Losing the Belly Fat and Finding Your Abs
Isn\’t it wonderful to be able to wear body-fit clothes without worrying a protruding stomach? Nowadays, many people are conscious of their outside appearance. We try different things to achieve a body that is belly-free, from attending gym classes to taking diet pills.
There are two ways to achieve a belly-free body – Exercise and Diet.
1) Exercise: We often hear people say exercise is good. Aside from helping you prevent diseases and illnesses it helps reduce fat especially from the abdomen. Most gyms now offer classes and training to quickly improve your abs. But to those who can\’t go to a gym, there are different kinds of abdominal exercises that you can do at home.
The most popular abdominal exercise is the sit-up. This helps strengthen the hip flexor and abdominal muscles. It starts with lying with the back on a flat surface or ground. The arms can be across the chest or behind the head. The knees are bent and the toes and heels are flat on the ground. Slowly and gently lift the head followed by the shoulder blades.
Another alternative for sit-up is the crunch. There are different types of crunches that you can do – Twist crunches, Side crunches, Reverse crunches and Seated V-crunches.
Aside from abdominal exercises, swimming, walking, running and cycling will also help you get into shape.
2) Eat well: Exercising will be of no used if you will not watch what you eat. Limit your intake of foods that are high in sugar and also avoid salty foods. Replace juices and fizzy drinks with water, candies and chocolate with fruits. Try to also avoid alcohol drinks which we all know contain sugar as well.
Foods rich in fiber are also good for your body. Small intake of fiber-rich food is very filling. Some examples of these foods are apples, bananas, beans, spinach, sweet corn, carrots, peas, whole meal brown bread and bran cereals.
Whether you want to have flat abs or just want to stay fit and healthy, keep in mind that you need at least 5 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits in a day and plenty of water.
Six pack abs is not merely for aesthetic purpose alone. It improves posture and prevents lower back injuries. Beneath the abdominal muscles are vital organs, strong abs is helping protect these parts.
Doing abdominal crunches is good, but not enough to have a strong defined core muscle. Cardiovascular exercise is of great importance as well. Intense cardio like running, swimming, biking, dancing or aerobics will do the trick.
Exercise routines that increase heart rate are good at burning fats. Just 20 minutes of varied intense cardio is enough, divide 20 minutes into 2 to 3 parts, like brisk walking to jogging then running, this way the muscles will warm up before more intense routines.
After that you can go straight to resistance exercise. Resistance training in general will strengthen the muscles and give it more definition. If you are just starting your routine you might want to start with just what your body can handle, start crunches the normal way, no weights, no equipment etc. As your strength and endurance increases, the duration and amount of resistance may be increased with time. However, cardio and resistance training is futile without proper diet.
It is strongly advised to eat small frequent meals. Be mindful of food intake, less carbohydrates and fats, more protein. If you have special health conditions it is best to seek advice from medical professionals or dietician.
With the combination of intense cardiovascular exercise, resistance training and proper diet, what used to be just a dream of a six pack abs can become reality.
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Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: interval training, cardio, weight loss, recovery intervals, belly fat, lose belly fat