What Causes Love Handles and How To Get Rid of Them

“Love handles” are pockets of extra fat that collect around the waist and hips, producing noticeable bulges that protrude outward. Adjusting your activity level and food choices can help diminish their prominence.

While snug clothing can make love handles more visible, tight attire doesn’t cause them. They reflect excess fat stored around the hips and abdomen.

Read on to understand what leads to love handles and practical steps you can take to lessen their size and appearance.

What leads to love handles?

At their core, love handles result from fat accumulation. Weight control and fat storage are largely governed by the energy balance — the relationship between calories consumed and calories expended over time.

Fat tissue increases when you are in a calorie surplus, meaning you take in more energy than you expend daily. The excess calories can be stored as fat.

With time, fat cells may grow in size or number and accumulate in certain regions, becoming noticeable. The most frequent sites include the upper back, buttocks, thighs, and abdominal area, including the waist.

How and where your body stores fat varies by person, and you can’t control the exact deposit locations. For that reason, targeted fat loss — or spot reduction — isn’t a reliable approach.

Some non-modifiable factors influence fat distribution, such as genetics, body composition, and hormonal shifts involving cortisol and insulin.

Other influences affect how much fat accumulates and thus the visibility of love handles. Many of these are modifiable and can help you manage weight. These include:

• insufficient weekly physical activity
• consuming more calories than you burn each day
• a diet rich in ultra-processed foods, saturated and trans fats, and added sugars
• not getting adequate quality sleep nightly
• prolonged periods of stress
• underlying medical issues like metabolic syndrome or polycystic ovary syndrome

Can exercise eliminate love handles?

Many people believe exercise can target fat loss in specific spots (spot reduction). Some research has suggested abdominal spot reduction might occur in certain circumstances, but overall evidence is mixed.

Fat loss is influenced by many factors and cannot be achieved by exercise alone.

If your goal is to reduce love handles, aim for overall fat reduction by maintaining a calorie deficit of about 500 calories per day. Exercise helps establish and preserve that deficit.

Combining cardio (aerobic) work with strength training and sensible nutrition yields the best results.

Resistance exercises build muscle strength and tone but don’t directly shrink fat cells. However, when fat is lost, strengthened muscles become more visible and can create the appearance of a smaller waist.

Below are several movements that engage the back, core, and hip areas.

Side planks

There are many variations of side planks to adjust difficulty. For the basic side plank:

1. Lie on one side and prop yourself up on one arm. Your elbow should line up under your shoulder; your forearm flat on the ground, perpendicular to your body.
2. Stack your legs so your body forms a straight line from head to hips. With your knee still on the floor, lift your hips.
3. Squeeze your glutes and hold for 30 to 60 seconds, keeping your core engaged to support your posture.
4. Switch sides and repeat.

To increase difficulty, lift your knees off the floor so only the side of your foot and forearm touch the ground.

Bicycle crunches

Resist the urge to rush bicycle crunches — controlled, deliberate motion is key.

1. Lie on your back with hands behind your head and knees bent.
2. Lift your shoulders and head off the floor and engage your core. Raise your feet so your shins are parallel to the ground.
3. Slowly twist so your left elbow moves toward your right knee while extending your left leg straight out.
4. Reverse the twist, bringing your left leg back and your right elbow toward your left knee, extending your right leg forward.
5. Complete 15 to 30 repetitions.

Russian twists

Russian twists are a seated rotational exercise. Hold a weight to increase resistance if desired.

1. Sit on the floor with your buttocks on the ground, knees bent, and feet flat.
2. Tighten your core and lean back to about a 45-degree angle. If not using weight, clasp your hands; if using a weight, hold it above your abdomen.
3. With knees bent, lift your feet so you balance on your buttocks. You can cross your ankles for more support.
4. Rotate your torso to the right, bringing the weight or your hands to the right side.
5. Rotate to the left, tapping the weight or hands to the left side.
6. Continue for 30 to 60 seconds.

Mountain climbers

This exercise elevates heart rate while building strength; increase speed as you gain fitness.

1. Begin in a plank: lie face down, place hands under shoulders, curl toes under, and push up. Keep arms straight but not locked and your body in a straight line from head to heels.
2. Lift your right foot and drive your right knee toward your left elbow, keeping the core engaged.
3. Pause briefly, then return the foot to its starting position.
4. Repeat on the opposite side.
5. Continue for 30 to 60 seconds.

You can speed up and extend duration as your endurance improves.

Bridge

Glute bridges target the glutes, lower back, and core.

1. Lie on your back with knees bent, arms at your sides, and palms on the floor.
2. Lift your hips and lower back off the floor to form a straight line from knees to shoulders.
3. Squeeze your glutes and hold for 1 to 3 seconds, then slowly lower back down.
4. Repeat 10 times.

To intensify, lift one foot off the floor while raising your hips, alternating the raised leg each repetition.

How much exercise is needed to reduce love handles?

Exercise is important for preserving a calorie deficit and strengthening the core.

There’s no exact amount of weekly activity required to lose weight, but minimum recommendations can help prevent weight gain and lower the risk of chronic disease.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans advise the following weekly:

• Aerobic: 150 to 300 minutes of light-to-moderate activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity.
• Resistance: At least 2 days of strength training per week, working all major muscle groups.

Diet adjustments to consider

Adopting healthier eating habits can help remove love handles and reduce the chance they return.

If weight loss is your goal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests losing 1 to 2 pounds per week for steady, sustainable progress.

Diet tweaks that complement exercise and fat-burning efforts include:

• prioritizing fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, legumes, and low-fat dairy
• reducing ultra-processed foods, saturated fats, added sugars, and excess sodium
• consuming sufficient protein — about 1.2 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight (0.6 to 0.9 g per pound)
• eating fiber-rich foods, aiming for 24 to 34 grams daily
• opting for smaller, more frequent meals
• chewing slowly and adopting mindful eating practices
• staying hydrated — about 3.7 liters per day for men and 2.7 liters for women

Lifestyle adjustments that help

In addition to exercise and diet, lifestyle shifts can support the loss of love handles. Consider:

• remaining active throughout the day — walking regularly or gardening
• reducing stress through meditation, journaling, or talking with friends or a therapist
• getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night
• wearing pants that fit at your waist instead of lower on your hips

A doctor or registered dietitian can help you create a tailored diet and lifestyle plan to manage weight effectively.

Medical options

Some surgical procedures are used to reduce localized fat stores. One common approach is liposuction.

Liposuction involves injecting a solution into the targeted area, such as the hips, to loosen fat cells, which are then removed with a suction device. Results often become visible within a few days.

However, liposuction treats only specific spots and is not a whole-body solution. Without lifestyle changes, fat can return. It’s generally recommended for people with moderate excess fat.

Other surgical options, like bariatric surgery, may be appropriate to support weight loss in adults with obesity.

The takeaway

Love handles are typically a sign of excess body fat and may reflect where your body tends to store fat first. The most effective way to reduce their appearance is overall fat loss through increased activity and a balanced diet that maintains a caloric deficit.

If lifestyle and eating changes don’t produce results, consult a healthcare provider. They can run tests to look for underlying issues and suggest additional interventions to help with weight management.