Abdominal fat — belly fat — is one of those things a lot of people have too much of and most want to get rid of …
- Love handles.
- Muffin top.
- Beer gut.
Whatever you want to call it.
I have an older client who has a big ol’ gut. He’s significantly overweight and is always talking about how much he wants to lose that belly. The thing about it is, just working out for 30-40 minutes twice a week ain’t gonna do it. No. 1, it’s not enough. No. 2, losing that gut is more about nutrition than exercise. I try and tell him that, but he doesn’t seem to want to listen.
Why?
Because making changes in longtime lifestyle (eating) habits is HARD.
Make no mistake, exercise is important, but you also gotta eat right.
More lean protein. More vegetables. Fruits and nuts for snacks.
Snacking is one of my downfalls. No more chips; no ice cream; no cookies. Depending on how badly you want it, you can cut those things out completely, or seriously limit them to one time a week.
As far as exercise, interval training is the way to go to rev up the ol’ metabolism and help burn off some of that fat. It’s not a magic bullet, but it definitely helps.
Instead of walking for 30 minutes or an hour or something on a treadmill, think intervals. Warm up for a few minutes at a comfortable pace, then jack up the speed and the incline to where you get a little out of breath. Stay there for one minute, then reduce speed and incline for a couple minutes. When you’re ready, crank it back up again. Alternate this way between speeds and inclines.
You can do the same thing with speed intervals on an exercise bike. Warm up for 5 or 6 minutes, then crank ‘er up for 30 seconds to a minute, back it down for a minute or two, crank it back up, and repeat over and over. Go for 20 minutes total at first and keep increasing the overall time.
So there you go.
For burning fat, think intervals … and also think nutrition.
You can do it!
