smallkine blogger

Most of us are familiar with the concept of weight training for building muscle and raising metabolism, but what you may not know is that strength training can actually help target abdominal fat. In one study, researchers followed a group of people who lifted weights three times a week for 16 weeks. At the end of that time, they significantly decreased abdominal fat (along with overall body fat) and increased strength and muscle as well. It’s clear that strength training doesn’t just contribute to a leaner body, but a leaner midsection as well.

If you aren’t lifting weights now, there’s no better time to start. Following a simple total body program 2 to 3 times a week will put you on the right track.
Going on a diet is one way to lose weight. But if you do that without adding exercise to the mix, you’re missing out. Not only will exercise help you burn more calories, but when you combine it with a healthy, low-calorie diet, you can actually lose more abdominal fat.

Change Your Diet
Even small changes to your diet can make a difference when you’re trying to lose weight, so don’t feel like you have to follow a strict diet or cut out entire food groups.

Start Exercising
If you’re not a fan of exercise, one reason may be because you haven’t spent time doing things you enjoy. One sure way to skip exercise is to plan workouts you hate. Start simple and easy with walking, swimming, stretching, yoga or basic strength training. The bottom line is to start where you are, not where you want to be.

Interval training is great for burning calories and building endurance, but it’s also a great way to target more abdominal fat. In one study, researchers compared interval workouts with steady state exercise and found that exercisers lost more abdominal fat when doing interval training. That doesn’t mean that steady state exercise isn’t important or that you have to do interval training all the time. However, adding intervals to your routine will not only give you better results, it will also help you push your limits and keep your workouts a little more exciting.

During your regular workout, add 3 to 5 short bursts of high intensity exercise. Work as hard as you can for as long as you can (around 30 or more seconds), slow down and completely recover before going into the next interval.

Create a walk/run interval workout. Alternate 1 minute of walking with 30 seconds of sprinting or hill climbs. Repeat for 20 or more minutes. Try MP3 interval workouts. The cardio series is just one option for using your MP3 player for interval workouts. You’ve read that interval training or other cardio exercises can help reduce body fat and that strength training can as well, so it makes sense that including both in your weekly routine would help reduce belly fat even more.

Mad props to Paige Waehner from About.com, for this awesome info. Thanx sistah!