It is common to see an increase in belly fat collecting along the waistline with age. This happens because muscle mass decreases with age. This can make you feel self-unconscious. It can also cause difficulty in fitting into your favorite pair of pants.
What is Belly Fat?
It is the stored fat around our waist. Belly fat can be of two types;
- Visceral fat
- Subcutaneous fat
Subcutaneous fat can be seen, while visceral fat is found deep within your abdomen and around the organs. Although we are not fat, we can still have visceral fat. Excess belly fat hurts your health. It can cause High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Type 2 Diabetes, Breathing problems, and heart diseases.
Losing belly fat
Fitness trainer and nutrition expert Corey Phelps, creator of the Cultivate by Corey Fitness Program says that; “Spot reduction is not a feasible strategy for losing belly fat. Some terrific core-focused exercises will torch fat all over the body, leading to a stronger and more toned core.”
Jillian Michaels, a celebrity trainer and nutrition expert, says that completing a mix of exercises that incorporate cardio, strength, and core work will ultimately help you lose body fat. She explains, “I’m a big fan of core-focused exercises that target numerous muscle groups at the same time, with a HIIT component for increased calorie burn.”
Belly fat can be reduced by hard work and dedication. It requires a mixture of a good diet and exercise. The 10-minute fat-burning morning workout can help you to transform your body.
Exercise Routine For Belly Fat
To cut down belly fat, you need to reduce your calorie intake. You should consume the number of calories that you can burn each day. For this purpose, you should constantly monitor your calorie intake & participate in regular exercises.
If you don’t regularly work out, there is no better time to start than today. For this, you need to build up your strength and fitness level. You don’t want to overdo it on day one because it will make you dislike your workout and possibly cause damage.
For the first five days, beginners can do one-third of the exercises. You can increase this to half of what it accomplished the previous five days, and then to two-thirds of the workout the following five days. This will help you to build up your strength and will keep you motivated.
Types of Exercises to Burn Stomach Fat
If you are trying to lose belly fat, abdominal exercise is not the way. This makes sense: exercise strengthens the muscles but it acts only on fat mass through energy consumption.
Abs workouts can assist in tone and building muscle mass. It can help you to have a stronger and healthier physique. Having big muscles behind the covering of fat is more attractive than having no muscles. This is the place where abdominal exercise can help.
Cardio is the most well-known—and the one we all hate. A steady-state aerobic workout in which you keep a consistent tempo for an extended length of time is excellent for working up a sweat and burning calories. There are also several physiological factors going on under the hood that help you get toned faster, aside from simply burning fat for fuel.
We also have high-intensity interval training, which is similar to cardio (otherwise known as HIIT workouts). When it comes to shedding excess fat, HIIT is the modern trend. It can be done with almost any action that uses your cardiovascular system. The distinction is that you alternate between fast, high-intensity movements and relaxation times.
The theory is that your body can recover sufficiently during the resting periods to allow you to give it your best during the activity periods—the trick is that your heart rate remains elevated even during the resting intervals. This increased heart rate is incredibly beneficial to calorie burning. Most of the workouts we’ll look at below will involve some form of high-intensity movement.
Exercises to Burn Belly Fat
Before you begin the sweating, fat-burning activities listed below, it’s a good idea to practice appropriate form. Warm-ups are generally recommended, but they are especially vital while conducting aerobic or HIIT exercises. Because of their uncontrolled character, intense and quick motions increase the likelihood of injury.
And if you want to lose weight regularly over time, an injury will be one of the most detrimental things to your progress—both literally and mentally. Stretching and a few minutes of cardio will help to start the blood flowing into your muscles and throughout your body, as well as burn some extra calories before you get into the meat of the workout.
Furthermore, many of these require little to no equipment, making them ideal for at-home workouts. Here are some 10 best exercises to burn belly fat as fast as possible at home.
1. Burpees
Burpees are a plyometric workout, which means you’ll be jumping into the air with your quads and other lower body muscles. Along with your legs, your chest, lats, triceps, and shoulders will be required to swing up and stabilize you. Burpees, as a plyometric exercise, are sure to get your heart racing.
According to Michaels, this workout strengthens your core as well as your chest, shoulders, lats, triceps, and quads. Burpees will also get your heart beating since they involve explosive plyometric action.
How to do it :
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and lower your body into a low squat, sending your hips back. Then, place your hands just outside of your feet and jump backward until your chest touches the floor. Push your hands against the floor to form a plank, then hop your feet just outside of your hands. Jump into the air with your arms aloft, keeping your weight in your heels.
2. Mountain Climbers
To begin the list, we have a double dose. It’s not only a wonderful bodyweight exercise to get your heart pumping, but it’s also a great way to engage your entire core. Mountain climbers effectively burn fat while simultaneously working the abdominals to tone you.
Just like burpees, Michaels likes this moving plank exercise because it trains your core as well as a variety of other body muscles.
How to do it:
Put your hands directly beneath your shoulders in a high plank position. Maintain a tight core by bringing your belly button in toward your spine. Drive your right leg toward your chest, then return to plank. Then, drive your left knee toward your chest and return it to the starting position. Continue alternating sides.
3. Lying Leg Raises
Lying leg lifts can help you lose weight when you would normally be inactive. It helps in increasing strength & stability. It helps to melt the belly fat and tone your tummy. Leg lifts entirely isolate the rectus abdominis muscle, which helps in stomach toning.
They are excellent exercises for burning calories while watching television. They can also assist in the strengthening of your leg muscles, which will increase your metabolism. These exercises are quite simple to carry out. The only tool required is a mat. A standard yoga mat will do.
How to do it:
Lie down on your back, legs straight and together. Place your hands at your sides and lift your legs to the ceiling until your buttocks are off the floor. Return your legs to the ground slowly.
4. High Knees
High knees are excellent for calorie burning, abdominal muscular building, and cardiovascular endurance. To perform these exercises, stand with your feet hip-width apart and bring one leg to your chest at a time. Alternate between legs as needed.
5. Kettlebell Swing
The Turkish get-up is a 200-year-old total-body exercise that incorporates the use of a kettlebell that celebrity trainer Ramona Braganza enjoys.
How to do it:
Lie on your side on your belly, holding one kettlebell by the grip with both hands. Roll onto your back and use both hands to press the kettlebell up toward the ceiling until the weight is steady on one loaded side. Make a 45-degree angle with your free arm and leg, palm facing down. To firmly hold the floor, bring the heel of the weighted side closer to your buttocks.
Pushing through your foot on the floor, slam the kettlebell up and roll onto your free forearm. Do not shrug your supporting shoulder toward your ear. Keep your chest open as much as possible. Straighten your elbow on the ground and rise to a sitting position. Weave your front leg all the way through to the back. To protect your knees, keep your back leg’s shin perpendicular to your front leg’s shin.
Align your arms perfectly. wrist over the elbow, shoulder over elbow over the wrist. Raise your torso to raise your upper body. Swivel your rear knee such that your back shin and front shin are parallel. Take a deep breath and stand up, then grab the floor with your back toes.
6. Toe Touches
Toe touches can aid with flexibility in your lower half. You can also perform them while lying down and extending upwards with your legs at a 90-degree angle. Even if you can’t touch your toes, it’s a vital way to stretch. Toe touches can aid in the prevention of cramps and muscle spasms.
7. Sprawls
The sprawl is like a burpee on steroids—a full-body workout that works as many muscles as possible while burning calories and sculpting and toning your upper- and lower body, particularly your abs. “It elevates the typical burpee by having you touch your chest to the ground, then push-up to plank as you continue the action,” Braganza explains.
How to do it:
Squat down and place your hands on the ground while standing with your feet shoulder distance apart. Return to a plank position and lower your body to contact the ground. Push yourself to a plank position, then squat with your feet outside of your hands. Regain your footing. That is one repetition. “Add a leap between each sprawl if you want to burn even more calories,” Braganza says.
8. HIIT
While steady-state exercise sessions were once thought to be the most efficient for fat loss, we now know that brief, intense bursts of fast-paced cardio are far more effective. Hope Pedraza, an ACSM personal trainer and the founder of inBalance, a fitness, and wellness facility in San Antonio, recommends completing intervals that rotate between exercises that work for different muscle groups.
How to do it:
After a 10-minute warm-up, perform as many reps of squats, push-ups, kettlebell swings, or single-arm rows as you can in 30 seconds. Then, rest for 30 seconds before performing another exercise 30 seconds. Continue for another ten rounds. Choose any of your favorite exercises; just make sure to alternate between exercises that engage different muscle groups, since this will allow certain muscles to rest while others work.
9. BOSU Ball Planks
BOSU ball planks are simple workouts that can be performed in the privacy of your own home. These workouts, of course, require the purchase of a BOSU ball, but they are otherwise simple to practice. Cardio activities are essential for burning the layer of fat that sits on top of your abdominal muscles.
According to Sanford, it’s more difficult than a standard plank with your hands on the floor since the BOSU tests your balance. “Your abs, obliques, and deep transverse abdominal muscles are stimulated when your body seeks to find control as your equilibrium is challenged,” he explains. Strengthening these core muscles also boosts your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories and fat.
How to do it:
Flip a BOSU ball on its rubber side and grab the flat surface’s edges with both hands, about shoulder distance apart. Hold the plank position for 30 to 45 seconds, gradually increasing the time as you gain strength.
10. Legs In & Out
You can also do a simple exercise by moving your legs in and out. When you don’t feel like going to the gym or putting effort into another rigorous exercise, this is a simple method to burn extra calories while watching TV or sitting about at home. It can assist strengthen your lower and upper abs, hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps in addition to aiding in weight loss.
How to do it:
To sit on, you’ll need a comfortable mat. Place your hands behind your back and face down on the ground. Then, elevate your legs off the floor and lean slightly back. Draw your legs in and drop your upper body towards them. Return to your starting point. You’ll want to do about 40 repetitions, pausing after the first 20.
You must keep your hands from being too far apart. This error could place too much tension on your back and elbows, resulting in injury.