Dear Dr Fitness:    

What kind of exercises can I do to get rid of my love handles and tighten up in a hurry?—Slim Fast

Dear Slim Fast:

When you’re talking about “love handles,” I assume that you’re talking about the excess fat that’s hanging over the side of your belt. So if you have “love handles,” my first question would be “What are you eating?” because excess calories is energy stored that’s not being used. So let’s start with that.

If you can say that you have very very good eating habits, then my other questions would be “Are you doing any strength training?”; “Are you using weights?”; “Are you in the gym doing good ‘squats’ with a reasonable amount of weight?”; “Are you training your trunk, your arms, your whole body three or four times a week and making sure your muscles have been used properly?”

If you can answer all of these questions with a yes, and you still have love handles, then you need to talk to your doctor. Because there may be some underlying problem or challenges that may have caused your metabolism to slow up and caused the love handles to show up.

However, if you’re not doing any of these things, my suggestion would be to start working out with a few simple exercises you can do right in your home. The first exercise involves using your kitchen countertop. Start by standing up straight and facing the counter. Then fully extend your arms so that both hands are on the countertop and step back from the counter about three or four feet. Hold this position for 20 seconds. If you can do this without arching your back, then get on the floor into a “plank” position.

In a plank position, you lie face down on the floor leaning on your forearms. Your elbows are lined up under your shoulders, and each hand is balled up in a fist and is aligned with the elbow. Starting with your knees on the floor and your trunk in a neutral position, extend the knees and lift your trunk (your butt) off the floor and hold this position for five seconds. Then go back down on your knees. Repeat this 15 times.

Next, you do a “side plank.” For a side plank, you lie on your side with your pelvis pushed forward, and align your hip with your knee and your shoulder. For the arm that’s on the floor, your fist is in alignment with your elbow and your elbow is underneath your shoulder. To start, bring the pelvis forward and squeeze in the “gluts.” Then lift your pelvis off the floor and hold for a count of 10. Roll over to your other side and repeat this process—again holding for a count of 10. Repeat this rotation two or three times.

While the specific plank exercises detailed above will be helpful in stabilizing and strengthening your trunk, the lasting benefits of these workouts is best complemented by a strength training program, so my overall recommendation is to get into a good total body strength training program. Just remember that you can’t handle a strong strength training program if you don’t have any stability in your spine which is why planks are important.

Moving forward with these suggestions will eventually help you get rid of your love handles and will tighten you up, but the results you want will not happen in a hurry!

(E-mail your questions to: AskDrFitness@aol.com.)