The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat: Get Rid Of The Dreaded Muffin Top Once And For All

‘Which is the best exercise to lose belly fat quickly?’ A smaller, flatter tummy is something that many desire. Not only do many of our idols have ‘snatched’ waists, but in a way, a smaller waist can make your outfits fit you better. If you have been struggling to find the best exercise to lose belly fat either at home or at the gym, then this article is for you!

What Is The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat For Women?

When you are overweight, obese, or have added a couple of pounds in the last few months, it can be hard to put on those tights or shorts that show off your tummy and head over to the gym to get your workout in.

If you have been feeling like this and are wondering “what is the best exercise to lose belly fat at home?”, then yoga could be what you need.  While we are not discrediting popular at home belly workouts (6) like kettlebell swings, burpees, mountain climbers, etc., yoga is a fantastic workout that while it may look simple, will have your muscles burning and you sweating by the end of the session.

Here are some simple yet effective yoga exercises to lose belly fat at home (9, 3)

Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat For Women: Cobra Pose

1. Start by lying down flat on your stomach. Place your palms flat on the mat directly under your shoulders and then bend our elbows straight back and press them into your sides.
2. Keep your neck in a neutral position and your pubic bone is pressed to the floor.
3. Inhale and lift your chest off the floor, rolling your shoulders back and keeping your lower ribs on the floor. Keep your gaze on the floor
4. Keep breathing and stay in this position for up to 30 seconds before coming down on an exhale.
5. Repeat this up to 12 times for one set.

Read More: Yoga To Lose Weight In 10 Days: Nothing But A Yoga Mat And Your Own Body Weight

Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat For Women: Side Plank

1. Begin by lying on your right side, with the legs extended and stacked from hip to feet.
2. Place your right elbow directly under your shoulder and ensure your head is directly in line with your spine. Keep your left arm aligned along the left side of your body.
3. Engage your abdominal muscles, drawing your navel toward your spine and keep breathing
4. On an exhale, slowly and steadily lift your hips and knees from the mat. Stop once your torso is straight in line with no sagging or bending.
5. Hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds before returning to the start position on the mat.
6. Change sides and do the same on the other side.
7. This counts as one rep. Do a total of 10 reps for one set.

Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat For Women: High Planks

Yes, planks are a yoga pose also known as Kumbhakasana.

1. Start down on all fours, making sure that your hands are fully extended and slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
2. Extend at the kegs and come up to your toes as though you are about to do a push-up. Ground your toes into the ground and squeeze your glutes for better stability.
3. Engage your core and ensure that your body is in a straight line from your neck to your heels. Do not sag at the midsection, lift your butt into an arch, or look straight down at the floor – try looking at a spot about a foot from where your hands are.
4. Keep breathing and hold this basic position for about 20 to 30 seconds

Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat For Women: Reverse Tabletop Pose

1. Start by sitting on a mat with your back straight and your legs straight out in front of you.
2. Bend your knees so that both your feet are on the ground and part them slightly.
3. Place your hands behind you on the mat, shoulder-width apart, fingers pointing towards you, and lean back.
4. On an inhale, lift your hips using your arms and feet to support your movement. Stop once your arms are fully straightened behind you and your knees are at a 90 degree angle.
5. Make sure that your body is straight as a table top. I.e., your thighs and torso should be parallel to the floor. Your wrists should be directly underneath your shoulders.
6. Making sure that your wrists are directly under your shoulders, move the shoulder blades close to each other, and open the chest.
7. You can keep your neck neutral, or drop it and remember not to clench your butt
8. Hold the pose for  5 to 8 seconds then release the hips back to the ground. Straighten your legs and go back to sitting up straight.

What Is The Best Exercise For Guys To Lose Belly Fat?

There are many different workouts that work well to help men lose belly fat. Some of them include the above mentioned yoga poses, crunches, scissor kicks, sit-ups, half seated reverse crunches, and more. But which is the best exercise to lose belly fat for men? This would be a combination of a healthy diet, cardio and strength training, while incorporating any or all of the above outlined exercises.

What Is The Best Exercise To Lose Lower Belly Fat At Home?

Also known as a FUPA (fat upper pubic area) this lower fat is something that many of us are not comfortable with. If you have some extra fat in your lower belly, then you may have had to deal with some unfortunate comments from people as well as feeling a little awkward when it sticks out from your shorts jeans and dresses.

If this is something that you struggle with and would like to learn some workouts to help you get rid of it, here are some workouts that can help with this issue. Remember that there is no one ‘best exercise to lose lower belly fat’ easily, instead, add these workouts to a well rounded fat loss routine to help you achieve your desired results (10).

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Elbow Plank With Leg Lift

This is a fantastic workout that targets your general core area, lower belly, and also offers a great leg workout in the same instance.

1. Start down on all fours, making sure that your hands are fully extended and slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Fold your arms at the elbows until you are holding your weight by your elbows and forearms
2. Extend at the legs and come up to your toes as though you are about to do a push-up. Ground your toes into the ground and squeeze your glutes for better stability.
3. Engage your core and ensure that your body is in a straight line from your neck to your heels. Do not sag at the midsection, lift your butt into an arch, or look straight down at the floor – try looking at a spot about a foot from where your hands are.
4. While in this position, lift your left foot off the floor, keeping your pelvis parallel to the floor. Hold here for three seconds, then lower the leg. Breathe and then repeat on the other side (right leg). This completes one rep.
5. Keep breathing and continue doing this for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Inchworms

This is one of  the best exercise to lose lower belly fat at home as it does not require any equipment; just a clear space and some soft landing beneath your feet. Another good thing about this specific exercise is that it is a great full-body workout that targets not only your core, but also your delts, chest, hamstrings, and glutes.

1. Stand tall, with your feet roughly hip-distance apart and your core engaged.
2. Take a breath in, then as you exhale, look down at the ground and start reaching your hands toward the floor in front of your feet, allowing your back to bend forward, rolling down one vertebra at a time. Allow your knees to bend slightly, as needed, to enable your hands to reach the ground.
3. Place your hands on the floor in front of your feet. Inhale and walk your hands forward, one at a time, allowing your heels to lift off the floor as your body begins to straighten. Stop once your hands are directly under your shoulders. This should put you in plank position with your core, chest, quads, triceps, and shoulders engaged. Keep your body in a straight line. Do not sag or arch your back.
4. Keeping your legs relatively straight, begin walking your feet forward, one at a time, toward your hands, lifting the hips toward the ceiling. Exhale with each step.
5. Stop when your feet are as close to your hands as you can comfortably bring them. Remember, you can bend your knees slightly to ease the stretch on your hamstrings, but try to keep them as straight as possible.
6. Return to standing by slowly rolling your back up from the hips, straightening one vertebra at a time. Inhale as you go.
7. Repeat this 8 to 12 times for one set.

The Superman

If you are wondering what is the best exercise to lose lower belly fat while also working on your glutes and lower back, then this workout is your best bet. Here is how to do it

1. Lie facedown with arms and legs outstretched, forehead on the mat. Your neck should be in a neutral position.
2. Exhale as you slowly lift arms, legs, upper back, and head off the floor. Keep arms and legs straight but not locked. Your body should resemble a U shape with either side several inches off the floor.
3. Hold this position for 5 seconds. Remember to keep breathing and keep your core engaged
4. Exhale as you lower back down.
5. Do this ten times for one set.

Read More: How Many Exercises Per Workout For Weight Loss: Making The Most Out Of Your Gym Time

FAQs

What Is The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat And Love Handles?

Love handles are the bane of many women’s and some men’s existence. Those extra pinchable fat deposits on the sides of your stomach and around your hips can lead to insecurities especially if you wear some figure hugging jeans, shorts or dresses.

The causes of love handles are many and varied ranging from unhealthy diets, genes, alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, increased stress, failure to workout and more. So what is the best exercise to lose belly fat and love handles?

If these fat deposits are causing you sleepless nights and/or affecting your self-esteem issues, you have to remember that doing just one type of exercise will not help you get rid of the issue. Instead, opt to do a combination of cardio and bodyweight exercises such as hanging leg raises, Russian twists, side plank dips, and woodchoppers. These targeted workouts are great for your core, and especially for the obliques where the love handles are located.

What Is The Best Exercise Equipment To Lose Belly Fat?

While some people are wholly comfortable battling belly fat with just body weight exercises, some people prefer using some equipment or the other to help their workout along. If you are in the later group and are wondering what is the best exercise equipment to lose belly fat, then we have several options for you (8, 1).

• The Treadmill

Running is one of the best ways to lose not only belly fat but also general body fat in general. If you are not willing to run outside battling cyclists, cars, the elements, and other people then the treadmill works best for you. This exercise equipment forces you to keep moving throughout your workout making sure that you are burning those calories. It is also great for cardio and can even be used to lose even more fat if you opt for HIIT treadmill workouts (2).

• Elliptical Trainer

If running on a treadmill doesn’t sound appealing to you, then you could try the elliptical. Like the treadmill, it offers a cardio workout and you can make your workout HIIT if you so desire. This machine offers both an upper and lower body workout which works great to help get rid of belly fat and is less stressful on your joints than running. According to Harvard Medical School, depending on how much you weigh, you can burn anywhere from 270 to 380 calories in 30 minutes (5).

• Stationary Bike

Whether you choose an air or a fan bike, this equipment offers the best exercise to lose belly fat as it requires maximum full body effort to keep pedaling. Harvard Medical School states that peddling at a moderate speed on this equipment can help you burn anywhere from 420 to 588 calories in an hour, depending on how much you weigh. On the other hand, if you choose to apply yourself and cycle vigorously, you stand to burn anywhere from 630 to 882 calories in an hour (5).

• Rowing

Like all other gym machine equipment in this section, a rowing machine offers a full body workout which makes rowing one of the best exercise to lose belly fat. A 185- pound person can burn either 294 or 440 calories when rowing moderately or vigorously, respectively.

But what if someone does not want to go to their gym and cannot afford huge exercise machines to help get rid of belly fat, are there smaller equipment that can offer the best exercise to lose belly fat?

Yes, there are. Small weight loss accessories like resistance bands, weighted vests, ankle and wrist weights, as well as weighted jump ropes can add some resistance and weight to simple exercises to help you burn more calories during your workout.

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What Is The Best Diet And Exercise To Lose Belly Fat?

As we have seen above, there are many various forms of exercise that can work to help you burn and lose belly fat. However, the bottom line is that you need a combination of cardio and strength training to help you effectively lose belly fat.

1. Cardio works well for this because it burns a lot of calories in a short amount of time. Popular cardio exercises like swimming, cycling, and running boost your heart rate, make your blood pump faster, breath harder to catch and increase sweating, all factors that help with calorie burning (7).
2. On the other hand, while strength burning may not cause your heart rate to increase and stay up for long as cardio does, it helps with muscle growth; and the muscles you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day, whether you are active or at rest (4).

But what diet? We all hear that diet matters as much, if not more than exercise when it comes to losing belly fat. However, which diet is best for fat loss? Here are a couple of diet options that have been proven to work best for fat loss:

• A Balanced Diet

A balanced diet is one that has all the five major food groups, and avoids all foods that are high in salt, sugars, overly processed and full of refined carbs.

• Mediterranean Diet

This diet is based on the traditional cuisine of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is high in beans, fruit, leafy greens, whole grains, vegetables and a variety of healthy fats. It calls for a limited intake of red meats and moderate consumption of dairy, wine, and dairy products.

• The Vegan Diet

The popularity of the vegan diet is on the rise as people continue to claim how it has helped them with belly fat loss and overall body weight loss. One of the reasons why the vegan diet works well for weight and belly fat loss, is that it is a plant based diet. Someone who follows this eating plan consumes a lot of vegetables which are often lower in calories, fiber which keeps you fuller for longer, thus preventing snacking, and plant based protein which boosts your metabolism.

• Vegetarian Diets

Other than veganism, there are 4 other variations of vegetarianism, all of which work great for anyone looking to shed some belly fat. Plant-based in general have been hailed as great eating plans for weight loss.

• Intermittent Fasting

While this is not a diet per se, it is an eating plan, that too, has shown great results when it comes to losing belly fat. There are many different types of intermittent fasting and they all work because they reduce how much time you have to eat, which helps keep you at a calorie deficit and boosts ketosis which helps burn belly fat.

Irrespective of your choice of diet or eating plan, remember to count your calories and eat at a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit diet and a workout plan are the best combination for belly fat loss.

Which Is The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat At Home?

Bodyweight workouts such as yoga, sit ups, crunches, burpees, running, cycling, squats, lunges, and deadlifts, are just some of the many best exercises to lose fat at home options. Most of them do not need heavy machinery, and if you would like to add some resistance, you could improvise by using heavy objects found all around the home.

The Bottom Line

The best exercise to lose belly fat at home is a simple combination of cardio and strength training. While belly targeting exercises like sit ups, crunches, and the like may look like the best option, they do not work unless combined with other full-body exercises. Remember that spot exercising is not a thing and neither does it work. Please make sure to consult your doctor before starting a new workout program.

DISCLAIMER:

This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any medical conditions. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!

SOURCES:

1. 4 Exercise Machines That Help Burn Fat And Build Muscle (2017, self.com)
2. 12 Treadmill Workouts Perfect For Every Type Of Exerciser (2019, womenshealthmag.com)
3. 15 Yoga Asanas That Will Give You a Flat Tummy (n.d., brightside.me)
4. A Trainer Explains Why Weightlifting Is the Most Important Type of Exercise For Losing Belly Fat (2019, popsugar.com)
5. Calories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights (2021, health.harvard.edu)
6. Easy Exercises to Quickly Lose Belly Fat for Women (n.d., livestrong.com)
7. How Cardio Exercise Can Help You Lose Weight (2019, verywellfit.com)
8. The Best Exercise Machines to Lose Belly Fat (2019, livestrong.com)
9. The Best Yoga Poses for Flat Abs (2012, shape.com)
10. Upper Pubic Area Weight Loss and Medical Treatment (2020, healthline.com)