So, the burning question is:  ”How do I get rid of my belly fat??

The answer doesn’t lie in hundreds of crunches. You can do crunches till you’re blue in the face–it won’t reduce the fat located in your belly (dang it!).  At best, you’ll get stronger abs.  Crunches aren’t my favorite exercise for strong abs–but we’ll save the “say no to the ‘all crunch’ workout” rant for another day.

The key to seeing your abs is to eat and exercise for fat loss, not necessarily for weight loss. You can severely restrict your calorie intake and you’ll lose weight–but what have you really lost???  Probably some calorie burning muscle!  Your body consists of fat mass and lean body mass (water, muscle, bone, organs, etc.). You want to minimize your fat mass and maximize your lean body mass.  This will raise your metabolic rate and help you burn more calories all day long.  So, crash dieting or eating a very low calorie diet may actually set you back in your quest for lean, flat abs.

Here are my suggestions to drop body fat in order to reveal lean, toned abs:

-Eat small meals throughout the day that consist mainly of lean protein, produce and monounsaturated fats (like olive oil, nuts, canola oil and avocado).  Monounsaturated fats have been featured in the “Flat Belly Diet” promoted by Prevention Magazine.  Eaten in moderation, they seem to help with weight loss.

-Minimize processed junk food. It’s usually high in calories and this will not lead to successful fat loss.

-Go easy on grain based foods (most of us tend to eat too many—yours truly included!).  When you do eat grain based foods, make them whole grain (oatmeal, whole wheat bread, brown or wild rice).

-Strength train hard. Put down the pink Barbie weights and lift to fatigue!  Research has shown that test subjects who did aggressive strength training lost inches from their midsection.  Your best bet is to focus on burning as many calories during your workouts as possible by engaging your whole body each and every training session. Multi-joint movements like squats, push-ups, and lunges (or better yet, total body exercises like a squat-to-press) burn a lot more calories than single joint movements. I don’t have a problem with single joint exercises (like biceps curls), but I’d like to see most of your exercises in any given workout be multi-joint exercises.   You’ll strengthen all your major muscle groups this way and you’ll burn lots of calories. When you come to boot camp, Jackie and I take care of this for you by giving you lots of multi-joint exercises to do!

-Include interval training as part of your cardio workout.  Interval training has been shown to burn WAY more calories during a workout than “steady state” exercise at a moderate exertion level.  In addition, your metabolism stays elevated for awhile after a hard workout–burning more calories for you again!

-Mix up your cardio routine. Notice how you get better at certain cardio workouts over time?  Yep.  You’re getting more efficient.  But that’s not what you want when you work out!  Mix up your routine so that your body doesn’t acclimate.  Stay inefficient!  Keep your body guessing and working hard by changing up your cardio interval routines (hey, we do this for you at boot camp, too!).

-Get enough calcium. Some research has shown the people on fat loss programs who get adequate calcium lose more fat than those who don’t consume calcium.

So, there you have it, my suggestions for whittling down your belly fat.

Questions?  Comments?  Please leave them below.

Let’s make our last week of July camp a great one!

Committed to your (fat loss) success,

Becky

P.S.  A warm welcome to a few “late entries” to our July camps:

Campbell boot camp:  Welcome, Kelsey!

Almaden boot camp:  Welcome Marnie, Maritza and Lori!

A recent study published by the University of Virginia confirms that, although ANY type of exercise is beneficial to our health, high-intensity exercise is necessary to achieve significant body fat loss.

The study involved 27 middle-aged obese women randomized into one of 3 groups:  One group didn’t do any exercise, one group performed low-intensity exercise 5 days per week, and one group performed low intensity exercise 2 days a week and high-intensity exercise 3 days a week .  The study didn’t involve any type of dietary intervention.  

The high-intensity group reduced total abdominal fat, subcutaneous (under the skin) abdominal fat and visceral fat (fat surrounding internal abdominal organs) more than low intensity group–and of course way more than the control group who did not exercise.

Aside from the aesthetic benefits of narrowing our waistlines, there are serious health benefits to be had here!  ”For obese women entering the middle and later stages of life, reducing internal abdominal fat or preventing too much of it forming is crucial”, says Dr. Arthur Weltman, the lead scientist in the study.  Excessive amounts of abdominal fat are associated with the development of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

This was a small study done only on women, but it’s not the first of it’s kind.  Other researchers have found similar results in both male and female populations.  And, a big gut is just as dangerous for the guys as it is for gals.

Now, if you’re new to exercise you must work up to higher intensities.  Starting out too hard too soon can bring a well-intentioned exercise program to a screeching halt!  Build up slowly and consistently to higher intensity exercise. One way to do this is through interval training which employs short bouts of hard exercise followed by recovery exercise.

The moral of today’s story:  If you want to lose belly fat, increase your exercise intensity instead of adding more crunches to your workout!

Make it a great day,

Becky

In case you want to read the study yourself:

Effect of Exercise Training Intensity on Abdominal Visceral Fat and Body Composition.

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 40(11):1863-1872, November 2008.