When it comes to exercise for love handles, one muscles group that constantly gets ignored during stomach workout routines are the transverse abdominals. Oddly enough these are your core muscles that are located just below the rectus abdominus, they provide stable support for the upper and lower body. Most all abdominal exercises performed today fully target the rectus abdominus as well as the vertical abdominal muscles but fail when it comes to tranverse abdominals. Even the most basic of stomach exercise, “crunches” do nothing when it comes to working the transverse abdominals properly. This muscle group is most important to target because they connect both the lower back muscles and rectus abdominus forming girdle like support for the entire abdominal region.

Fully understanding that, any routine focused on flattening and attacking the stomach, needs to include exercises that work the transverse abdominals. So, if you really want to make progress, work those transverse abdominals and that get that flat tummy…then adopt the following exercises into your routine.

As with any workout routine, be sure to consult a professional before beginning and always warm up properly to avoid injury.

Basic Pelvic Tilts
This stomach exercise requires lying on your back on a flat surface, such as the floor or a bench. Use a mat or towel to cushion your spine. Bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor. Raise your pelvis (only your pelvis) off the floor, hold momentarily, and then lower it back down. Repeat for an entire set, you decide on the repetitions. Remember, maintaining a controlled movement is crucial to this exercise. This will allow you to use your abdominal muscles, rather than your body’s momentum, to do the work on the exercise. Also, be sure to keep your upper body on the floor throughout the exercise.

The Crunchless Crunch
This first exercise is fairly simple but can also be fairly difficult. Essentially, it involves trying to pull the belly button in towards the spine. This can be tricky, as it involves using muscles which you may not be used to activating. To begin, either lie or on your stomach or kneel. You might want to try both ways and see which helps you feel the exercise target better. Relax your body as much as possible, then try to use only the lower abdominals to move your belly button toward your spine. Hold for ten seconds. If holding for ten seconds feels easy, hold for a longer period. The goal here is to hold the contraction until you either cannot feel it, or you feel other muscles working harder than the transverse abdominus. When you feel this, let the contraction out.

Scissor Kicks
This stomach exercise also requires lying on the floor. Position your hands under your butt, keeping your back pressed against the floor. Slowly raise one leg to a height of about ten inches, then slowly lower it back to the floor. As your lower one leg, raise the other. Repeat this motion for an entire set. Again maintaining control throughout is important, not allowing momentum to get the better of you. Your upper body should remain on the floor through the entire move for better isolation.

There certainly are other exercises that will target those pesky transverse adominals but these three are more then enough to get you started on the right track. Incorporating stomach exercises like these are key when it comes to developing an exercise plan to lose your love handles and oh yes, gaining a flatter tummy along the way!