If you thought that only dieting will burn your belly fat, you might wrong. If you really want to lose weight, you need to include an hour of exercise in your daily routine for reducing belly fat.
We have compiled a list of 10 exercises that can help you reduce belly fat faster way:
1. Crunches
Nothing burns belly fat faster than crunches, which occupy the number one position in fat-burning exercises. Now, it’s time that you start performing this exercise.
How to Do
1. Lie down flat on a mat with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Alternatively, you can also lift your legs off the floor at a 90-degree angle.
2. Lift your hands and place them behind your head, or keep them crossed on your chest.
3. Inhale deeply, and as you lift your upper torso off the floor, exhale.
4. Inhale again as you get back down, and exhale as you come up.
5. Repeat another two to three sets.
Precautions
While performing crunches, instead of entering the full sit-up position, just raise your back a few inches from the ground. This ensures you don’t hurt your back.
Also, don’t jerk your head forward while doing crunches. This will put pressure on your neck and result in pain. Just hold your hands above your head and perform the exercise.
2. Twist Crunches
Once you get used to the regular crunches, modify the basic crunch to get an even more effective tummy exercise.
How to Do
1. Lie down on the floor with your hands behind your head.
2. Bend your knees as you would do in crunches, keeping your feet on the floor.
3. You have to lift your upper torso while performing crunches. But, in twist crunches, you have to lift just your right shoulder towards the left, keeping the left side of your torso on the ground.
4. Again alternately, lift your left shoulder towards the right, keeping the right side of your torso on the ground.
3. Side Crunch
How to Do
This is same as the twist crunch exercise. The only difference is that you need to tilt your legs to the same side simultaneously with your shoulders. The side crunch focuses on the muscles on your sides.
Precautions
Make sure you keep your movements steady and slow. The midsection, being a complex area, could hurt if you perform the twists in a hurried fashion.
4. Reverse Crunches
Now it’s time to do reverse crunches. This is another good exercise to reduce belly fat.
How to Do
This is similar to the twist crunch exercise. The only thing that you need to do is tilt your legs behind simultaneously with your shoulders. The side crunch focuses on the muscles on your sides.
Precautions
Keep your back straight while performing the exercise, as arching it can result in pain, and in some cases, even injury.
5. Vertical Leg Crunch
How to Do
1. Lie flat on the floor, or on the mat, with your legs extended upwards (towards the ceiling) and one knee crossed over the other.
2. Now that you have positioned your body perfectly, do the same as you would have done in the case of crunches. That is, breathe in and lift your upper body from the floor towards the pelvis.
3. Breathe out slowly. As you bring yourself down, breathe in again, and exhale as you go up.
4. Do 12 to 15 reps and up to three sets.
Precautions
Start by doing only a few repetitions of this exercise, as it can make you feel sore if you overdo it initially.
6. Bicycle Exercise
No, you don’t need a bicycle for this. Thinking how you can do this? We’ll tell you.
How to Do
1. Lie on the floor and keep your hands either by your sides or behind your head as you do in crunches.
2. Lift both your legs off the ground and bend them at the knees.
3. Bring your right knee close to your chest, keeping your left leg away.
4. Now take your right leg away and bring your left leg close to your chest.
5. Keep doing this as if you are paddling a bicycle.
7. Rolling Plank Exercise
The rolling plank trains the muscles around your abdomen, hip, and lower back.
How to Do
1. Position yourself on the floor with your knees and elbows resting on the ground.
2. Keep your neck aligned with your spine. Look forward.
3. Lift the knees up and support your legs on the toes.
4. Contract your knees and keep breathing normally.
5. This is the plank pose. Stay in this posture for 30 seconds.
Now, start moving to and fro for the next 30 seconds. This is the rolling plank exercise.
While you are in this position, you may also lift the leg on the top and bring it down again. This makes the exercise more effective – it works not only your abs, but also your thighs and hips.
Precautions
Plank is a strenuous exercise, and you might feel like holding your breath while performing it. But don’t do that, as you might suffer from nausea or dizziness.
8. The Stomach Vacuum
Stomach vacuum exercises are low-impact exercises that place greater emphasis on breathing instead of increasing your heart rate.
How to DoThis is similar to what we call the cat stretch pose. This is also known as the four-point, transverse-abdominal stomach vacuum. Follow the steps mentioned below to do this exercise for reducing belly fat:
1. Go down to the ground on all fours, supporting your body on your hands and knees.
2. Inhale deeply and loosen your abdomen.
3. As you exhale, tighten the abdomen muscles.
4. Hold this position for 15-30 seconds.
5. Repeat the process.
Precautions
If you are suffering from any heart or lung ailment, it is best to avoid performing this exercise.
This exercise must be performed only on an empty stomach, as doing otherwise might lead to indigestion.
9. Bending Side to Side
This is yet another perfect exercise for reducing belly fat.
How to Do
1. Stand erect with your feet together and keep your hands to the sides.
2. Keeping your legs grounded, bend your body to the right as much as possible till you feel a strain on your left waist. As you do so, ensure your right hand is on the right hip, and the left hand is raised upwards. Stay in the position for 15 seconds.
3. Return to the original position.
4. Now bend to the left, and retain the position for another 15 seconds.
Slowly, you may increase the holding time to 30 seconds.
10. Jogging
If you don’t like running, try jogging instead. Research suggests that jogging is more effective in breaking down unwanted fat when compared to weightlifting. This is a form of aerobic exercise that is extremely useful for fighting obesity and staying fit.Improve your eating habits
1. Eat Health Food
Reducing abdominal fat is 80% about eating the right food. Have a healthy and balanced diet with adequate macro and micronutrients. Most importantly, skip takeaways and fast foods. Eat food prepared at home. Don’t have time? Go for raw fruits or veggies, or steam cooked veggies instead.2. Drink more Water
Many get confused if they are thirsty, tired, or hungry, and end up nibbling sugary or fatty food. Always carry a water bottle, and make sure you keep sipping water throughout the day. One needs to drink six to eight glasses of water, though this depends on your weight and lifestyle. Calculate accordingly, and make sure you consume enough water.3. Say No to Sugar
Sugar is one thing you should greatly reduce, if not omit from your daily platter. There are many sources of hidden sugar, so it’s a good idea to reduce sugar. Use alternatives like honey, palm sugar, and liquorice extract.4. Reduce Sodium Intake
Of course, you need to add salt to your food. Instead of sodium salt, you can consider using potassium, lemon, and sea salts. Also, adding a few herbs and spices like pepper helps in reducing the salt requirement.5. Increase Intake of Vitamin C
Having a glass of warm water with lemon juice and honey in the morning is a popular option for weight loss. Similarly, there are many other ways to include fat burning foods in one’s diet.8. Include Healthy Fats
When trying to get rid of bad cholesterol, the addition of good cholesterol can be helpful. Avocados, olives, coconut, and nuts are few sources of good cholesterol.9. Do Not Skip Breakfast
Skipping breakfast is a major blunder. It increases bloating and pushes your body into starvation mode, a key for abdominal fat gain.Latest studies reveal that having smaller and frequent meals is the key to maintain a healthy metabolic rate, which is important for weight management. So, reduce the size of your meals and make up for it by snacking healthy.
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