Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles (+ Awesome Workout Video) 👈

You did it. You found the workouts to get rid of love handles.

Does seeing stubborn love handles in the mirror make you sigh in frustration?

Are you tired of trying workout routines that demand you get on the floor, leading to discomfort and sometimes, bruises?

Does your dream of achieving the perfect, strong, and confident body seem elusive?

It’s disheartening, isn’t it?

You’ve done crunches until your abs ache, sweated it out with cardio, but those love handles refuse to budge.

You’ve even attempted those floor exercises, despite the discomfort and the pain, only to see little to no improvement.

It’s draining and demotivating, making you question if you’ll ever get that dream body.

This love handles workout consisting of standing-only exercises engages your oblique muscles, making them stronger, tighter, and more cinched in.

Say goodbye to those annoying love handles and hello to a stronger, more confident you.

And the best part?

You don’t have to get on the floor for any of the exercises.

Try my belly fat workouts as well for the ultimate transformation!

Love handles whereeee??? ✨

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles: Who this Workout is For

This love handles workout is perfect for the woman that is looking to tone and sculpt the waistline.

If the goal is to target excess fat around the waist / oblique muscles, you’ve got the right workout right here.

Although anyone can benefit from incorporating love handles workouts into their fitness routine, this workout is specifically designed for addressing love handles.

This workout also works particularly well when combined with a belly fat workout.

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles: How this Workout Works

This workout works by focusing on the efficiency of your movements to produce a higher calorie burn with less effort.

This is achieved through sequencing a special selection of exercises chosen by a Certified Personal Trainer for this exact purpose of getting rid of love handles.

This workout also focuses on standing exercises only – this further enhances the efficiency of the workout and produces more effective results.

Finally, this workout deeply stimulates the core and oblique muscles that help suck in and support the waistline.

When combined with a healthy and balanced diet, this workout is wonderful to help burn fat, reduce love handles, and create a more toned waist.

Exercises in this Workout for Love Handles

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Exercise 1: standing marches

Want to avoid doing standing marches incorrectly? Try this Premium workout video. And be confident you’re not wasting any time. It’s free for 14 days.

Quick tips to do standing marches correctly.

Aim to lift your knee till it reaches inbetween your elbows or as high as your flexibility allows
Let your belly do the work of slightly bending your torso and raising each leg
Start slow, then increase the pace as you feel comfortable
Tense the muscles in your belly area to feel the full effect of the standing marches exercise

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Exercise 2: quick high knees

Want to avoid doing quick high knees incorrectly? Try this Premium workout video. It’s free for 14 days.

Quick tips to do quick high knees correctly.

Keep your toes pointed forward
Bend knees softly Try to bring your knees high enough to reach your waistline This means you’re aiming to have your thighs are parallel to the ground each time you raise your leg
Basically, you’re making a 90 degree angle with your legs with each raise (or at least trying to)
Keep back straight (do your best)
Keep core engaged (suck in your stomach but continue to breathe)
Keep your head and eyes forward (avoid looking at the ground)

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Exercise 3: candlesticks

Want to avoid doing candlesticks incorrectly? Try this Premium workout video. It’s free for 14 days.

Quick tips to do candlesticks correctly.

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Exercise 4: Up and outs

Want to avoid doing Up and outs incorrectly? Try this Premium workout video. And be confident you’re not wasting any time. It’s free for 14 days.

Quick tips to do Up and outs correctly.

keep your back straight
bring your heel as close to your booty as possible. if you’re flexible enough, your heel should actually slightly graze your butt bring your elbows as far down as possible (we’re going for a full range of motion here)
keep your shoulders down and back
use your abs to engage your core during the Up and Outs exercise
keep your head up and eyes forward
make sure you are using those leg muscles to move as quickly as your body will allow

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Exercise 5: frankenstein walk

Want to avoid doing frankenstein walk incorrectly? Try this Premium workout video. It’s free for 14 days.

Quick tips to do frankenstein walk correctly.

Focus on taking slow, deliberate steps, lifting your legs straight out in front of you like Frankenstein’s monster 😄
Keep your movements controlled and avoid swinging your legs or letting them flop down. Aim for a smooth and purposeful motion.
Maintain a relaxed but engaged upper body. Avoid hunching your shoulders or tensing your neck.
Breathe steadily as you walk, inhaling deeply and exhaling fully to maintain a sense of calm and control.
Lift your legs as high as your flexibility allows without compromising your balance or form. Don’t force the range of motion; gradually increase it as your flexibility improves over time

3 Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Tips & Advice

Try Mindful Eating

Practicing mindful eating can help reduce love handles.

Eating mindfully just means eating slowly and with intention.

This was (still is) a hard one for me personally but I try my best each meal.

In the beginning of my mindful eating journey, I actually had to set a timer to force myself to chew more. 😅

Some people recommend chewing each bite 30 times before swallowing.

It’s definitely a worthy goal to aspire to when eating more mindfully.

By eating mindfully, it is easier to pay attention to hunger and fullness cues. It also helps us to pay attention to the emotions driving us to eat particular foods.

This way, we make conscious choices about the food we eat. Instead of automatic, subconscious ones.

Do 30 Minutes of Structured Exercise

Do your best to get in at least 30 minutes of structured exercise everyday (except your rest days).

This can be anything from belly fat workouts to love handles workouts.

The main thing is to have a dedicated 30 minutes to structured exercise.

In addition to this, if you have time, incorporate other forms of movement into your day like walking, stretching, cycling or swimming.

Although any movement is better than no movement at all, 30 minutes of dedicated time for a structured workout is the gold standard for maintaining consistency.

And consistency is the King, Queen, Bishop, and Jury when it comes to losing love handles (or any kind of fat).

We have to stay consistent with our workouts to see results.

Skip These Types of Carbs

Refined carbohydrates include white bread, white pasta, hard candy, gas station food, grocery store donuts, and more.

These foods contribute to weight gain and storage of fat as love handles.

Instead, of these foods, it’s best to choose whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat bread.

These whole grain foods provide more fiber, nutrients, and support the body in losing love handles.

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What body type gets love handles?

There are two body types that are most likely to develop love handles.

They are the body types known as the “apple” and “pear” shapes.

These are the two body types that are highly pre-disposed to storing fat in the waist, hips, and thighs.

That being said, body type is a TINY factor when it comes to love handles. Factors with much more impact and significance are diet, exercise, genetics, hormones, and sleep.

If any of these significant factors are overlooked, *any* body type can (and does) develop love handles.

which body type gets love handles

Some examples:

In addition to body type/shape, some people have a genetic predisposition to store fat in their belly area. Such people tend to also easily develop love handles.
Elevated cortisol is a very common hormonal imbalance. This imbalance can cause increased fat storage around the waistline = love handles.
Consuming a lot of simple processed sugars (like soda or sweetened lemonade) also help to boost fat storage in the love handle area.

My advice: don’t worry too much about body shape / type.

Your natural shape is exactly the right shape that was perfectly meant for you.

Are love handles normal?

Love handles are totally normal and natural.

Each person stores fat differently – and for some people – that fat gets deposited in the waist.

This does not say anything about health – which is the most important thing.

People of all shapes and sizes have love handles.

How do you get rid of love handles?

Love handles, also known as excess fat around the waistline, can be stubborn and difficult to get rid of.

But it can be done.

Here’s how to get rid of love handles.

1. Workout

To get rid of love handles, you want to make sure you have a regular and consistent workout routine.

Ideally, your workout routine should include love handles workouts like the ones provided on this page.

This will stimulate your body to burn the excess fat stored around the waist.

2. Caloric deficit

To lose love handles, you need to create a caloric deficit. This means consuming fewer calories than your body requires.

This forces the body to use some of the fat currently stored as love handles for energy.

After hearing this, some women try to create a huge calorie deficit in hopes of getting faster results.

Usually, this approach backfires because it can throw some hormones off and create fat storage (instead of loss).

My preference as a Certified Personal Trainer is to stick with a small to moderate caloric deficit.

This tends to be a more sustainable and highly effective approach to reducing love handles.

3. Healthy eating:

This goes along with the previous point. It is much easier to create a caloric deficit while eating lightly processed (or unprocessed) foods.

I personally enjoy a few raw brazil nuts every morning 😃

I’m not even going to play you. They don’t taste anything like oreos but they feel good in my belly when I eat them.

They are also so satiating that I don’t crave more after eating just 3. I can’t say the same for oreos. haha

So – focus on unprocessed foods. They are less likely to trigger cravings and overeating the way highly engineered foods can.

4. Aim for 4 weeks

Here’s a secret I don’t want to share.

Love handles take at least 4 weeks to appear and become visible to the point that they bother us.

Given this fact, you should also give yourself at least 4 weeks of consistent exercise and healthy eating to start to notice visible changes.

This doesn’t mean the love handles will disappear in 4 weeks. It just means, don’t quit before 4 weeks is up.

It’s okay to “mess up” along the way. For example, missing one workout. Or eating oreos for breakfast one stressful day.

Those things are just a part of life. The key is to keep going and make yourself proud by being consistent 4 weeks – minimum.

How do I know if I have love handles?

Good news! If you’re not sure if you have love handles, then most likely you don’t have them.

But if you want to be SUPER sure, put on a fitted bodysuit and look in the mirror.

If there are 2 or more bumps on the sides of the bodysuit, then you probably have love handles.

If there are no bumps then you don’t have love handles.

Please don’t pinch your waist to do this test. Let’s leave that for the ladies in stock photos.

Are love handles just body fat?

Yes, love handles are indeed just body fat with a twist.

The primary difference between love handles and regular body fat is the specific location of love handles fat.

Love handles are pockets of excess fat that are deposited underneath the skin.

They are visible as roles on the sides of the waist in both men and women.

The twist is that love handles are also influenced by genetics, hormonal changes, and lifestyle choices.

A fun thing to know about love handles is that they actually serve a function.

Love handles help with insulation (so you don’t get cold as easily). They help protect internal organs and they also serve as energy storage.

The lifestyle factors that can encourage love handles are excess consumtion of simple sugars (things like cookies, donuts, and ice-cream), insufficient sleep, not enough exercise, or a combination of all of these.

Workout Options (Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles)

There are two workout options for workouts to get rid of love handles in this post.

Regardless of the option you choose, please be sure to do a thorough warm up and cool down.

Here’s a good multi-purpose warm up that most people can easily do.

20 sec jumping jacks
20 sec squats
20 sec lunges

Do twice.

For your cool down, I recommend doing your favorite gentle streches for at least 5 minutes.

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles Workout Video (Option 1):

Do you want to try a follow along love handles workout?

Simply press play on the video below.

It’s only 10 minutes long. You’ll be done before you know it!

Workout Video: Intense Flat Stomach + Love Handles Workout \\ Home Workout

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles (Option 2):

Do you want to try a self-paced workouts to get rid of love handles workout?

I have you covered.

Follow the workout outline below.

Workouts to Get Rid of Love Handles: Workout Outline

⏩⏩ swipe right to see the next move

standing marches
quick high knees
candlesticks
Up and outs
frankenstein walk

Jump to Exercise Tips

Disclaimer: This or any other exercise program may result in injury. Always consult your doctor / physician before beginning this or any other workout or exercise program. By performing any of the exercises in this program or on this site, you agree to the full disclaimer and assume ALL risks of injury from doing so. Koboko Fitness is NOT responsible or liable for any injury or loss you may sustain by participating in this workout or any exercise program. Read the full disclaimer here before you begin.

Workout Instructions (1/2)

Do each exercise for 30 seconds. Take a 10 second break between each exercise.

standing marches
quick high knees
candlesticks
Up and outs
frankenstein walk

Workout Instructions (2/2)

Once you complete all the exercises above as explained, take a 1 minute break, then repeat the exercises as follows

frankenstein walk
Up and outs
candlesticks
quick high knees
standing marches

Once you complete this second round, congratulations! Your workouts to get rid of love handles workout is complete!

Want another workout? Try this love handles workout.

A few things to note:

Whenever there are 2 exercises shown side by side, one is a lower impact modification. Always go with the lower impact version if you are a beginner or have not exercised in a long time.
If I show an exercise that you do one leg (or arm) at a time, do the leg (or arm) shown for 15 seconds. Then do your other leg (or arm) for the remaining 15 seconds.

It’s easier for me to show you how to do it with just one arm or leg in this post. But if you’re doing my full-length follow along Premium workout videos, I always show both sides of every exercise.