Belly fat refers to ant fat around the abdomen. As you get older, your belly fat tends to increase around your waistline; because your fat increases as your mass decrease with age. Belly fat can make it impossible to fit into your favorite pants or make you experience self-consciousness.
Some of the reasons people gain unwanted belly fat include stress, lack of exercise, and poor diet. Participating more in exercises, making some lifestyle changes, and improving nutrition can reduce belly fat.
There are 2 types of belly fat; subcutaneous belly fat rests under the skin while visceral belly fat surrounds a human’s organs.
Is Belly Fat Harmful?
Excess belly fat increases your risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, heart ailments, dementia, colon cancers, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, stroke, and asthma.
What Causes Belly Fat?
Belly fat is brought about by the failure to exercise, genetics, stress, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, smoking, and poor sleeping patterns.
What are some of the exercises that target belly fat?
Several exercises are available, but not all workouts yield tangible results in reducing or doing away with belly fat. However, doctors and scientists alike agree that incorporating physical activities into your day-to-day routine is an excellent way to get rid of excess belly fat. The following are some exercises that target belly fat and can help in slimming down your waistline:
Cardio or Aerobic Exercise
The first essential step in burning off belly fat is to include a minimum of thirty minutes of cardio or aerobic exercises into your daily workout routine. Studies show that cardio and aerobic workouts that target belly fat are also good at reducing liver fat.
Some ideal cardio or aerobic exercises that target belly fat include cycling, running, swimming, biking, group workout classes, and biking.
Before choosing the most appropriate cardio or aerobic exercises that target belly fat, ensure that it’s an activity that you enjoy taking part in. This way, you’ll be more motivated to indulge in your workout routine.
Interval/ HIIT Training (HIIT)
Interval training and High-intensity Interval Training are workout routines that combine short episodes of intense exercises, lower-intensity workouts, and rest periods. HIIT workouts that target belly fat help in improving your general physical condition and controlling weight.
HIIT workouts include various activities like deadlifting, squatting, burpees, pulling, and pushing; this workout works by exercising intensively for thirty seconds, followed by thirty seconds of rest, before switching to the next exercise. You can repeat this sequence until you achieve maximum belly fat reduction results.
Abdominal Exercises
Since belly fat sticks to your stomach and waistline region, taking part in abdominal exercises can help to reduce it. Abdominal exercises help in flattening and toning your stomach while offering you a superb exercise source.
Abdominal exercises that target belly fat are excellent for both women and men of all ages. These exercises include bicycle crunches, resistance & weight training, leg lifts, abdominal crunches, and 60-second planks.
Weight training is an essential exercise that targets belly fat. Since your muscles burn off more calories than body fat when you’re resting, having extra muscle tone enables you to burn more belly fat.
Belly fat results in various health complications, but you can make dietary and lifestyle changes to lose it, and enjoy a healthy life.