The current pandemic has thrown everyone’s plans and goals through the window.
Some have used the available ‘free time’ to read more, others to take on hobbies they have always wanted to, to play videogames and more.
However, if you are one of those who decided to exercise more indoors or your New Years’ resolution was to get rid of that belly overhang, then don’t get discouraged.
Your typical summer may not be around the corner, but strengthening your core goes beyond the looks.
In this article, we’ll take a look at 5 of the best exercises to get rid of belly overhang. Keep reading!
Physical activity and Calorie Deficit are your tools. Use them!
This may be well-known information for some people already, but it’s important to say it again and again:
Weight loss is achieved through a combination of moderate to vigorous physical activity AND energy intake restriction.
Calories represent ‘fueling’ energy to your bodies.
Excessive intake of calories (common among high carbohydrate/high-fat diets) results in a surplus your body stores as visceral fat mass over your abdomen, a.k.a. the belly overhang.
So, instead of seeking to eliminate that fat through painstakingly vigorous exercise, focus on your diet too.
Dietary restriction alone, too, isn’t just as effective as it would be with appropriate physical activity to get rid of belly overhang.
It’s important to remember that:
- To lose that belly overhang, you got to lose fat overall while preserving lean mass through calorie deficit and physical activity.
- Calorie deficit means you burn more calories than you consume. Watch out what you eat as well. Sugary food predisposes fat deposits in the belly.
5 Best Exercises To Get Rid Of Belly Overhang Fast
Now, moving onto the central topic of the article.
All types of moderate to vigorous exercise plus avoiding that calorie surplus are helpful to reduce overall body fat.
However, certain types of exercises are aimed to strengthen your core and tone your abdominal muscles.
Cardio, yoga, and pilates are some examples.
Most, if not all, of these exercises, do not require special equipment, so you can do them from the comfortability of your house.
However, what you will need is a yoga mat to prevent bruising or unconformities while lying on the floor.
BURPEE
Few exercises get your blood pumping and your heart beating as a few reps of burpees does.
It’s an explosive and ‘jack-of-all-trades’ kind of workouts.
Why? Because it engages with your whole body. Arms, legs, and core are trained while pushing the limits of your resistance.
How To Do Burpees?
1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower your body and place your palms on the floor, fingers pointing away from you and remaining shoulder-width apart.
3. In a swift, but controlled, move to throw your legs backward into a pushup position, perform a single pushup, and then quickly reverse the movement, finally jumping up when you stand. That’s 1 rep.
NOTE: If you don’t get it correctly at first (thus not receiving the intensity you desire), don’t be discouraged. Albeit simple in concept, it’s really challenging. The trick with this, if not all exercises, is your consistency to improve.
THE HUNDRED
A pilate exercise designed to work out the inner abdominal muscles.
How To Do The Hundred?
1. First, lie down on your back on a yoga mat, with your feet on the floor and your knees bent.
2. One at a time, move your legs up. Your knees should be at a tabletop position while flexing your feet so they remain horizontal.
3. Extend your arms, then lift them (with your fingers pointing away). Raising them about an inch off the ground.
4. Raise your chest and upper back off the ground to contract your abs.
5. Breathe in. Now, move your arms up and down as you hold your chest and neck off the ground. Move your arms up and down, in unison with your breathing. Begin the count.
6. Maintain the position to a count of 100 before pressing your knees in against your chest and exhaling to release the tension from your chest.
7. Repeat these 2 or 3 times if you’re able to, working up to more reps.
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SCISSOR SWITCH OR SCISSOR CRUNCH:
Just like the former (and just as good), this one is aimed to engage your lower abs.
How To Do Scissor Crunches?
1. As usual, lie on your back on the yoga mat, lift your legs toward the ceiling at a 90-degree angle. Your feet should be flexed (toes pointing upwards) and place your hands in the back of your head.
2. Raise and hold your chin to your chest, making your rib cage fold over toward your belly button. If you are doing it correctly, you should feel your lower abs tense.
3. Without rushing, lower one of your legs toward the floor. To maximize your exercise’s purpose, stop your leg before it makes contact with the floor, holding it about an inch above the floor.
4. Raise that leg. Repeat with the other leg, alternating as you hold up your upper body. Repeat for 20 reps.
MOUNTAIN CLIMBER
Just as burpees, this one is tough. But very effective at keeping your core engaged throughout the entire process.
It consists of mini crunches while drawing one knee close to your chest.
Your core must remain stable and straight all the time while you take a foot off the floor, lest you lose balance.
It’s an explosive workout that will shave off your daily calories as you rev up the repetitions.
How To Do Mountain Climbers?
1. First, get yourself in a pushup position with your hands below your shoulders. Your entire body should form a straight line from your head to your toes.
2. Lift your right foot off of the floor, driving your right knee towards your chest.
3. Tap the floor with your right foot and then return to the starting position. Alternate legs with each repetition.
4. As a starter, try making as many burpees as you can for 20 seconds. Rest for another 10 seconds and repeat.
5. Do this for, at least, 4 minutes. You will be left exhausted, high on adrenaline, but accomplished.
JACKKNIFE CRUNCH
The last exercise that’ll help you get rid of belly overhang is Jackknife Crunch. It engages with your lower abdominal muscles.
After a few reps, if you do them right, you’ll feel how your core is tightened.
How To Do Jackknife Crunches?
1. Lying flat on your back, extend your arms up over your ears, as if you were trying to reach the wall behind you. Keep your legs extended on the floor as well.
2. To engage your core, bring your arms up toward your legs. At the same time, bring your extended legs up and back, as if they were trying to reach your head.
3. Bring your legs and arms closer until you can touch your knees, then lower them.
4. Repeat for 20 reps. 3 sets of 20 is a good goal to start with and work up from there.
Benefits of HIIT for getting rid of your belly overhang
High Intensive Interval Training – or HIIT— has been demonstrated to have tremendously beneficial effects for fat loss.
It consists of brief bursts of intense cardiovascular exercises followed by even briefer recovery periods (the rest between sets/exercises).
Primarily aimed at people who lack the time to perform the standard continuous training on a daily basis.
Exercising three times per week using intense workout regimes works just as well as exercising on a daily basis with vigorous, albeit less intense, exercises.
However, The frequency of how much you should exercise is still up in the air, yet more papers support the idea of a HIIT oriented regime.
Last, but not least, set out realistic Fat Loss goals
Motivation is a very driving factor in our decisions, yet just as fickle. To summarize:
– Our motivation is built on the desire to attain a goal. When we don’t see the results just days after starting, our resolution starts shrinking.
– Discipline is just as important, if not more, than motivation. But that’s just not it. You have to be realistic about your goals too.
– Weight loss is often more difficult, and slower process than some people think.
– Don’t fixate on the end result, instead focus on the day to day routine to get there, e.g. being more active, being more selective about your diet, and more.
– Plan out what you really want, how you will achieve, the timeline to do so, and if it fits into your daily schedule as well AND, finally, stick to your plans.
– A healthy decision often leads to more, healthier decisions.
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