Exercises to target belly fat loss

24

Replies

  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    Have you changed your diet since you last posted? You were eating 600-1200 cals a day while exercising off 700. That will not help you in anyway. Your diary is closed so I can't see if you changed your diet. Weight loss is 80% diet.

    You just need to focus on lowering your overall body fat percentage. Which can be done the best (in my opinion) by eating more, lifting heavy weights and maxing out on protein so you build muscle. Muscle will burn more fat.
  • I'm assuming that the OP really meant to ask for exercises that help with reduction of body fat. Generally, the best exercises for body fat reduction are ones that involve the larger muscles of the body (legs and back) or exercises that work multiple groups of muscles simultaneously. Heavy squats are great as they crush your legs/butt and burpees are awesome as they work just about everything. I also like doing power lifting moves with sand bags. Something about using sand bags instead of "weights" seems to give me a better workout (though that may be entirely mental). From what I have read, the newer "philosophies" on weight loss stress high weight with low reps and low rest time between sets. Look up HIIT methodology or tabata training. Those methods can make almost any exercise a fat torching activity!

    If you are looking for exercises to tone/strengthen/build abdominal muscle hence pulling in the gut providing a slimming effect, my favorite exercise by far is the ab wheel. It's a little wheel with handles on each side. since I have been using that, I have put a ton on muscle on my abs. They are still somewhat covered up by too much fat, but you can definitely see them. Just be sure to learn correct form as you can really mess up your back if you do it wrong. If you google ab wheel, you will find tons of stuff. My personal favorites are on rosstraining.com. LOVE that site!
  • cheyy_nicoleee
    cheyy_nicoleee Posts: 38 Member
    Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are great for losing belly fat.[/]

    Um, you realize that in 3 sentences you managed to make a correct statement and then totally contradict yourself, right?

    The best exercise I know to lose belly fat goes like this: open cupboard door, remove food scale, portion food, scan into mfp app, repeat until daily goals are met.

    I didn't contradict myself. I'm asking what exercises help with fat loss. Doing burpees are more effective than doing curls. I want to know exercises that help benefit belly fat loss. Like I said I know diet is the most important factor but its not the only factor.

    I'm not trying to argue, just point out that you didn't ask a general fat loss question, you asked about belly fat. The answer to your question starts in the kitchen.

    Now, to maximize weight loss by maintaining as much lean mass as possible while losing weight I use a mixture of endurance cardio, hiit cardio, power lifting, and endurance lifting while consuming at a deficit. Strength training is essential to lean mass maintenance while on a deficit.


    It's okay. I just get so frustrated when I try and look for answers and everyone is so critical and negative about the way people diet and exercise. Everyone's different and with proper knowledge, should know the basics to weight loss, but the way everyone does it is different. Could you please explain HIIT cardio? I do 60 minutes on the treadmill alternating between inline, walking and running.. How could I Set up my cardio for best results?
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are effective for burning belly fat? What exercises burn more calories to help burn lower belly fat? (Burpees are more effective than curls...I wanna know exercises not diet)


    *******there I changed the wording if this makes more sense*********

    You are still contradicting yourself. You can't say in one sentence that you know you can't spot reduce, and then in the next ask what exercises burn more belly fat, that is the exact definition of contradicting yourself! The correct question would be which exercises burn more calories to help burn fat. Which the answer is whatever exercise is the toughest for you that gets your heart rate up.
  • cheyy_nicoleee
    cheyy_nicoleee Posts: 38 Member
    Have you changed your diet since you last posted? You were eating 600-1200 cals a day while exercising off 700. That will not help you in anyway. Your diary is closed so I can't see if you changed your diet. Weight loss is 80% diet.

    You just need to focus on lowering your overall body fat percentage. Which can be done the best (in my opinion) by eating more, lifting heavy weights and maxing out on protein so you build muscle. Muscle will burn more fat.


    My lowest ever was 600 (busy day with classes and work) but I do average around 1100 plus or minus depending on the days
  • cheyy_nicoleee
    cheyy_nicoleee Posts: 38 Member
    Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are effective for burning belly fat? What exercises burn more calories to help burn lower belly fat? (Burpees are more effective than curls...I wanna know exercises not diet)


    *******there I changed the wording if this makes more sense*********

    You are still contradicting yourself. You can't say in one sentence that you know you can't spot reduce, and then in the next ask what exercises burn more belly fat, that is the exact definition of contradicting yourself! The correct question would be which exercises burn more calories to help burn fat. Which the answer is whatever exercise is the toughest for you that gets your heart rate up.


    Lol well then please tell me those exercises rather than trying to correct my sentences.
  • TheSpicyMermaid
    TheSpicyMermaid Posts: 279 Member
    I love using my good ol medicine ball to do side twists. A nice way to work on those "corset stomach muscles". The frontal pudge is rough for me too. I notice a slight change when I ditch sodium almost all together and drink a lot of stupid water. Also try to be as regular as you can whatever this means for you...
    As far as your question, it sounded like me a few weeks ago. Maybe I felt like there was an answer I was missing out there in regards to belly fat. It seems like if you did 100 sit ups a day it would solve this issue. Right? I desperately searched for one person to say 'Yes, everyone else is wrong! If you do this...' But the answer never came so I went back to my regularly scheduled dieting program. You can only do what you can do I s'pose. Good luck. :)
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    There is no exercise specifically that is best suited for 'belly fat loss'

    The exercise best suited for weight loss in general is the one that you can maintain the longest that burns the largest number of calories. Go for a run until you can't run anymore, then walk until you can run again, then run some more. Wash, rinse, repeat.
  • lilncbrat
    lilncbrat Posts: 56 Member
    GROAN!! :noway:
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    Answer: Running, biking, kayaking, hiking, walking, playing a sport, circuit training, tae-bo, P90X, Insanity, Hip-hop abs, dancing, playing wii, playing X-box kinect, rock climbing, jump training (aka pseudo-Plyometrics), skiing, snowshoeing, swimming, rowing, Tough Muddering, physical labor, etc.
  • Could you please explain HIIT cardio?
    HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I am sure there are a lot of ways of implementing HIIT training. In fact, I believe that Insanity, P90X, and a lot of other commercially available fitness programs use HIIT methodology. But here is how I do it. Pick 4 exercises. For example: purpees, pushups, jack knives, & assisted pull-ups. You are going to do 4 rounds with these three exercises. For round 1, do as many burpees as you can for a minute. Then with no rest immediately do as many pushups as you can for a minute. Then jack knives for a minute and then assisted pull-ups for a minute. NO REST BETWEEN EXERCISES. Then for round 2 you do the same only using 45 second intervals in stead of 60 second intervals. For round 3, use 30 second intervals, and for round 4 use 15 second intervals. Just as there is no rest between exercises, there is no rest between rounds. This should take a total of 10 minutes and should kick your @ss if you really go as hard as you can for every round & exercise. I like to do 3 HIIT "sets" using a different set of exercises each time with as little rest as possible for recovery time between "sets". Hope this helps.
  • cheyy_nicoleee
    cheyy_nicoleee Posts: 38 Member
    Could you please explain HIIT cardio?
    HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I am sure there are a lot of ways of implementing HIIT training. In fact, I believe that Insanity, P90X, and a lot of other commercially available fitness programs use HIIT methodology. But here is how I do it. Pick 4 exercises. For example: purpees, pushups, jack knives, & assisted pull-ups. You are going to do 4 rounds with these three exercises. For round 1, do as many burpees as you can for a minute. Then with no rest immediately do as many pushups as you can for a minute. Then jack knives for a minute and then assisted pull-ups for a minute. NO REST BETWEEN EXERCISES. Then for round 2 you do the same only using 45 second intervals in stead of 60 second intervals. For round 3, use 30 second intervals, and for round 4 use 15 second intervals. Just as there is no rest between exercises, there is no rest between rounds. This should take a total of 10 minutes and should kick your @ss if you really go as hard as you can for every round & exercise. I like to do 3 HIIT "sets" using a different set of exercises each time with as little rest as possible for recovery time between "sets". Hope this helps.


    Thank you! :)
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are effective for burning belly fat? What exercises burn more calories to help burn lower belly fat? (Burpees are more effective than curls...I wanna know exercises not diet)


    *******there I changed the wording if this makes more sense*********

    You are still contradicting yourself. You can't say in one sentence that you know you can't spot reduce, and then in the next ask what exercises burn more belly fat, that is the exact definition of contradicting yourself! The correct question would be which exercises burn more calories to help burn fat. Which the answer is whatever exercise is the toughest for you that gets your heart rate up.


    Lol well then please tell me those exercises rather than trying to correct my sentences.

    I really think it is different for everyone. Myself, I like to split it up between lifting heavy, and cardio. I do three days a week of lifting heavy, and cario at the gym, and then one day of just cardio, which is usually on Monday's for me, because it is easiest for me to do a big cardio day that day. I used to do all 4 days of lifting heavy, and cardio, but I have a problem with my shoulder, and I can no longer to chest days.

    For my cardio, I pretty much just run, but that is because it is one of the exercises that doesn't bore the hell out of me, and I can do a lot of it.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member

    Very misleading title, because it just goes on to tell you how to lose overall fat in no specific place. I think they do it, because they know that is what people are searching for.
  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
    Could you please explain HIIT cardio?
    HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I am sure there are a lot of ways of implementing HIIT training. In fact, I believe that Insanity, P90X, and a lot of other commercially available fitness programs use HIIT methodology. But here is how I do it. Pick 4 exercises. For example: purpees, pushups, jack knives, & assisted pull-ups. You are going to do 4 rounds with these three exercises. For round 1, do as many burpees as you can for a minute. Then with no rest immediately do as many pushups as you can for a minute. Then jack knives for a minute and then assisted pull-ups for a minute. NO REST BETWEEN EXERCISES. Then for round 2 you do the same only using 45 second intervals in stead of 60 second intervals. For round 3, use 30 second intervals, and for round 4 use 15 second intervals. Just as there is no rest between exercises, there is no rest between rounds. This should take a total of 10 minutes and should kick your @ss if you really go as hard as you can for every round & exercise. I like to do 3 HIIT "sets" using a different set of exercises each time with as little rest as possible for recovery time between "sets". Hope this helps.


    Thank you! :)

    Team BeachBody.com

    For HIIT check out Insanity & Les Mills Combat for starters. There are others as well. Enjoy!
  • Spartan_Maker
    Spartan_Maker Posts: 683 Member
    Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are effective for burning fat? What exercises burn more calories to help burn lower belly fat? (Burpees are more effective than curls...I wanna know exercises not diet)


    *******there I changed the wording if this makes more sense*********

    For the reasons stated in the preamble to your question, it's the exercises that burn the most calories: cross country skiing and rowing come to mind.
  • alasin1derland
    alasin1derland Posts: 575 Member
    I saw a commercial this morning for Dr. Oz. He is going to tell the world how to get rid of belly fat and keep it off. The commercial sounds like he found the miracle for spot reduction. lol (I've never seen his show)
  • phinphanbill26
    phinphanbill26 Posts: 574 Member
    HIIT
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    have a baby....lol.....
  • UsaJewels05
    UsaJewels05 Posts: 229 Member
    I agree that 30 DS helps. I noticed a greater difference in my lower abdomen when I was doing the 30 Day Shred!
  • Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are effective for burning fat? What exercises burn more calories to help burn lower belly fat? (Burpees are more effective than curls...I wanna know exercises not diet)


    *******there I changed the wording if this makes more sense*********

    I've lost my middle by the exercise bike and crunches. I added jogging and the trampoline recently and it still is slowly going down. That's just from my experience. Hope it helps some.
  • gabby365
    gabby365 Posts: 29 Member
    Cardio.. :/
    this ^^^^
  • gabby365
    gabby365 Posts: 29 Member
    um... the boat's leaving. Try swimming... FAST! :laugh:
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
    To everyone who is saying I contradict myself, obviously you're not actually reading into my question. I know there's no such thing as spot reducing! Like I stated diet is the main key. So tell me when my diet is good and I have a crappy workout routine, am I suppose to see result? No! I'm simply asking what kinds of exercises are out there that have helped others and are good for burning calories and amp up cardio.

    Thanks :)


    As long as your eating is under control, you should see good results, no matter what your workouts look like. I've seen some pretty "bad" routines still get people results, because their diet is in check.

    For a great transformation, Make sure you target all your muscles when you lift weights. Compound lifts work the best, and are the most efficient.

    Cardio is a good way to fit more calories into your diet, and work your heart, and endurance levels. It isn't necessary for fat loss, and too much cardio, with too few calories can cause muscle loss, as well.
  • vbarrient
    vbarrient Posts: 52 Member
    Diet and exercise. That's it. Walk, run, elliptical, treadmill, swimming, aerobics, any cardio exercise that going to get your heart pumping for a good 20 to 30 minutes. The core exercises help with strengthening muscles in stomach and you have to lose the fat first to notice. I think you all ready know what you have to do. LOL. Good luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Okay first off I KNOW there's no such thing as spot reduction! I know there's no exercise to specifically burn belly fat and that diet is the main issue to lose belly fat along with cardio. That's not what I'm asking. I wanna know different exercises that are known, or you do, that are great for losing belly fat.

    If you KNOW there's no such thing then why are you creating more noise on this board?

    Yeah, I'm confused...you say that you know you can't spot reduce...then you essentially ask how to spot reduce even though you know it can't be done.

    If you want to burn more fat calories, do low intensity cardio that puts you in the 60%-70% of your max HR. This burns less total calories, but more of those calories come from fat burn...about 85% of them.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,425 MFP Moderator
    Have you changed your diet since you last posted? You were eating 600-1200 cals a day while exercising off 700. That will not help you in anyway. Your diary is closed so I can't see if you changed your diet. Weight loss is 80% diet.

    You just need to focus on lowering your overall body fat percentage. Which can be done the best (in my opinion) by eating more, lifting heavy weights and maxing out on protein so you build muscle. Muscle will burn more fat.


    My lowest ever was 600 (busy day with classes and work) but I do average around 1100 plus or minus depending on the days

    Diet is going to be the thing that will affect abs/definition that most. Eating too little, especially while exercising, will increase the chances of catabolizing lean body mass. The less muscle you have, the more flabby you will be. Ideally, you want to diet that enables muscle retention so unless you have a medical condition, then 1100 calories will probably be your biggest hurdle. Weight training or resistance programs will provide greater retention of your lean body mass along with adequate protein. Ideally, you want to aim for about 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass. But if you struggle to get calories, then you want to minimize exercise, especially cardio.
  • alanlmarshall
    alanlmarshall Posts: 587 Member
    1) healthy diet
    2) consistent full body bar bell training, not crunches or planks
    3) moderate cardio
    4) elective surgery
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    Could you please explain HIIT cardio?
    HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I am sure there are a lot of ways of implementing HIIT training. In fact, I believe that Insanity, P90X, and a lot of other commercially available fitness programs use HIIT methodology. But here is how I do it. Pick 4 exercises. For example: purpees, pushups, jack knives, & assisted pull-ups. You are going to do 4 rounds with these three exercises. For round 1, do as many burpees as you can for a minute. Then with no rest immediately do as many pushups as you can for a minute. Then jack knives for a minute and then assisted pull-ups for a minute. NO REST BETWEEN EXERCISES. Then for round 2 you do the same only using 45 second intervals in stead of 60 second intervals. For round 3, use 30 second intervals, and for round 4 use 15 second intervals. Just as there is no rest between exercises, there is no rest between rounds. This should take a total of 10 minutes and should kick your @ss if you really go as hard as you can for every round & exercise. I like to do 3 HIIT "sets" using a different set of exercises each time with as little rest as possible for recovery time between "sets". Hope this helps.


    Thank you! :)

    Team BeachBody.com

    For HIIT check out Insanity & Les Mills Combat for starters. There are others as well. Enjoy!

    You don't have to buy a program, but I do use a tabata timer. I blog my tabata hiit, here's one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/allabtlm/view/5-16-2012-kick-butt-tabata-260567

    my tabatas are 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 8 rounds (for a total of 4 minutes per exercise) go as hard as you can go when you're on and rest (not active rest) when you're off.

    When I'm doing speed work on a treadmill I do active rest, so 30 - 45 seconds all out and 15 - 20 seconds walking. If I'm doing this I do it for a maximum of 20 minutes (mainly because I get bored and the treadmill hurts my legs).