Toning Exercises

It cannot be over emphasized; toning exercises alone will not work for you especially if you are trying to lose your love handles. These exercises must be used in conjunction with proper nutrition and cardiovascular activity at your individual target heart rate. The American Heart association recommends target heart rates in the range of 50-85% of your maximum heart rate. This number changes with age and health condition it is best to check with your health care professional to determine what is right for you. Another word of caution; it is important to perform these toning exercises correctly. Here are a few recommend exercises to help you tone your midsection. If you are unsure how to do the

exercises properly; check with a professional in the field.

Trunk Twists

Why don’t we start with a cool exercise that focuses specifically on those love handles around your waist? This is also a great exercise to begin with as it works well as a warm up exercise. Best way to perform this one is sit down on a mat legs extended in front of you with your right arm to your right and slightly behind you. Next take your right knee up towards your chest and place your right foot just beyond the left side of your left knee. Then take your left elbow and place it on the right side of your right knee. Finally apply pressure to your right knee with your left arm to rotate your trunk counter clockwise while keeping your head aligned with your right arm. Use a slow and gentle stretching motion. Repeat this process for the other side. Again, it is important for toning exercises to be done correctly so if you are not sure consult a professional.

Oblique Crunches

Now we get to the real muscle builder that targets that area just under your love handles. You have some flexibility with this exercise especially if you go to the gym; they will have equipment specifically designed for this exercise or you can do them at home on a mat. If you are doing them at home here is the basic process. Start out laying on the floor your legs bent approximately 90 degrees and your feet firmly planted on the floor. This is basically the same starting position you would use for abdominal crunches. Next with your hands behind your head raise your shoulders off the ground stretching to get your right elbow to touch your left knee. Repeat for other side. Another variation of this is to raise your right knee towards your chest and place your right foot just over your left knee. Place only your left arm under your head and slowly raise your shoulders stretching until your left elbow just passes your right knee. Squeeze your abs during the stretching process then slowly return to your starting position. If you are using either of these toning

exercises it is best to do them in sets; do as many reps per set as you can.

Strength Training

Last but not least, incorporate some strength training; overall muscle building will help you because muscle burns fat. Therefore, increasing your lean muscle mass also increases your resting metabolism and you will burn fat even at rest. Just remember these toning exercises need to be done in conjunction with proper nutrition and some form of cardio activity to increase your overall metabolism.