How Do I Get Rid of My Belly Puff?
What in the world is belly puff? A friend of mine cleverly came up with this name and I loved it so much it inspired me to use it as part of my blog title. Now that I have your attention let me begin.
It’s a new year and fitness resolutions are on the minds of many people looking to improve or adjust their fitness routine. So what is the main question I hear that drives most fitness resolutions: “How do I get rid of belly fat? Also referred to as the belly puff, muffin top, jelly belly, spare tire, or beer gut.
If you are looking to lose belly fat, you’re not alone. Burning off belly fat is the goal that almost everyone seems to have when going to the gym yet an objective that so few people actually ever accomplish.
When you come to learn a few key strategies, you can succeed with this goal and get that slim waist that you desire. Belly fat does tend to be a bit more stubborn than other fat on other areas of the body, but with enough effort and determination, it’s beatable.
Let’s have a look at what you should be doing to lose belly fat in terms of diet and exercise.
Get Your Diet in High Gear
Have you ever heard, “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym?” Although, I have absolutely no idea where that quote came from, this statement has some truth to it. When you get your diet in “high gear” that is healthy and well-balanced it all comes down to the must-do for losing belly fat…Get your diet in line. If you’re not paying attention to the foods you’re eating on a daily basis, you’re really missing out. Diet easily accounts for up to 80% of the results you see with fat loss, so make sure you are mindful of the following tips:
--Keep your total calories in check with portion control.
--Protein with each snack and meal.
--Carbohydrates are mostly coming from nutrient-dense sources and not heavily processed foods.
--Fiber-rich foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains can help.
--Small doses of healthy fat included in most meals.
--Drink plenty of water.
Overall, if you can make changes in your diet consistently, you’ll notice belly fat loss moving along more efficiently. Now where does the 20% of effort account for the loss of belly fat and weight loss? Time to look at increasing your physical activity.
Introduce Interval Training
Interval training to your usual cardio workouts can help you burn belly fat. What you’re going to do is alternate a period of higher intensity activity for about 30-60 seconds with a period of much lower intensity activity for twice as long.
You should really be pushing yourself during these intervals – overall challenging enough that you need that rest period in order to continue your workout. For example, perform 5-8 of these intervals and then after that’s complete, continue on with another 15-20 minutes of moderate paced cardio activity. Although this is great for intermediate and advanced exercisers, if you are a beginner you can make modifications. For example, start a walking program that builds your endurance, but also burns calories.
Overall, having these intervals before the moderate paced cardio activity is what I consider an excellent fat burning combination. So don’t step off as soon as the intervals are done like most people. By having that bit of time at the end, you’ll boost the overall fat burning dramatically.
Focus On Compound Weight Lifting
The next thing that you should add to your workout program to help burn belly fat is compound weight lifting. Simply put, if you want to promote maximum fat burning in the long run, there’s no better activity than weight training. Weight training will not only totally reshape your body allowing you to make a complete transformation, but you’ll also boost your metabolic rate for hours after the session is finished. Since belly fat requires you to lose fat from all over your body (as spot reduction isn’t possible), by taking a full body approach you move towards your goal very effectively.
When it comes to selecting your exercises, compound movements are best since you’ll be working a number of muscle groups all at once. The more muscle fibers you stimulate, the more calories you burn and the faster the results you’ll see.
Examples of primary compound movements to focus on include exercises such as the bench press, squats, bent over row and shoulder press. Keep in mind, compound exercises can be done on machines, however lifting with free weights recruit more muscles. So be sure that compound movements involving large muscle groups has a place in your fat burning plan.
Superset Your Exercises
Another smart and very effective way to boost the progress of your workout is to superset two exercises together. So, rather than completing one set of an exercise, resting, and then completing a second, you would perform one set and immediately go and perform another set of an entirely different exercise right after that. Once both sets are done, then take your rest period and repeat. This not only boosts your metabolism and helps you burn fat faster, but it also helps shorten the total duration of your workout sessions as well.
Final Thoughts
So there you have my top helpful tips to help shed belly fat and slim down the waist also known as the “belly puff”. Don’t spend hours on the mats doing crunches as that really won’t be effective for losing the fat because spot training does not work. Instead, focus on activities that burn the most calories and use a diet that boosts your metabolism and has you burning off fat as fuel. That is the key to your success to getting rid of the belly puff.
