Belly FAT
Belly fat is the most dangerous and harmful fat in the human body!
Abdominal obesity or the fat in the abdominal cavity known as belly fat or more precisely, visceral fat is shown to cause the biggest health issues with potential life-altering diseases.(1)
BE IN THE "BELLY FAT" SAFE ZONE:
You can measure your estimated belly fat by measuring the circumference around your waist where your belly button sits. (You can ask a health and fitness professional to do this for you if you don't have a tape measure at home)
For women to be in the safe zone and be considered healthy it is recommended that you be 90cm or less around the your waist (measurement taken from the belly button) if the measurement is more than 90cm then it is likely you will have abdominal obesity.
For men to be in the safe zone and be considered healthy it is recommended to be 100cm or less around the waist, anything more then you are at risk of life threatening diseases!
One of the best ways to reduce belly fat aside from eating a healthy well balanced diet is aerobic exercise (cardio).
Performing loads of crunches,planks and other abdominal exercises will not melt the fat from your belly. Any kind of core exercises that you do will only help to strengthen and tone which is super important of course, but when it comes to burning belly fat moving the body, getting puffed, and eating healthy is what will give you results!
Here are my recommendations for cardio (aerobic) exercise to help you reduce your unwanted belly fat:
-Walking at a good pace for 30 minutes everyday is a great way to get the body moving. Walking does not only help you to burn calories but it is a great way to de-clutter the mind and de-stress (BONUS)! The best place to walk is anywhere outdoors preferably surrounded by some amazing scenery- you feel incredible afterwards thats for sure! If you can't always get outdoors, using the treadmill in your gym is just as good.
-Running is an amazing way to burn calories, increase your fitness level and stamina. If walking is not enough for you then I suggest you start running. If you find running hard, but really want to give it a go then make sure you have some good supportive shoes first of all, and start by running intervals. Run 30 seconds- 1 minute, then walk for 1-2 minutes, run again for 30 seconds- 1 minute, then walk for 2...try and do this for a total of 20-30 minutes and see how you go. Eventually you will be able to increase your time running and decrease your time walking!
TIP: Always stretch after a run!!
-Swimming is great for burning belly fat, 30 minutes of swimming will make you feel great and is the best alternative if you don't like walking or running or using the cardio machines in the gym.
"No matter how slow you go you are still over lapping everybody on the couch"
-HIIT- High Intensity Interval Training
Studies show that 15 minutes of high intensity interval training burns more calories than jogging on a treadmill for an hour. This would be the best option for those of you who can only spare 20-30 minutes of time to do a work out, HIIT is super effective and will definietly give you great fitness results!
Here is an example of one of my short HIIT workouts:
WARM UP: 5 minute jog/run
30 seconds mountain climbers
5 seconds rest
30 seconds jump squats
5 seconds rest
30 seconds comandos
5 seconds rest
30 seconds burpees
5 seconds rest
30 seconds plank
Repeat workout x4 take 45 seconds rest in-between your sets, ALWAYS stretch after a workout.
There are many other ways you can perform cardio (aerobic) exercise to help with loosing that unwanted belly fat such as dancing, boxing, netball, soccer, touch rugby, basically anything that gets your heart rate up, makes you puffed and sweaty! You need to find what works best for your lifestyle and what you enjoy doing the most so that you can stick to it and not want to give up!
"Abs are built in the kitchen and strengthened in the gym"
If you’re trying to lose belly fat, add aerobic exercise to your regular exercise routine.
Cardio with a combination of strength exercises and a healthy diet, has been proven to be most effective for reducing, losing and preventing abdominal fat.
REFERENCES:
(1) https://www.fitwirr.com/fitness/-5-health-benefits-regular-cardio-exercise