Excess abdominal or visceral fat can affect your health in a way that other fat doesn’t. It is a predictor of a variety of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and some cancers. Belly fat can be stubborn and hard to lose, but if you put in the work and change your diet, you can blast away your belly in as little as 14 days.
What are the best exercises to burn belly fat?
Putting your time in at the gym and still not seeing results, is most discouraging. So, if you are new to the workout world then you should find what works best for you.
Losing weight, unfortunately, isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. What helps one person shed pounds may backfire on another, because we’re all so different, from our food preferences to our body chemistry. Here is the list of 9 exercises which you can perform regularly to burn the unwanted fat and get a flat stomach in no time.
Beginner Moves
For the beginners, there are 3 simple exercises which will not stretch your body much but are efficient in burning the unwanted fat.
1. Butterfly Crunch
This is a very easy step towards exercise as it helps to get flat stomach very quickly as it burns a lot of calories.
Targets: Rectus abdominous (six-pack)
Process: Lie on your back with the soles of your feet together as close to your body as possible, with your knees bent out to sides. Put your hands behind your head, elbows in line with your ears. Raise your body slightly upwards, take a deep breath and push your upper body towards your legs while breathing out. Turn your mid-section a few inches up off the floor in the direction of your legs. Then, return to the beginning position. Make 10 repetitions of this exercise.
2. Front Plank
Targets: transverse abdominals
Process: Put yourself in a plank position, your arms resting on your elbows and your legs stretched out behind you, rested on your toes. Be sure to keep your back straight, hips up, and neck relaxed. Hold for 3 seconds, while breathing normally, and then go back to your initial position. Repeat this exercise at least for 10 times.
Read: Lose Stubborn Belly Fat And Get Flat Abs With This 7-Minute Flat Stomach Exercise
3. Side to side
As the name suggest it is side to side move. The process is quite easy, just follow the below given steps.
Targets: obliques (sides)
Process: Lie down flat on the floor, bend your knees, keep your feet flat, and your arms at your sides. Take a deep breath and move sideways, while exhaling, and try to touch your right foot with your right arm. Keep your head and neck aligned with your lower back pressed to the floor. When done, move back to the initial position, and switch sides. Make 15 repetitions of this exercise.
Intermediate Moves
Once the warm-up is done and you are quite comfortable with the exercise routine then you can proceed to the intermediate moves. The exercise is very useful to lose the extra pounds and improve the metabolism as well.
4. Fingers to Toes
This exercise is going to make you really flexible.Just follow the below steps to perform the exercise.
Targets: rectus abdominous
Process: Lie yourself flat on your back. Stretch your legs upwards to make a 90 degrees angle with your body. Take a deep breath, then while exhaling move your body upwards with your arms stretched out towards your feet, making a “U” letter with your body. Don’t curve your back, but try to keep it as straight as possible. Do 2 sets of 15 repetitions.
5. Reverse Crunch with Resistance Bands
Targets: transverse abdominals
Process: You need to lie on the back and make sure your knees are twisted, and your arms are around your sides. Hold one end of a band in each hand, and make sure that the band is wrapped around highest points of shins. Raise your knees toward your midsection until you feel that the hip is no longer on the floor. Then, hold for 3 seconds, and return to the beginning position. Do 2 sets of 10 repetitions.
6. Scissors
Scissors are termed like this due to the shape and action which you follow in this exercise. It is a simple exercise which twists your body a little.
Targets: obliques
Process: Lie yourself flat on your back and put your hands behind your head. Breathe in, and try to do a “scissor” movement while exhaling, by bending your left leg and moving your knee towards your right elbow. Then slowly return to your original position and repeat the movement with your other arm and leg (right knee and touch it to your left elbow). Do 2 sets of 15 constant takes, making sure you don’t pull your neck and your abdominal muscles are tightened.
Advanced Moves
These are real advance moves which will lift up your body interior and bring it back in the required shape. These moves will increase your strength, and also are very useful for the proper developing of the muscles.
7. Ball Leg Lift
Targets: transverse abdominals
Process: Lie with your face on a ball and roll forward until your hands are on the floor and just the tops of your feet are flat on the ball. Keeping your back and right leg straight, slowly lift leg a couple of inches toward the ceiling. Hold for 3 seconds, and then go back to your original position. Do 10 repetitions, then switch to your other leg. It is recommended that you include 2 sets of 10 repetitions each week as long as you can maintain perfect form.
8. Knee-Ups
It eliminates the toxin from your body through a sweating process and burns the fat as well. Hence, this exercise is going to improve the strength of your body.
Targets: rectus abdominous
Process: Place two chairs with enough distance to keep your hands on one chair and your feet on the other. Place your hands flat on the first chair, but keep your elbows bent, and your chest upwards. Breathe in, and as you breathe out, move your knees towards your chest, but do not swing. If this is too much for you, you can start by using one knee at once. Do 3 sets of 15 repetitions.
Check: 5 Simple Yoga Poses To Reduce Your Stubborn Belly Fat
9. Leg Swings
The fat accumulated in the thigh region, get eliminated using this exercise.
Targets: obliques
Process: Lie yourself flat on the floor while keeping your arms by your sides, feet and legs indicated up. Breathe in, and as you breathe out to lift your legs about 6 inches up and move them to your right side, attract navel toward the spine. Return to the beginning position and perform on the other side. Make 3 sets of 15 repetitions on each side.
Along with the exercise, it is of great importance to maintain a healthy diet to lose weight. The proper diet and regular exercising will help you to maintain the body shape and remain healthy.