The unhealthy lifestyle most people lead nowadays has caused belly fat to be a common issue. Poor diets with too much junk food, lack of exercise, and sitting all day in front of various screens, are all part of our day-to-day life that contribute to an accumulation of belly fat. Belly fat is usually caused by the decrease of muscle mass and increase of fat with age. This is why belly fat is most common in people in their 40s and above. You might want to reduce your belly fat for various reasons, especially if you are a health-conscious person.
Accumulated belly fat can affect some people’s self-confidence. While there is no need to be ashamed of your body in whatever looks, you may still want to reduce it to free yourself from the self-conscious feeling. The real harm comes when this turns into abdominal obesity, which puts you at great risk as it is correlated to major heart diseases such as heart attacks, and high blood pressure which may cause hypertension or even stroke. Being overweight is also one of the reasons for other lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, asthma, breast cancer, colon cancer, dementia, etc.
How To Reduce Belly Fat Through Exercises?
It is the opinion of all our expert trainers that you can’t achieve the expected results through spot reduction when it comes to belly fat. Even though there have been many claims that targeted exercises can help burn off fat in specific body parts such as the abdomen, the truth is that you can’t burn away your belly fat with a few crunches while the rest of your body is unfit.
But there are some excellent core exercises that will chip away the excess fat around your belly as well as your shoulders, lats, quads, and triceps. These are simple and consume little time. Can you believe that 10 minutes dedicated to a few different exercises every day will give you great results?
Types Of Exercises To Reduce Belly Fat
There are different types of exercises and some could have more effect in achieving some particular goals. When it comes to reducing belly fat, Cardio workouts or aerobic exercises seem to work best.
Walking
Walking, especially at a quick pace, is one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose belly fat and reduce overall fat. Similar practices such as jogging or running also work the same results. You may start with lighter efforts, and increase your step counts gradually. Remember that consistency is the key here like in all other fitness training.
Cycling
Cycling would show slower results in the abdominal region as tummy muscles do not stretch so much while cycling as compared to other intense exercises. As in the case of walking, you can increase the intensity of your pace and duration of riding consistently. It doesn’t matter if you choose indoor or outdoor cycling, but outdoor cycling may be better for metabolism and give better heart rates. Any effect on belly muscles may be visible only after the fat has been burned off other body parts. But still, the results are healthy and lasting.
Swimming
Swimming is probably the most effective cardio exercise considering the loss of belly fat, as it exerts the right amount of pressure in the abdominal region along with strengthening your core. Best results can be achieved by making it a regular practice of 15-20 minutes and maintaining the optimal heart rate zone (in this case, the fat-burning zone). Swimming in a straight path is more effective and minimizes risks. Apart from exerting pressure on your midsection to pull you, being in water also plays a great role in metabolism, breathing, and heart rates, all contributing to weight loss.
Zumba
Want to incorporate some fun into fat loss? You might consider Zumba as the right option for you. Zumba workouts are high-intensity exercises that burn all fat, including belly fat. It has proven to be effective in burning calories, even more than other cardio aerobics such as kickboxing, power yoga, and pilates practice. Of course, these other exercises are also effective, and it would be better for you to practice a mixture. Practicing Zumba workouts improve your cardiovascular fitness greatly.
Conclusion
The exercises listed here are the healthiest choices you can practice regularly as a part of your lifestyle, to prevent or reduce belly fat, and keep from fat accumulating again. Of course, there are other complex exercises and crunches, such as flutter kicks, ball planks, kettlebell swings, leg raises, etc that you can try but these are the simplest ones you can be consistent with. The complex exercises would be a bit difficult to try out with a fat belly and more applicable if you were trying to bing out your ab muscles.
Keep in mind that following a healthy diet along with these exercises is kinda essential to losing your belly fat. Also, there are many herbal medicinal food and drinks that you can make a part of your daily routine that may help much towards your aim for fat loss. For example, a cup of green tea every evening can work wonders.
