7 Tips to Lose Love Handles Fast for Men Over 40

Trying to lose those last few inches of fat around your waist isn’t only tough for most of us, but it seems almost impossible when you’re over 40. For some reason, we feel as though our bodies know how old we are and take all of the stereotypes as doctrine.

It’s tougher to build muscle, it’s tougher to train consistently, and it’s tougher to lose body fat. Especially those last few pounds making the difference between being in decent shape and displaying an impressive muscular physique.

Here are seven tips to get you over that hump. To get those last few pounds off just in time for the shirtless season.

1 Don’t starve

It’s an easy trap to fall into believing you need to resort to drastic measures in order to shred up. So many individuals adopt elimination diets in hopes of finally gaining that muscularity their always after. They eliminate all carbs or skip half their day of eating. If starvation isn’t achieved then they’re not working hard enough.

If you’re interested in building a lean, muscular physique you’ll need to feed your body plenty of the good stuff – and I mean food. Proper recovery is paramount, especially while you’re dieting and under a calorie restriction. Be sure you’re getting in enough protein, carbs, and fats to fuel those workouts. Because getting lean is the last thing an underfed, unrecovered body wants.

2 Ditch sugar

One quick and healthy way to lose body fat is to cut out added sugar. You’d be surprised at how many foods contain added sugar. Everything from spaghetti sauce to so-called healthy cereals contains a good amount of the stuff. Get used to reading labels.

Once you cut added sugar out you’ll find that it will also significantly reduce calories as result. Your blood sugar levels will balance out, you’ll have steady energy, and you’ll be able to apply more intensity to your workouts. Go with more complex carbs containing fiber such as oatmeal, sweet potatoes, green veggies, and some fruit.

3 Don’t overdo cardio

The common consensus is to perform crazy amounts of cardio when you want to burn fat. Long, slow, steady walks, jogs, and elliptical sessions are what pop into your head. You dread the long and boring slogs of cardio, but you feel like that’s what it’ll take to get to your ultimate goal. It’s a necessary evil right?

The fact is that cardiovascular training does little for burning fat while you’re doing it. Your body likes to burn its carbs first since it’s ready for use. Fat, on the other hand, requires a long process to be burnt which isn’t very efficient. Look at cardio in a different way. Use is to keep your metabolism in check and for heart and circulatory health.

4 Lift heavy

Another counterintuitive act is to lift heavy while dieting. Most will want to increase their rep ranges on all exercises in hopes to help spot reduce areas and burn more calories. It is true that higher reps can be just as effective as heavier reps for building muscle tissue, but repping out high rep sets in rapid, pump action style won’t help you keep your hard-earned muscle.

Whichever rep range you decide to use make sure you are performing each set to muscular failure. Don’t just rep out a set of 15 or 20 reps hoping that’ll help you get ripped. Going to failure on each set and training for the purposes of building muscle will go a long way in keeping the muscle you have while burning fat.

5 Prioritize protein

It’s no surprise to see protein as a major player in the fight to lose body fat. It bears mentioning for the simple fact that many of us don’t heed the all too common advice of focusing on protein consumption first.

Lean cuts of protein such as ground meat, turkey, chicken, eggs, fish, cottage cheese, and protein powder should be prioritized. Protein is not only essential for tissue repair after hard workouts, it’s also pretty amazing at keeping us feeling full and satiated when we need to cut calories. After protein focus on complex carbs high in fiber and healthy fat options.

6 Avoid too much ab work

Overall, there isn’t such a thing as spot reduction. In other words, you can’t do endless sets and reps of ab work and expect to have a ripped and lean midsection. Ab work should be a part of any fitness program. Abs are muscles too and need strengthening for several purposes like increasing power and stability in the core and helping align the spine during other exercises.

But don’t overdo it. A handful of sets is plenty when done right. Also, hundreds of reps aren’t better. Treat abs just like any other body part with moderate amounts of sets and reps to get the job done. Doing too much is just a wasted effort and a waste of time.

7 Stay consistent with training

When it comes to getting the most out of your fat loss efforts the details aren’t as important as you might think. Bigger principles such as intensity, accountability, and adherence are far more essential. One such principle is consistency. Nothing will tank progress like inconsistency in any program.

The details will work themselves out. You’ll eventually land on what’s working and what’s not and create your very own personalized program. Until then the number one thing you can do is stay as consistent as possible on whatever program you choose so that you can detect the need for any changes.