photo credit: https://www.fitandme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Best-Ab-Exercises-For-Women-.jpg
Bulletproof Exercises to lose belly fat…This title is a bit misleading because exercise alone is NOT the sole solution to trimming the waistline. For some reason, the human body tends to accumulate belly fat to the midsection. This can be somewhat unflattering… but more importantly, unhealthy. Increased weight can lead to more “wear and tear” through your spine, hips, and knees. I’ve spoken previously on strategies to help arthritis, but did not emphasize how important your body weight plays a role.
First Things First: Abs are made in the Kitchen, NOT the Gym.
If the debate was “diet or exercise” for the goal of weight loss, diet wins every time. No amount of planks or abdominal crunches will negate a poor diet. Exercise physiology resources have determined weight loss to be 80% diet, and 20% exercise. Conversely, the “perfect diet” alone isn’t sufficient enough to maximize heart health, improve muscle strength, or reduce stress. That’s where good diet and exercise are a match made in Heaven.
This study by Miller et al. highlighted this debate of diet vs. exercise. They concluded that:
- Exercise alone was insufficient for weight loss
- Diet was clinically significant for weight loss
- A combination of diet and exercise yielded the best results
Belly Fat Exercise #1: Planks
Traditionally, this is the exercise most people think of first when it comes to exercises to lose belly fat. Take a minute to refer back to our article on plank exercises. Any variation is a benefit to your core and abdominal muscles altogether.
Belly Fat Exercise #2: Turkish Get-Ups
Here’s a great YouTube video by Strongfirst.com, demonstrating the Turkish get-up. This is one of my favorite all-purpose exercises. It can be performed with or without weight, but my choice would be using a kettlebell.
Belly Fat Exercise #3: Flutter Kicks
Here’s another favorite, demonstrated by Dara Torres in the video below. I always opt for exercises that don’t repetitively flex your spine, but move your legs with your core isometrically contracted instead.
Belly Fat Exercise #4: Mountain Climbers
This Youtube Channel, The Fit Fathers Project, has a lot of great content! Barring any specific spine injuries, they give great instruction on many different core exercises. This one in particular will have you breathing heavy by the end of your sets (in a good way!).
Belly Fat Exercise #5: Russian Twists
This is a dual-benefit exercise. Your everyday health requires both core strength and flexibility, so incorporating the rotational component as shown will definitely help to burn belly fat off the internal and external obliques muscles.
Conclusion
Notice the common theme… ENTIRE-BODY movements! Losing belly fat is not about targeting the core alone. You need to impose a high physical demand, that increases your body’s metabolism, in order to burn calories off your stomach. Don’t settle for those cliche, “magic bullet” techniques you see all over the gym and infomercials such as the “Ab-Hancer” or abdominal stomach sweat bands (they don’t work).
If you are looking for specific programming for weight loss (including specific nutritional advice), make sure to consult one of our team of professionals, especially if you have a complicated medical or health history that must be taken into account.
My challenge to you is to try one of these exercises for size, and smile the entire time doing it!!