Best Exercises for Losing Belly Fat

If you’re someone who’s been searching for the best exercises for losing belly fat, I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of infomercials telling you about the next best ab machine and done thousands of crunches and sit ups in your life. You’re not the only one.

Those options certainly aren’t the best exercises for losing belly fat. In fact, most of time they don’t work at all. If you want to lose that spare tire once and for all, you need to know what exercises actually work.

Remember, it’s important to check with your physician before starting any exercise routine. You need to know your body’s limitations.

Cardio Workout

Your cardio work is what burns fat, especially your belly fat. It’s one of the best exercises for losing belly fat, but, you need to know how to do it right. This way you don’t waste your time.

If you’re just strolling down the street at a slow pace, you’re barely burning any calories. Definitely not one of the best exercises to lose belly fat. Not at that pace anyways; you’d have to walk all day to accomplish anything. So, it’s important to know where your heart rate should be to burn fat the fastest.

Start by calculating your maximum heart rate. Simply, subtract your age from 220 if you’re a man and 226 if you’re a woman. Then, take this number and multiple it by 60% and 70%. Your heart rate needs to stay within this range for your body to burn the most amount of fat in the shortest amount of time.

Abdominal Muscle Strengthening

You can’t forget strength training in your search for the best exercises for losing belly fat. Building lean muscle on your abs helps you burn fat faster than simply doing a cardio workout alone. It also has the added benefit of smoothing out how your stomach looks in your clothes and ultimately it’s what gives you that six-pack you’ve always dreamt of. Combining cardio and strength training is important. Most people do cardio daily and strength train every other day.

Muscle Strengthening Exercises

You don’t need any machines to build lean muscles in your stomach area or get rid of those love handles. Not if you know the best exercises for losing belly fat and building lean muscle. Fortunately, you don’t need to know more than two exercise, and one variation. Start by doing three sets of each exercise and alter the reps to your fitness level. Start by trying 10 reps in each set and lower and increase them as needed. Remember to take a few seconds for a break between each set.

Core Planking. Get down on the floor and hold your body weight up using your toes and your forearms. The position is similar to a push up position, but you’re on your forearms instead of your hands. Keep the core of your body–your lower abs and booty–as low to the ground as you can. Then lift one leg as high as you can and lower it almost to the floor, quickly. After you finish your reps on that leg, switch legs and repeat.
Oblique Planking. Get down in your planking position. Stretch your leg out to the side and bring it back in quickly. Repeat the process to finish all of your reps and then do the same thing with the other leg.
Lower Abs. This is one of the best exercises for losing belly fat, especially in your lower stomach. Lay on your back and reach out to the sides with both arms. Bend on leg at the knee and rest that foot on the floor. Keep your other leg straight on the floor. Raise your straight leg up in the air and at the same time bring both arms up toward your leg. Touch your foot and bring your arms and leg back down. Try to keep a fast pace. After your reps are finished switch legs and repeat.