Losing belly fat requires you to lose weight all over your body, but you can tone those abs to give a flatter appearance, even when you have a little more weight than you wish to carry. Strengthening your core and abdominal muscles can also provide some great benefits, such as relief from back pain, better posture and a boost to the metabolism. Here are some traditional methods, some not so traditional ones and a few you may never have considered, which will help you look flatter and fitter quicker.
Don’t hold your breath for results.
Seriously, if you’re doing a crunch or situp, inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up for the best results. Learning to breathe properly when doing abdominal exercises makes a huge difference in your results. Also keep your rib cage closed on the way down in the crunch for the most results. Focusing on the workout will also help boost the effects of these old favorites.
Do the old favorites but with more zest.
Your muscles were made to move in lots of ways, so to get the most out of a workout, you need to work them in various positions. Do more than mere crunches or situps to make your abs flat and firm. Use ones that engage all the muscles of the abdomen and cause you to turn and twist getting all the muscles involved. Side twists, windmills and other exercises engage several groups of muscle that also need toning.
Get active!
It’s not all about a specific exercise. Sometimes daily tasks, such as raking leaves, vacuuming and mopping floors can give you a good workout. Riding a bike uses the muscles to stabilize your body, which improves muscle strength. In fact, anything that involves balance works the core muscles. Get a load of abdominal exercise and have a great looking house at the same time, paint a room or even the outside of the house and you’ll see not only your stomach flatten but your arms and legs toning, too.
- Suck it up. Use isometrics to tone your muscles. Slowly pull in your abdominal muscles as you exhale. Hold and release.
- Improve your posture. Walk as tall as you can. You’ll find your stomach automatically starts to disappear.
- Stretch your way thinner. There was an old nursery song called “Bend and Stretch.” The first line was “Bend and stretch, reach for the stars.” Do as the song says, bend with arms outstretched to touch your toes (or as close as you can get) and then stand up and reach as high as you can.
- Hold weights while doing ab toning for even quicker results.