Exercises to Lose Belly Fat

Are you bothered by belly fat? If so, you’re not alone. Your abdomen is a typical place to store excess fat. To help you trim your middle section, we’ve rounded up a few effective exercises you can use to help you with your goal!

One of the most effective ways you can lose fat is by participating in strength training exercises using weights, resistance bands, or bodyweight to help you build and keep muscle. 

How Resistance Training Helps You Burn Fat

Resistance training is an effective weight-loss tool because it helps you burn calories and use stored fat as fuel. The average weight-lifting session can burn anywhere from 100-200 calories in a half-hour, depending on your body size and how intensely you work out. 

Another way resistance training promotes fat loss is by improving your body composition and metabolism. Muscle cells require more calories to maintain than fat cells. When you have more muscle on your body, you burn more calories, even while you’re resting. When you participate in weight-training exercises, you burn calories while adding more muscle tissue to your body, so your hard work pays off twice!

Best Exercises for Fat Loss

A large variety of exercises can help you build muscle and lose fat. You may think resistance training is limited to weight lifting, but there are many exercises that stimulate muscle growth. Find resistance exercises that you enjoy and mix it up to get the most out of your fitness routine.

Using resistance bands, ankle weights, kettlebells, or other equipment to increase the load on your muscles, can be a great way to resistance train. Classes like yoga, barre, and other body-weight exercise classes can be a fun, guided way to increase strength and promote fat loss.

If you don’t have access to gym equipment, body-weight exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and body squats can help you build muscle. 

Eating for Fat Loss

If fat loss is your goal, it’s important to remember the adage “you can’t outrun a bad diet”. If you consume more food than your body needs each day, you won’t be able to lose fat. It’s easy to overcompensate with food, especially if you indulge in sweets and treats to “reward” yourself after a workout.

Instead, try to refuel your body with essential nutrients after a workout, namely protein, water, and high antioxidant foods like fruits and vegetables to prevent muscle soreness.  These foods support your exercise recovery and muscle growth, and they’re some of the best foods to keep you satiated and prevent overeating.

You may want to consider pairing your resistance training with a healthy eating protocol, such as intermittent fasting, to help you reach your fat loss goals even faster.

3 Easy Moves to Help You Lose Belly Fat

We interviewed fitness instructor and influencer, Amy Rhoades about her experience with exercising to lose fat and how she learned to make her fitness goals a reality. The lessons she learned may help inspire you to make similar changes in your own life. She shares with us her top three moves for losing belly fat and feeling her best.

When did you take up fitness? Why have you decided to become a fitness blogger?

My career in the fitness industry began 6 years ago. When I was 18, I moved from New Zealand to New York to study and pursue a career in Musical Theatre and film. I gained almost 15kg and developed gut issues because of easy access to cheap fast food, I felt horrible. 

Eventually, I got fed up with feeling sick. I knew I had to change my lifestyle and learn how to cook, eat, and exercise to look and feel my best. I made numerous lifestyle changes and quickly felt stronger, leaner, and full of energy.

I felt so fantastic, I wanted to help others, and that led me to get certified in Group and Personal Training. I love writing and sharing tips I have learned from experiences and those of my clients. My goal is to help inspire others with their journey. I take a holistic approach to health and am passionate about helping others look and feel their best.

Could you share your experience with intermittent fasting?

I found intermittent fasting (combined with consistent exercise) to be an effective tool to lose weight and get in the best shape of my life. It was a simple way to manage what I ate. 

I ate two primary meals: brunch between 12-1 pm and dinner between 8-9 pm. Intermittent fasting helps to increase good bacteria in your gut, so it helped with my gut issues. 

It was so beneficial to give my body a break from constantly digesting food. I lost seven kg in six months, and I’ve maintained my weight with intermittent fasting and being mindful of the cues my body gives me. 

How do you stay motivated?

Motivation ebbs and flows, but regular exercise keeps my habit going. I see people push themselves too hard in the beginning and then quit a month or two later. 

It’s far more effective to consistently train three to four days a week and make it your lifestyle. The way exercise makes me feel both physically and mentally is always a motivator. If I’m not up to a grueling workout (we all have those days or weeks), I’ll do pilates or yoga. If you have big health and fitness goals, a Personal trainer can offer you guidance and hold you accountable.

Simple is creating a blog post on exercises for losing belly fat. Could you please share exercises that could help to lose belly fat? 

You can’t spot-reduce fat off your belly, but you can reduce your body fat overall and perform exercises that will. help you to see the definition in your midsection. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Dead bugs: Lie on your back with your legs bent, reach your fingertips, reach toward the ceiling above your shoulders. Make sure your lower back stays on the floor/ mat and engage your abs by pulling your belly button in. Slowly extend your opposite arm and leg away from each other then return back to the starting position. Swap sides and repeat. Try three rounds of 40 sec with a 20-sec rest in between.

• Side planks: Come onto your right side, with your right forearm on the floor/mat. Stack your legs on top of each other straight. Press into your forearm to lift your hips up. Hold this position up to 30 seconds, then repeat on the left side for three rounds. To modify this exercise bend your knees.

• Mountain Climbers: This exercise targets your core muscles and helps with your cardiovascular fitness. Start in a high plank position with your hands underneath your shoulders, fingertips pointing forward, and your feet hip-width apart. Maintain a straight spine, and make sure to pull in your belly button. Draw your knee towards your chest hovering slightly off the ground, jump back out swapping legs and repeat. Try three rounds of 40 seconds with a  20-second rest in between.

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