Belly fat refers to fat accumulation around the midsection and can be divided into two categories: subcutaneous fat (under the skin) and visceral fat (around the organs). Your body only has so much capacity to store fat under the skin before it begins accumulating around your organs. Visceral fat is linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and several other metabolic diseases.
Targeted exercises and lifestyle changes can help you reduce your body fat. Exercise helps increase the amount of calories you burn, your metabolism, and your muscle mass, which can help lower fat stores and improve internal health.
Moderate intensity aerobic exercise is a type of cardio that burns equal amounts of fat and carbohydrates as fuel. It also improves the health of your mitochondria, a part of your cells essential for processing fuel sources and preventing metabolic conditions like diabetes and cancer.
Moderate-intensity cardio sessions can be done for any length of time, but aiming for 40-60 minutes can help you reach and maintain your target heart rate for longer than if you did shorter bursts. This longer workout time can also help you build cardiovascular endurance. That said, it’s still best to start slow to prevent injury. Gradually build up the amount of time you train per day, as well as how many days you train per week.
During moderate-intensity activity, you should be able to talk in complete sentences but not be able to sing. If you can only speak a few words without taking a breath, you are above moderate intensity. Aim for 50-70% of your max heart rate for moderate intensity.
While resistance training might not burn the same immediate calorie count as cardio, it increases your muscle mass, which helps you burn more calories long-term.
A higher muscle mass also has several other metabolic benefits. For example, muscles use glucose (sugar) for energy and can store glucose as glycogen for later use. Storing and efficiently using glucose helps the body manage blood sugar levels. Long-term high blood sugar can contribute to visceral fat and increase your risk for diabetes.
Following a full-body resistance training routine will help you work and develop your muscles proportionally. It can also prevent overuse injuries and improve your range of motion. Choose one exercise that targets each anatomical plane of motion, and you’ll target all the major muscle groups.
A sample structured workout might look something like this:
Warm Up
Start with a ten-minute warmup on a bike or treadmill. This will promote blood flow, delivering oxygen to your muscles. This helps the muscles contract more effectively and prevents injury during the workout. It also helps activate your nervous system to get it ready for the workout.
Core Activation
Activating your core muscles can help protect your lower back during a weight-lifting session. Choose one exercise, like a plank, and perform three sets (uninterrupted periods of the exercise). This is enough to get the muscles activated, but not enough to leave them overly fatigued.
Horizontal Pull: Dumbbell Row
This exercise targets the majority of your major back muscles, such as your rhomboids, lats, traps, and erectors, as well as your biceps. Here is how to do a dumbbell row:
- Choose an appropriately weighted dumbbell and place your knee on a workout bench or a stable surface of a similar height. Kick your other leg out to the side.
- Support yourself on the bench with your nonworking hand (the same side as your knee on the bench) and hold the dumbbell in your other hand.
- Row the weight toward you on the working side, keeping your elbow close to your body.
- Bring the weight up toward your torso, then lower it back down so that your elbow is straight. This completes one repetition, or rep, of the movement.
- Complete your desired reps before switching sides.
Vertical Pull: Lat Pull Down
Pull-downs train your back muscles, including your lats, traps, and rear delts. They also target your core. Here is how to use a pull-down machine to complete the exercise:
- Sit down on the machine. Adjust the leg support so the top of your knees are securely locked in place, providing stability during the movement. Place your hands on the pull-down bar with a wide grip, ensuring your palms are facing forward.
- Sit up tall and exhale as you pull the bar down toward your collarbone. Focus on bringing your elbows down and toward your sides rather than pulling with your hands. This will better activate your back muscles.
- Inhale as you slowly extend your arms back to the starting position, allowing the bar to move upward with control. Complete your desired reps and rest before the next set.
Horizontal Push: Dumbbell Bench Press
Dumbbell presses target your horizontal pushing muscles, like your pectorals (chest muscles), shoulder muscles, and triceps, while also engaging your core. Here’s how to do a bench press with dumbbells:
- Lie back on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand and place your feet flat on the floor.
- Exhale as you press the dumbbells toward the ceiling by extending your arms fully, keeping the dumbbells in line with your chest. Meet at the middle at the top.
- Now, inhale as you slowly lower the dumbbells back toward your chest, keeping your elbows at about a 45-degree angle to your torso.
- Pause briefly, then, as you exhale, push the dumbbells back up again.
- Perform your desired reps and sets, resting in between each set.
Vertical Push: Dumbbell Overhead Press
The overhead press hits your shoulder muscles, triceps, and core. Here’s how to do it:
- Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, hold dumbbells in each hand.
- Raise the dumbbells to shoulder height with your palms facing forward and elbows bent at about 45 to 90 degrees.
- Exhale and press the dumbbells overhead to the top.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to shoulder height with control.
- Perform your desired reps, resting between each set.
Hinging Exercise: Kettlebell Deadlift
Deadlifts work your posterior chain (backside) muscles, including your glutes, hamstrings, lower back muscles, and core muscles. They’re a highly demanding exercise that helps burn calories. Here’s how to do a deadlift using a kettlebell:
- Start with your feet hip-width apart, toes pointing straight ahead or slightly outward, and put a kettlebell on the floor between your feet.
- Now, brace your core, bend at the hips, and reach down to grasp the kettlebell with both hands, keeping your back straight, chest up, and knees slightly bent.
- Exhale and drive your hips forward, standing up tall. Squeeze your glutes as you lift the kettlebell.
- Lower back down with control and repeat for reps.
Legs: Kettlebell Squat
Squats are another energy-demanding exercise that primarily targets your major leg muscles like your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, while also engaging your core for stability. Here’s how to perform a kettlebell squat:
- Hold a kettlebell by your chest and stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with your toes pointed slightly outward.
- Brace your core and push your hips back while you bend your knees to lower your body into a squat.
- Go as low as your mobility allows, ideally until your thighs are roughly parallel to the ground or slightly below.
- Press into the floor with your feet, keep your chest up, and stand back up to complete the squat.
- Repeat to complete more reps and sets as desired.
Diet and exercise work best together when trying to lose fat. When you lose weight, you often lose a combination of fat, water, and sometimes muscle or bone. Diet can help support weight loss, while strength training helps maintain your muscles and bones.
Weight loss occurs through a calorie deficit, which is when you burn more calories than you take in from food. Exercise helps increase the amount of calories you burn, and adjusting your diet can help lower the number of calories you take in.
Tips to help you reach a calorie deficit:
- Find your starting point: Start by finding your activity-adjusted basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories your body burns naturally each day plus the calories you burn with physical activity. This rate will depend on factors like your age, current weight, height, and how much you move.
- Set sustainable goals: Target a rate of weight loss of 0.5-1 pound per week. Aim for a calorie deficit of around 250 calories per day for 0.5 pound of weight loss per week and 500 calories per day for 1 pound of weight loss per week.
- Use tracking tools: Using a calorie-tracking app can be helpful, as many of them do the math for you and provide your target calories once you input your information. Once you know how many calories you can eat to achieve your desired rate of weight loss, you can add up your calories throughout the day as you eat and stay under the target number.
- Practice consistency: You may go over your calorie intake goals on some days. But if you stay within your calorie limits most days, you’ll inevitably achieve a net energy deficit and lose visceral fat.
Belly fat refers to fat accumulation around the midsection and can be divided into two categories: subcutaneous fat (under the skin) and visceral fat (around the organs). Visceral fat is linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and several other metabolic diseases.
Consistent exercise and diet changes can help reduce abdominal fat, including visceral fat. Create a routine of regular aerobic exercise and resistance training, with exercises for full-body strength. Maintaining a calorie deficit can also help aid fat loss.
