If I want to lose fat at the belly, what exercises should I do?
- Jul 6, 2016
- 3 min read
A common question I've heard is this: "I want to lose fat at the belly/arms/any particular part. What exercise should I do?" This statement is the result of ongoing erroneous media advertising about reducing "belly fat" with this drink or this killer workout. Let's get it straight, if you want to lose belly fat, you have to lose fat throughout your body. Body fat is one entity on its own. You don't see a guy with abs but fat arms do you? "But but, I've seen people with the skinny fat look, like they're skinny all over but have a small pot belly." Why is this so? Let's break it down: 1. Body fat is genetically predisposed to depositing in a certain order, and burning in a certain order. The way your body stores fat to the different areas is genetically determined. In general, most men store majority of their fat at their abdominal region, while most women store majority of their fat at their thighs and hips. Of course, each person will have their individual differences. What this generally means however, is that to reach visible abs, males have to burn fat throughout their body to a greater extend, since more fat is stored over the abs. The same is for women for their thighs and hips. For this same reason, a male and a female with the same body fat percentage and muscular structure may notice a difference in visibility of abs or thigh definition.
2. Working out that specific muscle area won't necessary burn fat in that area, but may tone it slightly.
Abs are just another muscle group, just like arms, just like legs. Doing 100 crunches, isn't going to specifically burn away belly fat, but it will train the abdominal muscles and tone it. If you like to burn the "xx" area of fat, you have to ensure that you have the right training program and diet. While fat burning or storage is determined by a variety of factors, a general notion is the importance of caloric deficit. This means that your total calories burned is more than calories consumed, resulting in weight loss. Given a suitable training program and a healthy diet (one with reasonable amount of calories), you should experience weight loss. What is not mentioned by the general media however, is what this weight loss compromises of. Is it fat burn or muscle burn? The reason why both a structured training program and a planned diet is necessary for fat loss is because the equation isn't just a simple calorie intake minus calorie expenditure. Many other factors come into play such as hormone levels, meal times and exercise intensity, all of which are hardly mentioned in your everyday magazine diets. This is the same reason why some people seem to be putting in the hours and effort but are not seeing the results due to a lack of direction or guidance. But we'll leave this topic for another day.
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So in conclusion, what exercise can help you burn belly fat? Any exercise that burns fat throughout. Stop shooting in the dark when it comes to burning fat or gaining muscle. It isn't as simple as the media puts it to be. Don't listen to "crash diets" or "5-minute ab plans". Make your every minute count, pm me now for personal training and take on your goals with a structured approach. :) - Jonas Ng, Fitness Trainer
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