Best exercises to reduce belly fat

simongurnick · 13-10-2020 2:17pm #1

Hi folks
Hoping for some advice here.

Quick background: been on a weight loss journey the last few years. Tipped the scale at 280 (6ft man) and then lost about 30 lbs on weight watchers. Over the next 18 mths put back about 10 lbs. Then at the start of lockdown i put on a few more and clocked in at 260.
Started using Noom and have lost 15 lbs in 4 months, pretty much a pound a week. It's decent enough but not as much as I hoped.
Through all this I keep fairly active and was a regular soccer and basketball player, did a spin class and the odd yoga session.
Personally I have found my weight loss to be 90% diet (reduced calories) and 10% exercise.
With that being said, would anyone recommend specific exercise to attack my belly fat? I basically have a beer belly, with no fat elsewhere and have a decent bit of stamina, despite the weight.

thanks in advance.

Mr. CooL ICE · 13-10-2020 3:19pm

Unfortunately, nope. It's not possible to target areas for fat loss, unless you go down the surgical route. You'll just have to keep doing what you're doing and the belly fat will eventually go, but will probably be the last.

What you could do is look at building some muscle definition so that the belly is less prominent, but that's not what you're specifically looking for.

Regardless, well done on the weight loss so far

simongurnick · 14-10-2020 12:34am

Mr. CooL ICE wrote: »

Unfortunately, nope. It's not possible to target areas for fat loss, unless you go down the surgical route. You'll just have to keep doing what you're doing and the belly fat will eventually go, but will probably be the last.

What you could do is look at building some muscle definition so that the belly is less prominent, but that's not what you're specifically looking for.

Regardless, well done on the weight loss so far

Thanks mate. Yeah, need to drop some fat for now but another 20 lbs and I could switch the focus to muscle.

Padre_Pio · 14-10-2020 12:37am

simongurnick wrote: »

Thanks mate. Yeah, need to drop some fat for now but another 20 lbs and I could switch the focus to muscle.

Just keep on doing what you're doing.
Unfortunately the belly is probably the last thing to go.

AllForIt · 14-10-2020 1:59am

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Just keep on doing what you're doing.
Unfortunately the belly is probably the last thing to go.

Yeah been through a few cycles myself over the years and that's the way it goes. Belly always the last to go. Legs first I find, face, belly last. It's a pity it works that way because so many starting off don't see it going from the one place they wan't it to go the most and get disheartening when in fact they are doing fine and just need to keep going with it.

simongurnick · 14-10-2020 2:26pm

AllForIt wrote: »

Yeah been through a few cycles myself over the years and that's the way it goes. Belly always the last to go. Legs first I find, face, belly last. It's a pity it works that way because so many starting off don't see it going from the one place they wan't it to go the most and get disheartening when in fact they are doing fine and just need to keep going with it.

Yeah, that's a good point. I'm looking at this as a year long campaign. drop 52 lbs and I'll be pretty close to where I need to be. Also, along the way I'm learning a few tips and tricks that will always stick with me.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with this challenge.

Kevhog1988 · 14-10-2020 2:29pm

Its a long slog im afraid and like others have said the belly is probably last to go.
My new thing is to do 30 situps during each of these stupid work calls im on every day when others are talking ****e lol. Best of luck on everything

bladespin · 14-10-2020 3:11pm

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

Its a long slog im afraid and like others have said the belly is probably last to go.
My new thing is to do 30 situps during each of these stupid work calls im on every day when others are talking ****e lol. Best of luck on everything

You'd be far better off running on the spot or doing a HIIT routine, situps don't really do much unless you're already low bf.

Cill94 · 15-10-2020 11:30am

Unfortunately it's a daily set of plate push-aways.

PooPooPooPoo · 15-10-2020 11:32am

Unfotunately no exercises target specific fat regions. The only advice is to consume less than required and you will start losing fat around the midsection.

It may not help lose the weight, but the waist and ab sets will help tighten the muscles in those regions and give the effect of weight loss.

scilover · 16-10-2020 5:15am

YOu can try losing your belly fat by doing planks. While burning fat on the stomach, it also helps increase your packs.

Dtp1979 · 16-10-2020 7:27am

scilover wrote: »

YOu can try losing your belly fat by doing planks. While burning fat on the stomach, it also helps increase your packs.

1986 called. It wants it’s sports science back

Patsy167 · 16-10-2020 9:49am

Cill94 wrote: »

Unfortunately it's a daily set of plate push-aways.

This. Plus, 20 reps of Fork Put-downs every other day.

Cill94 · 16-10-2020 10:13am

scilover wrote: »

YOu can try losing your belly fat by doing planks. While burning fat on the stomach, it also helps increase your packs.

Might be time to reconsider your username.

bladespin · 16-10-2020 1:03pm

scilover wrote: »

YOu can try losing your belly fat by doing planks. While burning fat on the stomach, it also helps increase your packs.

Absolutely the least effective way of burning any sort of fat.

FA12345 · 19-10-2020 12:32pm

While I agree with the PPs above (except for sit ups and planks!), you wont be able to target the fat as such.

However slow steady state cardio (such as walking at a good pace for an hour a day) will help to burn fat instead of gylcogen (glucose stored in muscle). Also removing as many toxins from your lifestyle might help too - smoking, alcohol, sugar.

Other than that - keep doing what you're doing! You may not be 100% happy with losing 1lb per week however, in the long term - the slower the weight loss, the longer the results. Losing weight very quickly is not good for your metabolism and anyway is not sustainable or enjoyable!

simongurnick · 20-10-2020 9:54pm

FA12345 wrote: »

While I agree with the PPs above (except for sit ups and planks!), you wont be able to target the fat as such.

However slow steady state cardio (such as walking at a good pace for an hour a day) will help to burn fat instead of gylcogen (glucose stored in muscle). Also removing as many toxins from your lifestyle might help too - smoking, alcohol, sugar.

Other than that - keep doing what you're doing! You may not be 100% happy with losing 1lb per week however, in the long term - the slower the weight loss, the longer the results. Losing weight very quickly is not good for your metabolism and anyway is not sustainable or enjoyable!

Thanks mate. Sound advice. Don't smoke or like sweet things, but I am fond of a beer, so need to keep that in check for sure. Onwards and upwards!

bladespin · 21-10-2020 12:59pm

simongurnick wrote: »

Thanks mate. Sound advice. Don't smoke or like sweet things, but I am fond of a beer, so need to keep that in check for sure. Onwards and upwards!

As an aside - try not to weigh yourself the day after a few, your body will retain water etc and will put weight up - should settle to normal after a couple of days.

simongurnick · 21-10-2020 10:02pm

bladespin wrote: »

As an aside - try not to weigh yourself the day after a few, your body will retain water etc and will put weight up - should settle to normal after a couple of days.

Cheers. My program has me weighing in every morning, but then it charts it out to show the trends over weeks and months.
After a few months I can almost tell what I'll be up after a few beers the night before.
Thanks for the tip.

johnnyskeleton · 22-10-2020 7:55pm

simongurnick wrote: »

Thanks mate. Yeah, need to drop some fat for now but another 20 lbs and I could switch the focus to muscle.

I find this position unusual for a number of reasons:

1) it makes sense that cardio is harder if youre carrying a lot of excess fat, but resistance training can be done no matter your body fat

2) it is recommended to mix cardio and resistance training sessions, so theres a benefit to mixing up your workouts

3) lifting weights doesnt consume many calories in itself, but building and maintaining muscle does.

4) resistance training can boost athletic perfomance so you get more bang from your buck when you do run.

My advice is to mix in some squats and back/chest weight training. These are the bigger more useful muscles and are the best way to reduce your bodyfat. You dont have to do a tonne of them, maybe do 20 mins on the days when you arent doing neither other training nor on a deliberate rest day

simongurnick · 23-10-2020 8:15pm

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

I find this position unusual for a number of reasons:

1) it makes sense that cardio is harder if youre carrying a lot of excess fat, but resistance training can be done no matter your body fat

2) it is recommended to mix cardio and resistance training sessions, so theres a benefit to mixing up your workouts

3) lifting weights doesnt consume many calories in itself, but building and maintaining muscle does.

4) resistance training can boost athletic perfomance so you get more bang from your buck when you do run.

My advice is to mix in some squats and back/chest weight training. These are the bigger more useful muscles and are the best way to reduce your bodyfat. You dont have to do a tonne of them, maybe do 20 mins on the days when you arent doing neither other training nor on a deliberate rest day

Thanks man. This is the sort of direction I need. I love team sports but thats all out the window now with covid. So have to train solo and would prefer not to be pissing into the wind and doing the "wrong" thing, as such...although all exercise has benefits too.
Cheers

Hector.Mann · 28-10-2020 5:11am

Keep up the good work

JustAThought · 28-10-2020 5:18am

Have you tried looking inline for free home cardio or weight training classes? The internet is awash with them! Might help?

Thespoofer · 28-10-2020 5:22am

Rowing. Will strip it off.

Alf Veedersane · 28-10-2020 8:22am

Thespoofer wrote: »

Rowing. Will strip it off.

As good an exercise as rowing is, it won't strip anything off unless the diet is in check as has been said already here.

Thespoofer · 28-10-2020 10:00pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

As good an exercise as rowing is, it won't strip anything off unless the diet is in check as has been said already here.

Title asked for best exercise, I gave my opinion.

Alf Veedersane · 28-10-2020 11:48pm

Thespoofer wrote: »

Title asked for best exercise, I gave my opinion.

And I gave a fact.

Nothing to fall out over.

Rowing is a great exercise and once upon a time, I'd have said the one thing I'd buy for lockdown is a C2.

But the premise of the OP is flawed. The belly fat will largely be reduced through diet with exercise aiding that and fundamentally the exercise they enjoy enough to do regularly will be the best to support their endeavours.

ciara17 · 31-10-2020 1:58pm

Here are some easy exercises to reduce belly Fats.

1. Running or walking
2. Bicycling
3. Exercise ball crunch
4. Planks
5. Reverse crunch

Dtp1979 · 31-10-2020 1:59pm

ciara17 wrote: »

Here are some easy exercises to reduce belly Fats.

1. Running or walking
2. Bicycling
3. Exercise ball crunch
4. Planks
5. Reverse crunch

No. No.

ThewhiteJesus · 31-10-2020 2:01pm

It’s the old adage, you can’t outrun a bad diet, I fail on this but keep trying,
Less processed more fresh

yabadabado · 31-10-2020 2:07pm

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

My new thing is to do 30 situps during each of these stupid work calls im on every day when others are talking ****e lol. Best of luck on everything

I was recently thinking about this,while stuck inside WFH .
What is a good exercise do do with the 10 or so minute's of spare time in a small home office?

Dtp1979 · 31-10-2020 2:16pm

yabadabado wrote: »

I was recently thinking about this,while stuck inside WFH .
What is a good exercise do do with the 10 or so minute's of spare time in a small home office?

Squats, pull-ups if possible and push-ups.

Alf Veedersane · 31-10-2020 4:19pm

yabadabado wrote: »

I was recently thinking about this,while stuck inside WFH .
What is a good exercise do do with the 10 or so minute's of spare time in a small home office?

10 mins of spare time?

Limber 11:

Not an exercise per se, but with 10 mins it is a good investment. You can do sets of pull ups, push ups, etc throughout the day.

Might take a little longer than 10 mins to be fair.

yabadabado · 31-10-2020 5:59pm

Yeah would have a few times during the day when I need to be close to PC but not actually doing any work.

Something for 10 mins that doesn't need equipment etc would be ideal ,can't leave the room but especially just babysitting uploads.

Black Sheep · 31-10-2020 7:15pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Yeah would have a few times during the day when I need to be close to PC but not actually doing any work.

Something for 10 mins that doesn't need equipment etc would be ideal ,can't leave the room but especially just babysitting uploads.

Get a door frame pull-up bar and do pull-ups? You could super-set with push-ups.

For lower body always fun to do pistols, or practice a progression to getting one if you can't do one.

bladespin · 02-11-2020 11:45am

ciara17 wrote: »

Here are some easy exercises to reduce belly Fats.

1. Running or walking
2. Bicycling
3. Exercise ball crunch
4. Planks
5. Reverse crunch

Nope :rolleyes:

scilover · 03-11-2020 4:54am

The best way to burn body fat is through cardio exercises such as running, walking, elliptical training and bicycling. With these exercises, burning stomach fat, shedding love handles, and building a six-pack is completely do-able.

I do sit up and plank a lot and it does help me with my belly fat. You can try to

Mars Bar · 03-11-2020 5:57am

scilover wrote: »

The best way to burn body fat is through cardio exercises such as running, walking, elliptical training and bicycling. With these exercises, burning stomach fat, shedding love handles, and building a six-pack is completely do-able.

I do sit up and plank a lot and it does help me with my belly fat. You can try to

As bladespin put so succinctly in the post above

Nope. :rolleyes:

Omega28 · 03-11-2020 6:11am

Remember that episode of Fr.Ted about the stolen whistle?

Well, there was a line in one of the scenes and I'll quote it now "PUT THE FORK DOWN ".

It's the hardest exercise to get right.

Eat LESS. Move MORE.

Keep it simple, enjoyable and consistent. No need to get fancy regarding certain exercises.

Alf Veedersane · 03-11-2020 8:09am

scilover wrote: »

The best way to burn body fat is through cardio exercises such as running, walking, elliptical training and bicycling. With these exercises, burning stomach fat, shedding love handles, and building a six-pack is completely do-able.

I do sit up and plank a lot and it does help me with my belly fat. You can try to

This is your second time suggesting planks will reduce belly fat. It wasn't correct the first time.

Cardio will help insofar as it will burn calories. The vast majority of the time, there are too many calories being consumed so the first thing the person should be doing is reducing those excess calories.

By all means do some exercise for health but in most cases, it's not going to the main route through which you reduce calorie intake. Exercise you enjoy doing and will continue to do because you enjoy will be your best bet.

Also, you cannot target where you burn fat from. No exercise will specifically burn belly fat. A calorie deficit will help with fat loss. Where that fat comes off first, you can't dictate.

This has all already been said in the thread.

Planks will not do it. Nor will sit ups. And nothing will specifically reduce fat from the belly.

And they all lived happily ever after. The end.

SortingYouOut · 03-11-2020 8:14am

It's not as simple as calories in - calories out, we can train our cells to become more effectient when burning fat. If you're not in a calorie deficit however, you'lI not lose anything. I find fasted exercise is a great fat burner as your glycogen levels are usually lower, depending on how long you've fasted but again, if you over eat after fasting, you'll gain weight.

Obviously a poor diet will counteract anything done, so that should be the primary focus. I personally find results by reducing carb intake and taking in wholegrain carbs only to limit insulin response but everyone's different, some can gorge on white bread and not suffer the consequences.

Building muscle is a great way of increasing your resting metabolism, so you'll be burning more at rest. Easy win.

Alf Veedersane · 03-11-2020 8:27am

SortingYouOut wrote: »

It's not as simple as calories in - calories out, we can train our cells to become more effectient when burning fat. I find fasted exercise is a great fat burner as your glycogen levels are usually lower, depending on how long you've fasted.

For the vast majority of people it is as simple as calories in / calories out.

Fasted cardio won't really be any better than cardio over the course of the day (as opposed to just looking at the effect of fasted cardio vs fed cardio in isolation)

ETA: but that's going down an unnecessary rabbit hole here and your edit has said quantity of food is the primary driver so we're in agreement

Omega28 · 03-11-2020 9:47am

Planks, sit ups, squats, fasted cardio? Yer all going mad.

I'll keep it simple.

1. Control your food INTAKE i.e ⬇️ intake.

2. Exercise (any form of exercise will do).

Cill94 · 03-11-2020 11:03am

Omega28 wrote: »

Planks, sit ups, squats, fasted cardio? Yer all going mad.

I'll keep it simple.

1. Control your food INTAKE i.e ⬇️ intake.

2. Exercise (any form of exercise will do).

Yep. It gets really tiresome listening to people complicate this process.

Mad_Dave · 03-11-2020 11:46am

https://youtu.be/MY6nKL59L1o

Good video from Jeff Cavalier talking about this subject - ignore the silly click bait video title, he does actually know what he's talking about.

You could also try including daily stomach vacuum exercises to tighten up the transverse abdominis muscle, won't do anything for fat loss but may improve aesthetics.

AMKC · 03-11-2020 11:54am

At OP. I would say cut down on calories and cholesterol. Reduce the amount of potatoes and bread you eat if you can and do not eat after 7 or 6PM if you can. Also cutting out meats like steak can help too. My father used to do all them diets and after each one would end up worse after coming off them so he just does what I posted above as well as some exercise of course and has never been better and he is in his 70s. You can have the odd slice of bread or potatoes but the less the better

iguana · 03-11-2020 12:18pm

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

By all means do some exercise for health but in most cases, it's not going to the main route through which you reduce calorie intake. Exercise you enjoy doing and will continue to do because you enjoy will be your best bet.

It depends on how much exercise you do. In normal non-lockdown life I burn an average of 1000+ calories a day on "exercise." I'm a tiny person so that's close to doubling my daily BMR of 1196. Coupled with normal life stuff with lots of walking around, my 'exercise' allows me to eat twice what I normally would. I think I probably could 'outrun' a bad diet. However, I'm generally buzzing on adrenalin and I strongly desire lots of protein, fruit and veg. I don't monitor calories but I have a strong suspicion that I fall into a type of 5/2 fasting diet as I suspect day to day I eat less calories than I use but every second weekend or so, I eat too much. When I can't exercise I have a stronger desire for shïte food.

What you can do for your belly area is build a really strong core. Yes if you have too much fat over it, you'll never see a 6-pack. But defined abdominals will 'pull up' excess skin. It will help improve posture and just have a great knock on effect as the stronger your core, the better you can perform at most forms of exercise. It will take pressure off your back, easy any lingering back pain and allow you to perform exercises that will strengthen your back muscles in a range of motion. And over all just make everything from exercise to normal life activity better. We call it 'the core' for a reason. As someone who had extensive damage to my belly area from abdominal surgeries followed by pregnancy and c-section, that I spent years being told was just something that I had to accept. I now know that making enormous improvements to this area with diet and exercise is very doable and building a really strong core was key.

You can't spot reduce fat. But you can target where to build muscle. That said, imo, it's best to build strength all over and to do so in a range of motion, so that your strength is functional. I've worked out the areas of my body that my normal exercise doesn't do as much for and I spend a little time each week targeting those muscle groups.

Alf Veedersane · 03-11-2020 12:59pm

iguana wrote: »

It depends on how much exercise you do. In normal non-lockdown life I burn an average of 1000+ calories a day on "exercise." I'm a tiny person so that's close to doubling my daily BMR of 1196. Coupled with normal life stuff with lots of walking around, my 'exercise' allows me to eat twice what I normally would. I think I probably could 'outrun' a bad diet.

I'd venture that you're an outlier all the same.

Dtp1979 · 08-11-2020 8:11pm

AMKC wrote: »

At OP. I would say cut down on calories and cholesterol. Reduce the amount of potatoes and bread you eat if you can and do not eat after 7 or 6PM if you can. Also cutting out meats like steak can help too. My father used to do all them diets and after each one would end up worse after coming off them so he just does what I posted above as well as some exercise of course and has never been better and he is in his 70s. You can have the odd slice of bread or potatoes but the less the better

That’s fairly bad advice. It’s nearly second to doing planks

AllForIt · 08-11-2020 8:26pm

Way back when I got into training after 2 years of being in the gym 5/6 days and week and doing daily outdoor cardio (sometimes twice a day if you include additional leisure cycling and walking) I only lost about 50% of the weight I needed to loose.

There is noting like loosing weigh by fixing your diet especially if you are not young. First of all it is the source of the problem, second of all you will loose the weight a lot faster then exercising and thirdly you will fix the problem that got you overweight in the first place for life if you stick with it. This means if for whatever reason you can't or intentionally stop exercising you won't put the weight back on because you have trained yourself to eat rationally.

And it's actually a lot easier than exercising especially if you have an aversion to physical activity. You don't have to be super cardiovascular fit to get though life but it helps and is recommended. Fix your belly fat with fixing your diet...you know that's what you have to do.

Mellor · 09-11-2020 5:52am

What about a few planks?

Best exercises to reduce belly fat

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