

3. Leg Twists

To do this exercise:

Lie on your back with your arms extended to the sides and your hands flat on the floor
Lift your legs and bend your knees so that your calves are parallel to the floor, your thighs forming a 90-degree angle with your stomach
Lower both legs together to one side so that your right thigh touches the ground on the right side
Maintain a 90-degree angle
Return your legs to the center, and lower the other side so that your left thigh now touches the ground

4. Planks

This exercise is great for strengthening your core.

Lie down on your right side, and lean on your elbow
Extend your legs out straight and stack your feet
Align the edge of your right foot with the floor
Use your core to hold up your body in a straight line
Hold this position for 30 seconds
Lower yourself all the way to the floor and switch sides
Do five reps on each side

5. Seated Twists

To begin this exercise:

Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground
Hold out your arms in front of you
Press your hands together
Lean back about 45 degrees
Slowly twist to your left side
Return to center
twist to your right side
Do at least five reps

Belt-Line Melt Time

If you follow a healthy diet, engage in cardio several times a week, and do these strength training exercises, you’ll definitely see your love handles melt away in no time!