How to Lose Belly Fat? 6 Best Exercises to Try

Belly fat, especially visceral belly fat, is metabolically active and is very good at pumping out inflammatory chemicals that mess with certain hormones responsible for controlling hunger, mood, and how the brain works. It can also change the amount of cortisol in your body, which can make you feel very stressed.

Contrary to popular perception, reducing tummy fat is not all about pumping out endless crunches. You also cannot spot-reduce, meaning that you cannot simply lose belly fat alone. To reduce tummy fat, you will need to perform a variety of exercises, some of which especially target your abs, and maintain a calorie deficit diet.

In this article, we will discuss some compound exercises which will work out your entire body and allow you to lose belly fat.

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6 Exercises to Lose Belly Fat

Check out these six exercises that are the most effective when it comes to losing belly fat.

1) Burpees

This is one of the best exercises to lose belly fat. It quickly increases your heart rate and keeps it in the fat burning zone for as long as you continue the exercise. It works your core as well as your chest, shoulders, lats, triceps, and legs.

Here's how you can do this exercise:

• When doing a low squat, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and push your hips back as you lower your body toward the ground.
• Then, put your hands right next to your feet and jump back with your feet so that your chest touches the floor.
• Push your hands into the ground to get into a plank position, and then jump your feet just outside your hands.
• Jump high into the air with your weight on your heels and your arms up high.

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2) Mountain Climbers

This is a unique exercise, for it combines both cardio and ab workouts. This one helps to burn belly fat quickly and effectively. It also works with many of your body muscles at the same time, thereby targeting them as well.

Here's how you can do this exercise:

• Put your wrists right under your shoulders in a high-plank position.
• Keep your core tight by pulling your belly button in toward your spine.
• Bring your right knee to your chest and then back to the plank position.
• Then, bring your left knee up to your chest and back down.
• Continue to alternate sides.

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3) Sprawls

The sprawl is basically a burpee on steroids. It is a full-body belly fat burning exercise that works as many muscles as possible, burns calories, and shapes and tones your upper and lower body, especially your abs. It takes the traditional burpee to the next level by having you touch your chest to the ground and then doing a push-up to plank as you continue the move.

Here's how you can do this exercise:

• Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, squat down, and put your hands on the ground.
• Jump your feet back to a plank position and lower your body to touch the ground.
• Push yourself up into a plank, and then jump your feet outside of your hands into a squat.
• Stand up again--that's one rep!

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4) Russian Twist

The Russian twist is a core exercise that strengthens and defines the oblique muscles. The move is usually done with a medicine ball or plate. You hold a sit-up position with your feet off the ground and rotate your torso from side to side.

Here's how you can do this exercise:

• Sit up straight on the floor with your feet off the ground and your knees bent.
• Hold a medicine ball up to your chest with both hands.
• Lean back with a long, tall spine, holding your torso at a 45-degree angle and keeping your arms a few inches away from your chest.
• From here, turn your torso to the right, pause, and squeeze your right oblique muscles.
• Then turn your torso to the left, pause, and squeeze your left oblique muscles.
• Your ribs, not your arms, should be moving.

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5) BOSU Ball Plank

This is more challenging than a normal plank, and will help you burn belly fat quicker. The BOSU ball tests your balance and works out your abs, obliques, and deep transverse abdominal muscles.

Here's how you can do this exercise:

• Flip a BOSU ball over so that the rubber side is facing up.
• Grab the edges of the flat side with both hands, keeping your hands about shoulder-width apart.
• Hold the plank for 30 to 45 seconds.
• As you get stronger, you can add more time.

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6) Kettlebell Swing

The kettlebell swing could be one of the best ways ever to burn belly fat. To move the heavy iron ball, you need to use big muscle groups that burn fat, like your glutes, hips, and quads. The explosive nature of this move makes your heart rate go through the roof right away, but it also hits you right in the middle.

Here's how you can do this exercise:

• Bend at the hips and hold a kettlebell straight out in front of you with both hands.
• Rock back a little and "hike" the kettlebell between your legs.
• Then, squeeze your glutes, forcefully push your hips forward, and swing the weight up to your shoulders.
• Do the move backwards between your legs and repeat.

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Bottom Line

Tummy fat is especially linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. If you feel that you have ignored your tummy flab enough and are ready to start doing something about it, start performing the above mentioned exercises, and soon you will see a marked difference.