Excessive Stomach fat

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Hello my fellow fitnesspals,

I try to do cardio at least 5 days a week and I'm seeing results all over except for in my stomach/waist area. Does anyone have a workout routine or specific exercises that I can incorporate with my cardio to help accelerate belly fat?
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  • Addykins117
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    1. Cardio doesn't burn fat - You can lose weight without doing any cardio ever
    2. There is absolutely no exercise that will TARGET fat. Your body decided where it goes on, it will decide where the fat comes off.
    3. A cardio only routine is incomplete, you should be weight lifting as well.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    you cannot target fat loss. all you can do is continue to work hard with your exercise and nutrition. Fat will come off in what ever way your body deems it should. there are supposed to be a few foods that will help a little, but they are sketchy at best, there's no hard science that supports targeted fat loss (aside from intramuscular fat, but that's a whole different topic, and the increase are small).
  • addykins559
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    1. Cardio doesn't burn fat - You can lose weight without doing any cardio ever
    2. There is absolutely no exercise that will TARGET fat. Your body decided where it goes on, it will decide where the fat comes off.
    3. A cardio only routine is incomplete, you should be weight lifting as well.
  • FitBeto
    FitBeto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    Lifting weights should be the foundation of your plan. Free weights. Squats, Dead lifts, the basics. You wouldn't build a house on squish, pull of the excess fat by building yourself some muscle, that way when you are at rest, you burn more!
  • AsrarHussain
    AsrarHussain Posts: 1,424 Member
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    im sorry you can spot reduce FAT. the best thing to do is decrese callories and hit the weights the more muscle you have the more fat you burn. Muscle increases the motablisim which reduced FAT. stick with basic compounds 6-8 8-10 you will be fine it wont happen overnight but it will work
    good luck
  • TheSpicyMermaid
    TheSpicyMermaid Posts: 279 Member
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    She should hit the weights for stomach fat?
  • Nov3mberMist
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    I would do a search for core muscle workouts. They always worked for me anyway.
  • NocturnalGirl
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    You cannot spot reduce, you will eventually lose fat from your stomach, just keep at it! And as others mentioned, lifting weights is something I'd definitely recommend.
  • fit_librarian
    fit_librarian Posts: 242 Member
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    Work on building muscle. Lifting weights is a great way to do this. Find something that you enjoying doing. I personally love pilates and the dvd Squeeze for strength training, and I have definitely noticed a difference in my body since incorporating weights into my routine.
  • erinnstreeter
    erinnstreeter Posts: 82 Member
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    I'll probably get crucified for mentioning this, but - the hCG diet is supposed to target certain areas, including the belly.

    Disclaimer: I have not actually tried it.
  • MrsPong
    MrsPong Posts: 580 Member
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    Use weights. Lift heavy, you won't bulk up.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    She should hit the weights for stomach fat?

    For any fat. Like they said, you can't target fat loss from a particular region. Building muscle helps because increasing muscle will increase the number of calories you burn while at rest which, in turn helps to broaden the caloric defecit needed for fat loss. Cardio's burn occurs mostly during the exercise, without much increase in your resting burn. Core exercises tend to help just because it tones and develops the muscle in the region, not because they burn belly fat, specifically.
  • My understanding is that you can not target a specific area to lose fat, all you can do is keep losing weight until your stomach fat finally goes away. Everyone is different, Ive seen people that are overweight who have a lot of fat in their arms and legs but their stomachs dont look that big. Other people have large stomachs but hardly any fat in their arms and legs. Unfortunately this is just a fact of life, apparently you have the body type where stomach fat will be one of the last things you lose, but keep at it and it will eventually happen.
  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
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    It'll come off when it's ready to come off. As all these other folks have said, sadly... you cannot reduce fat in specific areas. Your body decides where and when to lose it.

    That said, cardio is great for, um, cardiovascular fitness, but if you truly want to see changes in your body and fast, try incorporating weightlifting. You'll thank me later :smile:
  • mirthfuldragon
    mirthfuldragon Posts: 124 Member
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    The belly fat is, unfortunately, the last to go. Core strength training (planks/sit-ups/etc.) help, as does lifting heavy, but spot reduction of excess fat is simply not how the body works.

    Personally, I've lost over 100 pounds, and I have solid muscle definition in my arms, back, quads, chest, and calves, but this silly flabby deflated belly sack. It is going down, bit by bit, but it is very disheartening, but at least it motivates me to keep burning and counting the calories.

    Keep it up, and you'll get there.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
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    I had it...but now it's gone. I have a tiny bit of loose skin, but at 50 I think it's okay.
  • carebear7951
    carebear7951 Posts: 404 Member
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    I thought that lowering carbs was supposed to help. IDK though b/c I have belly fat too and when I try to lower carbs I have no energy (physical or mental). So, I just keep working out and hoping....
  • baoneill29
    baoneill29 Posts: 138 Member
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    For me it seems like belly fat is the last to go. HIIT cardio workouts and lifting weights combined with proper nutrition...and most importand patience! Good luck
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    Hello my fellow fitnesspals,

    I try to do cardio at least 5 days a week and I'm seeing results all over except for in my stomach/waist area. Does anyone have a workout routine or specific exercises that I can incorporate with my cardio to help accelerate belly fat?

    That's usually the last to go. I had it all over and for me the last to go was there and the upper legs. A calorie deficit is what will get you there, not cardio. You can't cardio away too many calories but it would be nice if it worked that way. I learned this the hard way running marathon after marathon thinking the next would do it, nope it came down to calories calories calories. Ab exercises don't make your ab fat go away, they just make your ab muscles bigger.

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    To say eat more is wrong.

    To say eat less is wrong.

    To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

    All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss.

    There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

    Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    She should hit the weights for stomach fat?

    yep! you should hit the weights to reduce ANY fat!