How to lose Belly Fat
If you want to get rid of Belly Fat, and keep it off you need to follow a three step plan. A healthy diet, cardio exercise and weight training. Studies have shown that one of these steps without the other will doom you to failure. Ultimtely you need to reduce your calorie intake so you burn more calories than you consume. When that occurs, your body will burn fat which is stored on your body, resulting in weight loss.
here are two types of belly fat hiding your abs. The first is subcutaneous fat which is the top layer of fat. It lies under the skin, but on top of your abdominal muscles. The second type is visceral fat, which lies under your a muscles and surrounds your organs. This fat makes your stomach stick out like a beer gut, and is a harder form of fat than the subcutaneous fat. Both are dangerous, but studies show that the lower level of fat leads to greater risk of heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep apnea.
But we already knew that belly fat was bad. What we want to know is how to get rid of belly fat, that spare tyre around your waist without too much pain!
How to get rid of Belly Fat
Exercises to Get Started
To burn fat you need to do combination of cardio exercise and weight training.
An effective method to burn up to six times more fat than a standard low intensity cardio workout is "interval training". Studies at the University of NSW has shown that interval training, which involves high intensity efforts followed by recovery phases allows the body to be pushed harder and burn more calories as a result. The secret is to push yourself hard for 8 seconds, then recover for 12 seconds. For this type of training, it is important to do a proper warm up.
You can do interval training jogging, on a bike, or an exercise bike. Personally I like the exercise bike because it is more of a controlled environment and you can focus on what you are doing.
Get Six Pack Abs in 6 Minutes On Your Couch!
Here are 9 exercises that target the abdominals - check out the abdominal exercises below :
Knee Ups
To do the knee-ups, sit on yout couch and raise your knees up to you chest. Hold, then strighten your legs. Repeat the exercise, again bringing your knees to your chest. Do the knee ups 20 times.
Leg Raises
Lie on the floor in front of your couch. Grab the bottom of the couch as an anchor. Raise your legs until they are stright up and your legs are 90 degrees to your body. Hold. Then lower your legs to the starting position. Dont allow your legs to touch the floor as this will allow your abs to relax. Repeat. Do the leg raises 20 times.
Cycling Exercise
Start by lying on the floor as above. Raise your legs straight up from your hips. Rotate your legs in a cycling motion. Do 20 revolutions.
Rest for 20 seconds
Reverse Crunch
Lie on the floor as above. Bend your legs 45 degrees. Bring your knees to your chest. Hold. Return to the start position. Do this 20 times
Leg on Couch Crunches
Lie on the floor with your legs on the couch. Sit up, touching your elbows to your knees. Hold. Return to the starting position. Do this 20 times.
Hip Thrust
Turn around with your legs away from the couch. Hold the bottom of the couch with your hands as an anchor. Raise your legs straight up from your hips. Bring your knees to your chest. Hold. Raise your legs to the start position. Repeat 20 times.
Rest for 20 seconds
Cross Crunch
Lie on the floor with your legs on the couch. Sit up and rotate your torso so you can touch your right elbow on your left knee. Return to the floor without touching it - you dont want your abdominal muscles to relax. Repeat the routine but rotate so your left elbow touches your right knee. Return to the starting position. Do the cross crunch 10 times on each side.
Reach and touch exercise
Lie on the floor with your legs on the couch, as above. Sit up and twist to the left. Reach out with your arms and touch the couch to the left of your legs. Return to your starting position without letting your back touch the floor, so you dont let your ab muscles relax. Repeat the exercise, but twist to the right and touch the couch to the right of your legs. Hold. Return to the starting position. Repeat 10 times on each side.
Cross Leg Reverse Crunch
Lie on the couch with your legs over the back and your head off the front off the couch. Place your left leg over your right knee. Bring your right leg towards your chest. Hold. Return to the start position. Repeat 10 times, then do the same with your right leg over your left knee - 10 times.
If you are just starting out, do this abdominal exercise routine once every two days so you dont strain your ab muscles. If you still feel sore after 2 days, wait until your abs feel up to exercise. When your abs become stronger, try this sixpack ab exercise routine two to three times every second day. A rest between days is recommended to allow for recovery of your ab muscles.
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