The Best Exercises to Target Love Handles (And the Real Fix)

Love handles — the fat around the sides of your waist — are one of the most common trouble spots. First, the hard truth: you cannot spot-reduce fat with side crunches. But the right combination of training and nutrition will get rid of them.

Strengthen the obliques underneath

• Side planks
• Russian twists
• Bicycle crunches
• Woodchoppers (cable or band)
• Hanging oblique raises

The real fix: overall fat loss

Love handles disappear when your overall body fat drops, which requires a calorie deficit. No amount of oblique work burns the fat covering them — but building those muscles means a defined waist once the fat is gone.

Combine training and diet

Pair full-body strength training and cardio (to burn calories and build metabolism-boosting muscle) with a modest calorie deficit and high protein. That's the proven formula for a leaner waistline.

The takeaway

Train your obliques for strength and definition, but rely on a calorie deficit and full-body training to actually burn the fat. Love handles go when overall body fat drops — there's no shortcut.