Belly fat is always frustrating to have, both in terms of how it affects our health, but also how we feel and look. It can make our clothes feel tight, it’s the first place we notice fat going on, but it’s also not a good place for our body to store fat for health reasons! What are some good belly fat exercises?
Below, we discuss the truths and myths about belly fat exercises!
Is belly fat really the worst place to have fat?
Fat stored on and around our belly is said to be one of the worst kinds. However, there are 2 types of fat we can store on and around our belly, subcutaneous and visceral.
Subcutaneous fat:
- Is fat sitting directly under our skin
- It is the fat we can generally see that bulges out
- It is made up of fat that our body struggles to get rid of and burn off
- This fat is generally harmless fat
Visceral fat:
- Visceral fat, also known as Visceral Jut is deeper in our body
- This fat surrounds our organs and is in our abdomen
- It produces hormones such as cortisol and can make us crave foods, thus increasing our appetite
- It can also produce Cytokines that decrease our bone strength and increase cholesterol levels
- However, small levels of visceral fat are important for our overall health
The good news is when we try and lose fat, one of the first to go is the excess visceral fat!
What are the risks of storing excess belly fat?
Waist size is said to be a better predictor of our risk of cardiovascular disease than our BMI. These diseases include:
- Type 2 diabetes
- High cholesterol
- High triglycerides
- High blood pressure
- Coronary artery disease
Below are two tables from the National Health Service showing the risks of getting cardiovascular disease, depending on our waist size:
Clearly from these statistics, we want to reduce the fat on our belly and be ‘thinner’. So, the question is, what are some good belly fat exercises?
What misinformation or myths are there about burning belly fat?
Firstly, it is important to debunk some myths and misinformation around losing fat off our belly, so we have realistic expectations on fat loss:
- No one exercise can target and reduce solely belly fat
- Fat loss will always occur across many parts of our body, both internal and external
- There is not one medication/supplement that will help solely lose belly fat
- Doing loads of sit ups will not target and burn your belly fat alone
- There are not certain foods which help reduce our belly fat
- We can’t ‘spot train’ pockets of fat, doing lots of triceps’ dips won’t get rid of the fat on our arms!
Science has come a long way, but there are still no instant and excellent remedies to melt away our belly fat! Read on to find out what you can do to help reduce your belly fat.
What are some belly fat exercises and workouts?
As mentioned above, there is not one certain exercise to help lose belly fat. Instead, a range of workouts, exercises and burning calories will help us lose belly fat. In summary, here are some tips on how to reduce belly fat:
- Burning more calories each day than we consume will lead to fat loss
- Doing a range of activities that raise our heart rate helps with burning calories
- Working out at the right time of day (read our article here to find out the best time of day to exercise).
- Reducing how many carbohydrates, sugars and fats we eat aid fat loss
- Exercising 3 or more times a week will help fat loss and general health
There is, however, some evidence that some types of exercise can help reduce belly fat more quickly than others. HIIT training has been found to be one of the most effective ways to reduce overall body fat, including belly fat.
- HIIT training is effective at reducing whole body adiposity
- The shorter and more intense exercise stimulates the burning of fat cells
- HIIT sessions focused on running and/or multiple muscle groups are effective
- Abdominal and visceral fat are both reduced with HIIT training
Other than HIIT, many other types of exercises (running, swimming, cycling, brisk walking etc) will help with fat loss and burning calories. If HIIT sounds like something you want to try, click here to read our article on the benefits of HIIT.
To conclude reducing our belly fat comes down to quite a few factors, not just doing exercises and consuming certain foods/supplements that supposedly target belly fat. Following the simple tips and information above will help get you off in the right direction!
Studies discussed in the article
Title: Why is some fat easier to lose than other fat
Author: Creekside family practice
https://www.creeksidefamilypractice.com/blog/why-is-some-fat-easier-to-lose-than-other-fat
Maillard F, Pereira B, Boisseau N. Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Total, Abdominal and Visceral Fat Mass: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2018, 48. (2) pp. 269-288.
Title: Body measuring techniques
Author: NHS
https://elht.nhs.uk/services/dietetics/body-measuring-techniques
Levine, H. (2015) ‘Lose your belly fat–for good’, Shape (Woodland Hills, Calif.), 34(9), p. 182.
