One of the most common wellness goals throughout the aging process is to lose extra weight around the waist. Gaining belly fat is a common phenomenon that occurs as we get older, and roughly 41 percent of the entire world has abdominal obesity. One reason this happens is due to a slowing metabolism but a few additional factors might contribute to this. The information ahead describes how belly fat accumulates over the years, ways to help reduce belly fat, and exercise that help to slim the waistline.
What Risks are Associated with Excess Belly Fat?
While having a little bit more around the waistline generally can be considered cosmetic, excessive fat around the waist can be a burden on health. When fat accumulates around the waist, it can be considered abdominal obesity if it is too much. Some common health conditions associated with excessive obesity include:
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Hypertension
- Reproductive issues for men and women
How Does Fat Accumulate Around the Waist?
Throughout the years, body fat can accumulate all over, but one of the most common areas of the body where fat accumulates most is the midsection, or the abdomen, known as belly fat. As we eat food and consume calories the body stores it in fat cells, which are called adipose cells. These adipose cells can hold almost an endless amount of energy and the more that is consumed means the more that is stored. In order to use up this energy stored, the body has to burn calories through exercise and with daily activities. Exercises that are geared towards combating belly fat can help to alleviate this issue, in addition to burning calories for weight loss.
How Does Exercise Help Shred Body Fat?
Exercise is one of the best and most efficient ways to burn fat in the body. With daily exercise and controlled diet, body fat can slowly diminish depending on the activity being performed. For example, high intensity exercise is a more efficient and quicker way to lose total body fat when compared to moderate intensity exercise. In addition, moderate intensity exercise is more sustainable, so these types of activities might be more effective long-term. Finding a good balance with exercise can certainly help to lose body fat and lean the belly area.
5 Exercises to Combat Body Fat
- Cardio and Aerobic Exercise.
One of the most efficient ways to lose body fat is to perform aerobic exercise which is known as cardio. Aerobic exercises involve any kind of activity that elevates the heart rate for an extended period of time. In order for it to be considered cardio exercise, the activity should last for at least 10 minutes, longer is preferable. Current recommendations for losing body fat include aerobic exercise for about 30 minutes every single day and the closer to 60 minutes a day the better. The goal for most people to lose body fat is to bring the heart rate to a moderate level or about 60 to 80% of your heart rate maximum. In order to reach this level, subtract 220 – your age and multiply by 60% and also 80% to get this range. Types of aerobic exercise includes:
- Jogging
- Cycling
- Walking
- Hiking
- Jump rope
- Skating
- Swimming
- High Intensity Interval Training.
One type of exercise that has gained interest in recent years is high intensity interval training. This type of exercise has been shown to be beneficial to lose body fat, in addition to belly fat, while increasing muscle mass. One of the best perks to performing high intensity interval training is that you don’t have to perform extremely long exercise sessions to get the benefit. In addition, many people find this type of exercise to be more fun than traditional aerobic activity. There are many types of HIIT workouts to perform and pairing exercises together can make any workout more effective. Common workouts include a certain amount of time for exercise followed by either rest or a different exercise.
- Free Weights.
Using free weights with weight training not only builds muscle mass in targeted areas, but the abdominal and core muscles are used quite a bit for stabilization. In addition, free weights can help to add muscle mass so that your body can have an underlying great muscular tone. This muscular tone involves maintaining muscle mass when not exercising and at rest, which requires more calories. This is an important way to boost your metabolism so that you can shred belly fat. Aim for free weight exercises such as deadlifts, squats, biceps curls, shoulder press, and bench press to gain this important metabolism boost.
- Core Exercises.
It should be known that strictly working abdominal and core muscles does not directly lead to reduced belly fat. However, building muscle mass at the core can help to increase muscular tone in a big area of the body, which helps to boost metabolism. Working core muscles can also help to alleviate and prevent back issues from occurring, can boost aesthetics, and can enhance self-esteem. Some core exercises to regularly include are crunches, back extensions, trunk twists, and bicycle crunches.
- Pilates.
A tough workout that can help to shred fat and combat belly fat is Pilates. Known for its eccentric muscle holds, Pilates works the core, legs and arms using a wide range of motion. This is a great way to burn calories, boost metabolism, and slim down.
Special Considerations For Exercise
There are many perks for exercise to consider, but before starting any exercise program it is important to consult with your doctor to see if this activity is safe for your body. Many adults have health issues that could limit exercise capacity, so discussing this with your doctor can help to prevent injury and possible harm to your health. Also, if you have no prior experience with exercise, consider hiring a personal trainer to assist with proper technique so that you can safely workout.
References
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.25.21250457v1.full
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35282360
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/exercise/art-20050999
