The way your body looks isn’t necessarily a reflection of how healthy you are inside and, if you and your doctor agree that you’re in good shape, there’s no need to do anything differently. But if you have excess weight around your midsection that you’d rather not be there, you may prioritize the best exercises to lose belly fat. Just know this: Contrary to popular belief, hundreds of daily stomach-firing crunches—or in technical terms, spot reduction workouts—won’t get you to your six-pack goal any faster than a well-rounded regimen will.
“Spot reduction isn’t a viable approach to losing belly fat,” explains fitness trainer and nutrition expert Corey Phelps, creator of the Cultivate by Corey Fitness Program. “But there are some great core-focused exercises that will torch fat all over the body, resulting in a strong and more chiseled core.” Research confirms this—a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that six weeks of regular isolated ab workouts resulted in zero change in abdominal fat compared to a control group.
Meet the experts: Corey Phelps is a fitness trainer, nutrition expert, and creator of the Cultivate by Corey Fitness Program; Jillian Michaels is a celebrity trainer and nutrition expert; Albert Matheny, R.D., C.S.C.S., co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab; Ramona Braganza is a celebrity trainer; Chris DiVecchio is a trainer and founder of Premier Body & Mind; Adam Sanford, New York City-based personal trainer and founder of Adam Sanford Fitness; Tyler Spraul, C.S.C.S., is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and the head trainer at Exercise.com; Jill Penfold, is a Los Angeles-based personal trainer.
Instead of limiting your focus to one area, celebrity trainer and nutrition expert Jillian Michaels recommends doing exercises that combine cardio, strength, and core work to ultimately help you reduce body fat. “I’m a big fan of exercises that are core-focused, but work multiple muscle groups simultaneously with a HIIT component for added calorie burn,” she says.
Of course, it’s worth noting that exercise is only one component of weight loss—what you eat plays a role, too. Eating healthy, vitamin-rich foods and a balanced diet play a big role in overall fitness and helping you reach your goals, although it’s best to consult your doctor before making any drastic changes to your lifestyle.
But if you have a healthy eating plan in place and you want to work toward weight-loss goals through working out, personal trainers say these are the best exercises to lose belly fat.
WHAT IS BELLY FAT?
Belly fat is simply fat around your midsection, says Albert Matheny, R.D., C.S.C.S., co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab. “It’s not necessarily different in any kind of unique way from other types of fat,” he says. Most people gain belly fat as their overall body fat percentage increases, Matheny says. “There is some genetic differences in terms of where people gain fat,” he says.
However, Matheny points out that drinking a lot of alcohol and eating a diet high in carbohydrates may lead to more belly fat than other things you take in. The big concern with belly fat is its link to serious health conditions. People with higher amounts of belly fat are at higher risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure compared to those with less fat in that area. Worth noting, though: New researchsuggests that some people have genes that protect them from these conditions when they have higher amounts of belly fat.
BEST EXERCISES TO BURN BELLY FAT