If you’re like me, you’ve seen ads for various “ab” devices that supposedly stimulate muscles to contract repeatedly without exercise. But are these ab exercises really effective at helping you lose belly fat?
The answer is no.
Despite the fact that the abdominal muscles (rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and obliques) play an important role in stabilizing your body, they’re not enough on their own to burn belly fat. Instead, you need to include aerobic activity, which gets your heart pumping and burns calories, in your workout routine.
You should also focus on compound strength training, which engages several muscle groups at once. Squats, deadlifts, lunges and overhead presses are all great ab-targeting exercises.
They also build more lean muscle mass than just working out the abs alone.
However, if you’re looking to get rid of belly fat and improve your overall fitness, you need to mix cardio with strength-training exercises. This will help you burn more calories throughout the day and boost your metabolism, says Mandell Windt, a personal trainer in New York City.
It is also important to include more resistance exercises in your routine, which will help you burn even more calories. This will also give your muscles the chance to repair themselves, which will lead to bigger and stronger muscles.
Another way to reduce belly fat is to take part in interval training, which alternates low- and high-intensity exercises. This helps your body burn more calories in a shorter period of time than just doing steady-state aerobic exercise alone, recommends the Harvard Medical School.
This will help you reach your fitness goals faster and make you more satisfied with your results.
Doing ab exercises on a regular basis is an effective way to strengthen your core, according to Tanya Becker, co-founder and chief creative officer of Physique 57. It also makes you stronger and more resistant to injury, she adds.
In addition, it helps you develop better posture and balance, as well as improve your strength and flexibility in other areas of your body. You’ll also be able to do more of the things you love, such as hiking and skiing, with greater ease and safety, she adds.
But it’s important to keep in mind that no single exercise is effective at reducing belly fat on its own. You need to do a combination of cardiovascular, aerobic, and strength-training exercise to achieve your goal, recommends the Mayo Clinic.
And don’t forget to eat right! A diet filled with fruits, vegetables and whole grains will help you stay on track.
You’ll also need to eat a lot less fat and more healthy protein sources, such as fish, nuts and seeds, to ensure that you’re getting the nutrients your body needs for optimal health and performance.
Lastly, you need to work out your entire body to lose belly fat and get the toned and lean abs you’ve always dreamed of. You can do this by incorporating more resistance-training exercises into your routine, as well as sticking to a healthy diet and exercising regularly.
Milena Estêvão is a YouTuber passionate about sharing her experiences (challenges, successes and motivations) in the fitness activities she is involved in.
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