a beautiful belly
Almost everyone has a belly and in the United States 65% of them are bigger than they should be. A big belly is a health risk. The bigger your belly, the higher your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke. Women are at higher risk when their waist measures 37 inches or more in circumference. Men are at higher risk when their belly is 40 inches or larger. Get out your tape measure and assess your risk. How did you do it? Time to get to work on that gut.
An easy stomach to wash
What if I told you that if you did 33 crunches every day, your belly fat would melt away? I would be lying It’s really 34. Just kidding. There is no magic number or exercise that preferentially burns belly fat. Exercising a part of the body to make it thinner is called spot reduction. Unfortunately our bodies don’t work like that.
When you exercise you burn calories. Some of those calories come from fat. We store fat all over the body and when needed we take a little from here and a little from there. It seems like the last place you lose fat is the place you’d like to lose it first. The famous last five pounds always seems to be on your belly. Seeing the six pack requires patience, persistence, and a disciplined diet.
Eat for a six pack
Eat all the chocolate chip cookies you want and have ripped abs. Ha! Desire. Creating a washboard stomach requires burning stored body fat. Burning stored body fat requires you to be in a calorie deficit. You know what that means: eating less than you need. Prepare to feel hungry on your way to the perfect stomach. Eating less than you need is not easy. Here are four tips to help you eat fewer calories than you need and still feel great.
1) Hydrate. When you feel hungry, drink some water. Try to drink a quart of water 10 minutes before eating. Drinking water helps you feel full. Drink up to a gallon of water a day.
2) Fill up on fiber. Choose foods that are high in fiber and low in calories. Celery, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Swiss chard, and spinach are examples of low-calorie, high-fiber foods. Include these types of foods in all your meals.
3) Fruit snack. Fruit is also low in calories and high in fiber. Most fruits also contain a lot of water. The combination of water and fiber makes fruit a filling, low-calorie snack. When you’re hungry, grab an apple, an orange, a plum, a peach, a pear, a mango, or an apricot.
4) Exercise. Exercise is a great way to reduce your appetite, take your mind off food, and burn extra calories. Sometimes a brisk 10-minute walk is enough.
In addition to eating right, you will also need to exercise. Exercise not only burns calories, but also makes you stronger and healthier.
Exercise for big abs
To get rid of the belly, you can do two types of exercise: cardio and strength training. You should strive to get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio every day of the week. Depending on your state of health and fitness, you can do more or less. A full body strength workout consisting of a set of 10-12 exercises with 12-15 repetitions done 2-3 times per week would be perfect. Here are three exercises specifically to strengthen your core (your abdomen and lower back):
the float
If you want a flat stomach, the Hover will be your new best friend.
The muscle you work doing this exercise is called the Transversus Abdominus, TA for short. It is the muscle that actually allows you to flatten your tummy. The TA fibers run from the front of your body to the back of your body. When you tuck in to button your jeans, you are contracting your AT.
The Hover is also one of the best exercises to prevent lower back pain. The TA is your own backup belt.
Your TA is also important in keeping all your abdominal organs in place. When all your organs are where they should be, your digestion improves and your energy levels increase. Your TA is your deepest core muscle and stabilizes your spine as you move. So if you want to stand taller, move more gracefully, and have a flatter stomach, strengthen your core with a daily Hover.
So here’s what Hover can do for you:
o Flatten the stomach
o Helps eliminate back pain
o Strengthen and stabilize your core
o Improves your digestion and energy level
o Improve your posture
How to hover:
Begin by lying on your stomach with your elbow directly under your shoulder.
Curl your toes under and lift your body off the ground.
Pull your belly button in toward your spine.
Remember to breathe.
To make the hover a bit easier, you can do it on your knees instead of on your toes.
If you need more of a challenge, you can put up one foot.
Try to float for at least a minute.
back extension
While this doesn’t work the stomach, it is a crucial core exercise. To have a strong stomach you need a strong back. You have your back muscles and your stomach muscles and your spine in between. In order for your spine to stay healthy, it needs a balance of strength from front to back. Doing stomach exercises without good back extension sets you up for low back pain. Low back pain is the second most common reason people visit their doctor. So, do your back extensions.
How to do a back extension:
Begin by lying on your stomach with your arms extended at your sides like the wings of an airplane and your palms facing down.
Take a deep breath. As you exhale, lift your head, chest, and arms off the floor as high as you can.
Keep your chin tucked down so the back of your neck stays long and in good alignment with the rest of your spine.
Raise your hands up and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Inhale as you come back down to the ground.
Try 15-20 back extensions.
ABS
While crunches won’t flatten your stomach, they will make it stronger. We can all use a little more force. The abdominals work a muscle called the rectus abdominis. The rectus abdominus is your six pack muscle.
How to do crunches:
Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor.
Cross your hands over your chest.
Take a deep breath. Then, as you exhale, tuck your chin slightly against your chest (this helps support your head and prevents neck injury) and slowly, using your stomach muscles, roll over, bringing your head closer to your knees.
Go slow and focus on really feeling this in your stomach. Try 15-20 repetitions.
Tips to take:
If you want to have abs that show, focus on eating right every day and exercising consistently. Keeping track of how many calories you eat in a food journal is a great way to hold yourself accountable for eating right. Be patient with yourself. Six-pack abs don’t appear overnight. Enjoy the trip!