SUMMARY
Doing 100 crunches every day is not the best way to lose belly fat fast! Learn these simple exercises to help get your midsection in better shape.
When most people say they want to get in shape, the focus is on their midsection: having a toned stomach and a six-pack is the goal. And while many people have undesirable belly fat that they want to be rid of, especially as they get older, belly fat can also pose serious health risks.
You may think doing abdominal exercises like crunches or sit-ups every day is the best way to get in shape, but it takes a bit more than that.
Learning how to lose weight, particularly how to lose belly fat fast, is a common health goal, but it takes focused exercise and diet in order to target that area. These 13 exercises can help you reach your fitness goals in tandem with a healthy, balanced diet.
Table of Contents
What Causes Belly Fat?
Types of Fat & Their Health Risks
– The Biggest Culprits That Cause Belly Fat
– How to Lose Belly Fat Fast: Overview
Exercises To Lose Belly Fat Fast
– Example Workout Routine (60 min)
What Causes Belly Fat?
There are many reasons people accumulate excess belly fat. Any combination of poor diet, lack of exercise, sedentary habits, stress, and hormones can contribute to a growing waistline. The main causes of belly fat, however, are contributed to poor diet, age, and your metabolism.
The type of fat you accumulate can affect how fast and how easily you can lose belly fat.
Types of Fat & Their Health Risks
There are two kinds of belly fat: subcutaneous fat, which lies just under the skin, and visceral fat, which surrounds your organs. Women tend to accumulate more subcutaneous fat, and men tend to accumulate more visceral fat.
Subcutaneous fat is the kind of fat you can feel when you pinch your stomach and is not usually linked to many health issues like visceral fat is. However, it tends to be more “jiggly,” which bothers many people concerned about their weight.
Having excess visceral fat tends to cause lots of health issues. It is linked to increased insulin resistance, which means a higher risk for diabetes. It has also been found to contribute to inflammation in the body which is linked to increased risk for heart disease, metabolic issues, diabetes, and other issues like depression and psoriasis.
The Biggest Culprits That Cause Belly Fat
Foods with trans fats are more likely to cause belly weight gain because they cause inflammation in the body and increase risk for metabolic syndrome, and which makes it difficult to burn fat.
These foods are the biggest suspects for being high in trans fats: Store-bought baked goods
· Sugary foods
· Alcohol
· Shortening and margarine
· Frozen dinners
· Fried food
· Ice cream
· Cake mixes and frosting
· Microwave popcorn
· Processed meat
· Nondairy creamers
· Snack foods (chips, crackers, and cookies, etc.)
How to Lose Belly Fat Fast: Overview
To lose belly fat, several adjustments might need to be made depending on what is causing the excess fat. To lose either of the two types of belly fat, exercise and diet are key. The good news is, when you start to lose belly fat, visceral is usually the first to go!
But this does mean that subcutaneous fat is harder to burn off. Focusing on a low-fat diet, getting enough sleep, reducing stress, and doing fat-burning exercises like HIIT will help with losing subcutaneous fat.
HIIT involves short periods of exercise alternated with intense bursts of anaerobic exercise and is a great fat burning workout. However, if you’re just starting out, you can start with these easier exercises and work your way up.
Exercises To Lose Belly Fat Fast
Your weekly exercise routine should include both strength exercises and cardio or aerobic exercises. Weight training helps you burn more calories every day and can improve your resting metabolism while cardio and aerobic exercises specifically burn visceral fat.
Great cardio to aid with belly fat loss are running, biking, swimming, and cycling, but there are many kinds of exercises that can get your heart pumping. When choosing what cardio to do, make sure you pick something you’ll enjoy, so that it’s not something you’ll dread every time you work out.
Exercising for at least 1 hour 4 times a week can do wonders for your overall health, including reducing your waistline. Try these 13 exercises to help with your belly fat loss:
Planks
Lie flat on the floor and raise yourself onto your elbows and toes. Keep your back straight and core tight while you hold this position for as long as you can (aim for at least 30 seconds).
Burpees
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, bending your knees to move into a squat position. Place your hands on the ground at the sides of either foot. Push your hands against the floor and hop backwards until you end up in a plank position. Then, hop forward (with your hands still on the floor) until your feet are almost under your chest. Jump explosively into the air with your arms overhead. Repeat when you land.
Mountain Climbers
In a plank position, draw your right knee toward your chest. Then bring your body back into a plank position. Draw your left knee towards your chest and keep alternating your legs while keeping your plank position.
Russian Twists
Sit on the floor with your legs out and raised just off the floor. Then slightly bend your knees while leaning backwards. Keep your legs raised, holding your torso at a 45-degree angle and turn your torso to the right. Pause here and focus on squeezing your obliques (move your torso and not just your arms!) Turn your torso to the left and repeat, alternating these movements on each side.
Incline Running
Walk or jog on an incline (either outdoors or on a treadmill) for 20-30 minutes. Alternate between jogging and walking every 5-10 minutes.
Sprinting
Run as fast as you can for 20 seconds, then either slow down or rest for 40 seconds. Repeat for 10 minutes. This can also be done indoors on a treadmill.
Toe Taps
Lie down flat on the floor and raise your legs in the air until they are at a 90-degree angle. Curl upwards and try to touch your feet with your hands. Raise and lower yourself, trying to get as close to touching your toes as possible.
Heel Touches
Lie down with your legs flexed upright and feet flat on the floor. Keeping your feet shoulder length apart, raise your head slightly and bend sideways to the right while trying to touch your right heel. Keep your head raised and bend sideways the other way while trying to touch your other heel.
Leg Raises
Lie down flat with your legs straight out and your arms at your sides. Lift your feet off the floor until your body is at a 90-degree angle. Slowly bring your legs back down and right before they touch the floor, raise them again and repeat.
Kettlebell Swing
While holding a kettlebell, bend at the hips with the kettlebell hanging straight downward. Rock your body back slightly and swing the kettlebell back between your legs. While squeezing your glutes, thrust your hips forward, swinging the kettlebell forward. Swing the kettlebell back and forth, keeping your glutes and core tight.
Reverse Crunch
In a sitting position with your legs out, flex your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Lean back and support your body with your elbows, then lift both legs off the floor. Bring your knees to your head, then bring your legs down to the starting position and repeat.
High Knees
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. While standing in place, bring your right knee as close to your chest as you can. Hop to your left foot and try to do the same. Jog in place alternating legs, trying to bring each knee as high up as you can each time.
Jump Rope
Focus on skipping as long as you can while keeping your knees loose and your core engaged.
Example Workout Routine (60 minutes)
- Sprint on and off for 1 mile or jog lightly at an angle for 20 minutes
- 10 burpees
- 90 seconds of mountain climbers
- 10 reverse crunches
- 50 high knees
- 25 Russian twists
- 1 minute plank
- 20 kettlebell swings
- 50 toe touches
- 100 jump rope skips
