Understanding Belly Fat
Belly fat is one of the biggest challenges for someone looking to lose weight. For many people, the flab in the belly is the only area that will not show satisfactory results when dieting or exercising for weight loss. At GetFit360, we have seen the struggle people have with this issue and designed effective routines just for this purpose. Join our online fitness programs and get fit and healthy for life!
Fat accumulation around the midsection is usually a result of poor eating and lifestyle habits, especially found in those who experience a lot of stress and those who are required to remain seated for long periods. A flabby belly can make one self-conscious in a lot of situations. But a greater problem is that fat accumulation around the core area usually indicates that health risks are piling up.
What is abdominal fat, and how does it impact one's health?
Abdominal fat is just fat that accumulates around the abdominal region or the core. As the fat accumulates to dangerous levels, it becomes visceral fat, wrapping around critical organs. This puts you in danger of developing diseases like insulin resistance, heart disease, diabetes, or certain types of cancer. So, this excessive fat must be controlled. Before we get into the details of how exercise and healthy eating will help reduce belly fat, let's examine why core strengthening is an important exercise for your body.
The awesome benefits of strengthening your core
The abdominal core is the muscle structure that keeps you upright. There are many vital organs around this region. Muscle training around this region not only improves your overall body image but also impacts your posture, protection of the vital organs, improvement in balance, and increased stability all over your body.
So, how is this strengthening achieved? A healthy diet, combined with cardiovascular exercise and strength training routines, is the answer. In fact, regular exercise of any kind will combine cardio exercises with a few strength training sessions a few times a week and this can help you reduce abdominal fat.
Specific Core Exercises that Target Abdominal Fat
Toning and strengthening the abdominal core requires dedication and hard work. Also, it works best when combined with a diet that complements it. So, get in touch with your doctor, a certified nutritionist and a personal trainer to devise a routine that will work best for you.
No fitness regimen can work for everyone. But, there are a few general core-strengthening workouts that everyone can add to their routine to target the core. We have listed a few of the best abdominal strength exercises and how to perform them below.
The first set of exercises are great for beginners. They are gentle and easy to perform. You will find that each succeeding exercise is a little harder than the previous.
Leg-ins and leg-outs
This exercise is great for beginners. It is simple to perform and also very effective. Abs, glutes, quads and hamstring muscles are targeted with this workout.
How it works:
- Assume a seated position on the ground. Bend your knees up to your chest and place your feet firmly on the ground.
- Place your hands on the ground next to the hips. Rest your weight on your bottom and hands.
- Engage your core, slowly extend your legs, and draw them back in to your chest.
- Return to the starting position and perform two sets of 20 reps.
The Bicycle Crunch
The bicycle crunch can look simple, but it is a highly effective upper and lower belly workout. It also targets your oblique muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps and glutes.
How it works:
- Lie down on your back on your mat. Position your hands with your thumbs at the back of each ear and the rest of your fingers gently holding your head at the back. Lift the head and hold the position.
- Bend your knees and lift the feet off the mat. The exercise begins from this position.
- Now, simultaneously push out your left knee and extend it out while you twist and curl up to the right. Put some effort to touch your right knee to your left elbow.
- Curl back into the starting position and bring your left knee in. Now repeat the same move with the other leg.
- Do two sets of 12 repetitions with a 10-second break between sets.
Lie-down leg raise
These exercises are great for the entire ab area, glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings.
How it works:
- Lie flat on your back and place your hands flat on the floor under your lower back. Lift your feet off the floor slightly, keeping your core muscles engaged.
- Raise the legs to a ninety-degree angle and slowly bring them back down to the starting position.
- Repeat the exercise without touching the legs to the floor with 15 reps per set for three sets.
Simple sit-ups
Sit-ups are another simple workout. They target core-stabilizing muscles as well as the lower and upper abs.
How it works:
- Lie down flat on your mat. Draw your knees up and place your heels on the mat. Place your hands behind the head and lift your head and shoulders off the mat while tightening your core. This is position 1.
- Use your abs to lift your upper body to a sitting position.
- Slowly lower back down to position 1. Do two sets of this workout with 12 repetitions in each set.
Sit-ups are another simple workout. They target core-stabilizing muscles as well as the lower and upper abs.
How it works:
- Lie down flat on your mat. Draw your knees up and place your heels on the mat. Place your hands behind the head and lift your head and shoulders off the mat while tightening your core. This is position 1.
- Use your abs to lift your upper body to a sitting position.
- Slowly lower back down to position 1. Do two sets of this workout with 12 repetitions in each set.
The Russian ab twist
The Russian twist is a classic workout that is still popular for strengthening the core and tightening the waist or oblique muscles.
How it works:
- Assume a seated position on your mat with your knees pulled up and feet on the floor. Lean back slightly to engage your abs and back a little more. Hold your hands with your palms together for balance. This is position 1.
- Starting with a slow pace, twist your upper body to the right and then to the left, bringing your elbows across your body in front.
Flutter kicks or butterfly kicks
Flutter kicks are extremely effective for the lower ab region and also work on the upper abs, glutes, quads, and hamstring muscles.
How it works:
- Lie flat on your back on the mat and place your hands palms down under your hips.
- Lift up your upper back and head as well as the legs off the floor. This is where you start.
- Lower the left leg to a small distance from this position, and lift it back up just before it touches the floor, while lowering the right leg.
- Complete three sets with 12 reps of this movement and then take a 20-second break before moving to the next exercise.
The exercises that are given below are more advanced than the previous set. Beginners may have to start slow and work their way up to performing these workouts.
Plank workouts
The plank is a bit more of a challenging exercise, but it targets multiple muscle groups, including the abdominals, glutes, biceps, and shoulders. It also works on improving posture and conditioning multiple muscles.
How it works:
- Get into a kneel-down position on your mat.
- Lower your upper body and support yourself on your elbows.
- Carefully extend your right leg behind you and then your left.
- Keeping your abdominal muscles tight, align your body with your hips, back and neck into a straight line.
- Hold this pose for at least twenty to thirty seconds and release. Do three sets of these and try to work your way up to 60-second holds for each rep.
Mountain climbers
Mountain climbers, also called "moving plank" is a great workout for the entire body and targets the whole abdominal region, legs, thighs and glutes. Please note that posture is important in this and all exercises.
How it works:
- Hold your body in a plank position, ensuring that your elbows are placed directly beneath your shoulders. Align your body, so that neck, hips and back form a straight line without a piked or curved back.
- From here, bend your right knee and bring it forward towards your chest.
- Return this leg to the starting position and now do the same move with the other leg, bending it at the knee and pulling the knee toward the chest.
- Repeat this leg-switching, increasing speed until you run the legs in and out. Repeat 25 times in sets of 2. Take at least 20 seconds of rest before you continue to a different exercise.
Reverse crunches
Reverse crunch workouts are very effective for the lower ab region, where women tend to develop a pouch. These also work effectively on the rest of the core and the gluteus muscles.
How it works:
- From a seated position, lean back and rest your upper body on your elbows.
- Your feet are placed flat on the ground with knees bent.
- While engaging your core, lift your legs and bring the knees up as close to your nose as possible.
- Return to the starting position slowly and repeat the exercise. Perform three sets with 15 reps for best results.
Burpees
Burpees are not everyone's favourite exercise, but it is great for total body fat reduction and counts a high-intensity workout as it gets your heart rate up. It also strengthens your core. The ab muscles control the body's jumping activities.
How it works:
- Stand with your feet at a shoulder-width distance.
- Reach towards the floor with bent knees and place your hands on the floor. Let's refer to this as the 'frog' stance.
- From here, jump both your legs out behind you and align your body in the push-up or plank position.
- Now jump your legs back in and return to the 'frog' stance.
- Jump to a standing position, hands extended overhead and land softly.
- Return to the 'frog' stance once again, jump out to plank, and repeat. Repeat 8 times in 3 sets with 10-second breaks in between. Also, rest for 20 seconds before you move to another exercise.
Lifestyle changes that help in Belly-fat reduction
No amount of exercise or training will help in reducing belly fat effectively if you don't follow up with the right diet and lifestyle. Here are four effective lifestyle remedies for belly fat reduction:
- Get your hydration levels up. This keeps your body functioning optimally.
- Adopt a healthy and balanced diet that has the right amount of all the nutrients your body needs.
- Reducing carbohydrates and increasing your fibre intake can also help in abdominal fat reduction.
- Reduce or cut out sugar from your diet. Use natural sweeteners like jaggery and honey instead.
Concluding thoughts on belly fat reduction
Belly fat reduction is an important measure to increase your overall health, but it can also be a challenging exercise. Diet, lifestyle, and exercise routines must be combined in a complementary manner to achieve success in belly fat reduction and abdominal muscle toning for optimal health. Join GetFit360's online fitness programs and get fit for life!
