This article is reviewed by a team of registered dietitians and medical doctors with extensive, practical clinical and public health experience.
Exercises To Lose Belly Fat: 7 Effective Workouts To Reduce Fat

Some people think losing weight is easy and a one-time thing, but the truth is that it takes long hours, commitment, and will. However, one thing you want, especially if it’s on your stomach area, is more muscle mass and less fat tissue.
People are constantly looking for answers on how to lose all that extra fat. Such that even options like using CBD oil or diet pills may be viable. But using CBD alone might not be effective; you still need a total lifestyle change.
Losing belly fat can be an excellent way for those who have been trying hard just to feel good about themselves again finally! In fact, studies[1] link larger waistlines with heart disease, diabetes, and even certain cancers, so there really isn’t any time like now to think about being healthy from head-to-“toe.”
So how do you do it?
Well, here is a list of a few things you can do to get your body in shape and get that flat tummy: exercise, eat healthily, or through surgery- only when necessary.
These three methods can really help you regain your confidence by losing all that extra lose body fat. And in this piece, we shall look at the seven most effective workouts to lose belly fat.
But remember, Rome was not built in a day; you need to put in the work, carry out these gentle exercises and be consistent. That way, you are certain to see results in your weight loss journey.
So keep reading to find out.
7 Simple Workouts to Lose Belly Fat
If you’re trying to lose body fat and get your body back to a healthy body percentage, your workout must include a combination of cardio and strength training.
The best way for this is with exercises like core-focused work and HIIT[2] (high-intensity intervals training), and more that we will mention.
Here is a comprehensive guide on seven exercise regimens that will help you in losing belly fat.
Burpees

Burpees are a great way to work out your entire body and get many muscles in motion. The plyometric jumping action will help you torch calories efficiently while burning visceral fat, which is hard for many people who don’t know how it works.
Burpees[3] burn belly fat fast, but the trick is in the consistency. They will help you build strong muscles and increase your metabolism, which means that more burpee sessions in a row for longer periods on any given day can result in faster weight loss and reduce belly fat over time.
Doing regular exercises is one thing, but if they’re done right, then there’s no stopping you, and so here is how you carry out a burpee in the right way. Remember to start slow, then gradually increase the intensity and speed.
- In a low squat, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and drop your body toward the ground by sending your hips back.
- Then, hop backward until your torso reaches the ground with your hands just outside of your heels.
- Elevate your bodyweight into a plank by pressing your palms against the ground, then hop your legs slightly outside of your hands.
- Spring energetically into the air with your hands high, your bearing in your heels.
- Rep the process numerous times.
Vertical Leg Exercises

Leg raises are a great way of isolating your abdominal muscles, increasing stability and strength. They also help melt belly fat for the perfect figure.
To do leg lifts, all you need is to:-
- Lay on your back with hands placed below your hips.
- Then slowly lift your legs up 90 degrees keeping your knees straight while your feet pointing to the roof.
- Pause for a while once your feet get high, then lower, then back down, exhaling out.
- Repeat this motion several times to become effective. Once you start, you will notice the excess body fat disappearing after a while.
Crunches

Crunches[4] are the most effective workout for burning stomach fat, and they also rank first in terms of calorie burn. To do crunches, you’ll need a mat or carpeted surface with traction for your hands and feet, so you don’t strain too much throughout this intense exercise.
- Begin by lying flat on your back with your legs bent at 90 degrees; if possible, keep them together (you should tuck knees should be tucked under).
- Cross both hands behind the neck like an executioner holding a sword high above their own neck, ready to strike.
- Over time, you should start to incorporate different crunches into your workout routine for it not to become stale or monotonous.
- You can do side-bends or twist stomach exercises when doing standard sit-ups to be more challenging and fun.
Crunches aren’t just one exercise – there are horizontal leg raises on the bench with feet elevated. It also includes abdominal work done lying flat on the floor supported by hands while raising the upper torso off the ground but your head remaining still (to avoid neck strain).
There is also a modified bridge pose that involves lifting both arms over the top of your head. But they all target the abdominal area.
Mountain Climbers

This is a great modification of the traditional plank or static push-up exercise that will help blast belly fat off quickly. The mountain climber is an effective exercise for working your abdominal muscles and all of the other muscles in addition to it.
- To practice the mountain climbers,
- get into a high plank position with wrists directly under shoulders.
- Next, keep tight abs drawing your belly button towards the spine while driving your right knee towards the chest
- Then brought back, then left knee, so they work alternating sides.
When done at a fast pace, you look like you are running horizontally. Besides the fact that mountain climbers help you reduce body fat, it also helps tone the entire body-legs, glutes, and upper body.
So when you combine this exercise with lifting weights, you become toned up pretty fast.
Russian Twists

Your obliques and definition will enhance with the Russian twist. Plus, there will be significant involvement of all the muscles plus an evident loss of more belly fat. It’s a core muscle activity that you can do with anything from medicine balls to plates, and it’s usually done while lying on the ground, so you don’t have to worry about your weight.
Working your obliques with a Russian twist is a terrific technique to do.
- You first sit tall on the mat, knees bent and legs off the ground,
- Hold an empty ball in front of you at chest height as you lean backward at a 45-degree angle from your torso, arms several centimeters out from your body for support.
- Next, turn right and halt, press muscles to push out through the right side,
- Then turn left and do the same, but this time is eventually ending up where you began.
Inclined Running

Jill Penfold, a personal trainer in Los Angeles, claims that running on an incline rather than a flat surface boosts overall calorie expenditure by up to 50%. It’s debated whether you should exercise outside on a hill or on a treadmill, but the benefits of increasing heart rate, which can aid in weight loss, are undeniable.
Here is a simple way you can achieve an inclined run:
- It’s not easy running on an incline, but it is one of the best ways to get your heart pumping rate up.
- For this workout, try walking or jogging with some elevation for 5-10 minutes at a time until you’re breathing heavily and have worked up quite a sweat.
- Not only will doing so help increase endurance by strengthening muscles that are used in different positions throughout the movement, but it also builds strength in your legs and other muscles.
- Keep going strong when things start getting tough because even though these gentle exercises may seem challenging, they can still be done anywhere without equipment.
Weight lifting and Strength Training

It’s time to up your ante and starts lifting heavy. The reason? Using heavier weights will have you burning more calories after a workout because of an “afterburn effect.” Just be sure that if you’re starting out with strength training-a new habit for many people who are just doing it as their Ornish lifestyle choice.
You do so safely by sticking close to good form when gradually increasing the weight on each rep in order not only to see results faster but avoid injury down the line too.
Here is one way you can carry out weight lifting to help with fat burning around your tummy:
- Lift weights as part of any of the gentle exercises we have mentioned above.
- For instance, use weights while you carry out the Russian twists.
Why Are These Exercises The Best?
With age, many people gain weight in their midsection, usually due to declining muscle mass and increased fat accumulation with time. The more belly fat builds up around your waistline, the more it can make you feel self-conscious.
This can even result in difficulty fitting into some old clothes which were once comfortable but now no longer fit properly because they’re too tight on top of being baggy everywhere else.
Belly fat is unappealing to anyone, thus why many people want a flat tummy or just a simple defined waistline.
The unfortunate thing about excess belly fat is that your health starts deteriorating, especially if you have not taken care of yourself in your younger years. With that, you become predisposed to heart issues, insulin sensitivity[5] in diabetes, high cholesterol levels, among other health risks. And so, these exercises are a way to mitigate such eventualities.
We selected these seven exercises because they are effective. But the most important reason we selected these seven is: that they all employ the core muscles around the belly. And when you focus on these muscles and work on them, inevitably, you get to burn all the excess fat off around the belly.
Regardless, this is not to say that other exercises are not effective. Some other exercises that can help you lose belly fat of other include:-
- Captain’s chair
- Running
- Walking
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Sit-ups
- Resistance training
- Squat jumps
- Tuck jumps
When you are diligent with these exercises, you will enjoy the following health benefits:
- A healthy cardiovascular system
- An optimized respiratory system
- A slim waistline
- A healthy level of body fat, including subcutaneous fat, visceral, and even brown fat
- A significant reduction of the stress hormone cortisol
- Better moods.
- Healthier immunity.
How to Get the Most Out of Exercises
As we mentioned earlier, consistency is key. But besides that, what follows are a few things you need to do to reap the full benefits of exercising.
Have a Healthy diet
We certainly are what we consume, so much so that it is paramount that you eat healthily you offer the entire body nutrients to keep going. Burning fat is exhausting, plus you need the energy to burn calories.
The best place to get this nourishment is through a healthy diet[6] where you can be counting the calories you have consumed. Ideally, the meals should consist of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.
You also need to eradicate some food from your diet and replace them with green tea and whole-grain bread instead of fast food and carbonated drinks. And depending on your trainer, maybe you can have weight loss pills to help you burn belly fat faster. All in all, the final word should come from your trainer or your dietitian.
Start Small and Gradually Increase the Intensity
It might sound like a good idea to just go right ahead with intense strength training or go straight to the intense workout to lose belly fat, but that is very dangerous.
If you go hard with high-intensity interval training, for example, you might end up hurting yourself. In other words, take it slow. Sure, you may want to lose calories to get a flat tummy before summer rolls in, but you are causing more harm than good by not taking it slow.
Practice these Exercises the Right Way
Finally, it would be best if you did each of these workouts THE RIGHT WAY. This means that you should have the right form, wear the right gear, and use the right equipment. If you do not, for example, not care about the foot-hip-width when doing the burpee, you might be missing out on the full benefits.
Or, if you overstretch your bicep curls by using very heavyweights, you are sabotaging your progress in losing belly fat. How? The injury will slow down your working out, making you lose a couple of sessions that would have been helpful.
Bottom Line
Getting a flat tummy is achievable, but you have to do it right. The seven exercises work, and they will help you get there. But that is not all. They will also ensure that your entire body is metabolically active to burn more calories and excess fat, keeping you healthy.
As a parting shot, ensure that you get a personal trainer if you have no idea where to start. And since we are all not created equally, advice and supervision from an expert are the best. This ensures that you do exercises the right way and reap the benefits of losing more fat healthily.
It would be best to remember that you need to take rest breaks between the workouts to give your muscles time to heal. This way, you grow slimmer and healthier.
+ 6 sources
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- Clamp, L.D., Hume, D.J., Lambert, E.V. and Kroff, J. (2017). Enhanced insulin sensitivity in successful, long-term weight loss maintainers compared with matched controls with no weight loss history. Nutrition & Diabetes, [online] 7(6), pp.e282–e282. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5519190/#:~:text=Weight%20loss%20itself%20was%20the,benefits%20acquired%20through%20weight%20loss.
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