Michael J. Ormsbee is the editor of Fast Lose Fat. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences and Interim Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University.
Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast: 32 Exercises & Workouts
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Written by
Michael J. Ormsbee
- LAST UPDATED October 8, 2023
Excess belly fat can be frustratingly difficult to shift. However, implementing a combination of key exercises along with diet modifications can help reduce abdominal fat relatively quickly. Certain exercises target the stomach area more directly while also burning calories. When done consistently along with improved eating habits, an effective exercise regimen can lead to impressive reductions in belly fat. This comprehensive guide covers the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast. From cardio to strength training to core moves, discover the most effective workouts for slimming your midsection.
Cardio Workouts of Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
When contemplating the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, cardiovascular or aerobic exercises stand at the forefront. These exercises are critical for calorie burn and to reduce body fat. The key is to prioritize cardio workouts that stimulate your core muscles while upping your heart rate and inducing optimum fat burn. Such exercises are as follows:
1. Running
Touted as one of the best exercises to reduce belly fat fast, running is incredibly effective in calorie incineration and body fat reduction, inclusive of the harmful visceral fat surrounding your organs. Setting a pace for running or jogging between 3-5 days per week for durations spanning 20-60 minutes each session, fitness level considering, yields significant results. Including sprinting intervals can further enhance fat loss. The constant engagement of core muscles during running aids in quick fat dissipation.
2. Cycling
Either outdoor biking or stationary bike workouts, cycling is a brilliant option for shredding fat. The perpetually pedaling action recruits constant core engagement, making this one of the best exercise for reduce belly fat fast. Riding at a consistent speed with an elevated heart rate ensures maximum fat burn. For added benefits, try cycling intervals switching between demanding bursts of high-resistance pedaling and easier recovery. Overall, cycling efficiently trims body fat and abdominal fat, inducing a slimming impact.
3. Rowing
Rowing workouts intensely trigger muscles throughout your body, including your core, and burn copious calories. By maintaining a tough but steady speed, extending your legs fully, engaging your core, and pulling the rowing handle to target your back and arms, rowing emerges as a low-impact, but high-efficiency full-body workout. Practicing rowing regularly contributes to successful belly fat reduction.
4. Jumping Rope
Highly effective in burning a large quantum of calories and fat in a compact session time, jump roping plays a noteworthy part among the best exercises to reduce belly fat fast. The required impact and core control to stabilize your body during quick jumping rope repetitions promote fat burning while working the abdominal muscles. Aiming for 100 jumps per minute with alternating foot or double jumps will level up your workout. Going for dedicating time slots or set repetitions and incorporating erratic intervals facilitates speedy belly fat loss.
5. Stair Climbing
Providing an extremely potent cardio plus lower body workout, stair climbing ranks high as the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast. With a brisk ascension of steps, while concentrating on your core engagement, you burn abdominal fat efficiently. Opt to take two stairs at once or add lateral shuffles up each step for variations. The vertical climbing motion coupled with core activation, whether on a stairclimber machine or real stairs, is substantial in reducing belly fat.
By implementing these cardio workouts, a sustainable calorie deficit can be created, engaging the abdominals specifically to target belly fat reduction. To achieve optimal fat loss, strive for 150-300 minutes of moderate cardio or 75-150 minutes of vigorous cardio each week combined with balanced nutrition.
Most Effective Strength Training Moves of the Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
In your quest to find the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, you may want to consider creating a fitness routine that incorporates full-body strength training. This workout approach is excellent for burning fat, building muscles, and boosting your resting metabolism to burn more calories throughout the day.
Top contenders for the best exercise for reduce belly fat fast within the strength training realm are:
6. Burpees
A sure nominee for the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, burpees consist of intense full-body actions combining pushup, squat jump, and standing jump in one fluid movement. They engage your core, tone your legs, and present excellent fat-burning potential.
7. Deadlifts
Deadlifts work on your posterior chain and recruit your entire core by holding a heavy weight with tension. Perfecting this form can lead to a significant reduction in belly fat, making it a strong contender for the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
8. Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers imitate climbing or running in place, making their knees thrust toward the chest alternately. This explosive movement, coupled with core activation, works the abs effectively for a slimming result.
9. Kettlebell Swings
Swinging a kettlebell involves your hips, glutes, back, and core. It increases heart rates, targets the abs, and helps blast calories for reduced belly fat.
10. Squats
Squats, a functional lower-body exercise, requires core stability. Higher reps using your body weight can lead to burning a good deal of calories and effectively reducing belly fat.
For maximum results, integrate strength training into your fitness regimen 2-4 times per week, lifting moderate weight for 3 sets of 10-15 reps.
All of these exercises provide a good workout for the abdominal area. An ideal workout plan that seeks to determine the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast would combine these stabilization and muscle-building exercises. For best results, perform these 2-4 times a week. Ensure you allow room for rest days in between for recovery and avoid excessive crunches, focusing rather on good form over speed. These core-specific exercises work in harmony with cardio and full-body strength training, making them indispensable candidates in the search for the best exercise for reduce belly fat fast.
Prime Core Exercises for Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
Identifying the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast often leads fitness enthusiasts towards core exercises. This is because these workouts take direct aim at the muscles underlying your belly fat. Abdominal exercises like crunches, planks, and similar core move not only tone your midsection but also enable calorie burn. Here are some top choices for core exercises:
11. Crunches
Both standard and reverse crunches can be included in the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast list, as they yield fruitful results in working the abdominal muscles. Form three sets of 15-25 crunches and emphasize correct form, engaging your abdominal muscles and slightly lifting your shoulder blades. Crunches are excellent tools for strengthening your abs and providing definition when your goal is belly fat loss.
12. Sit Ups
Sit-ups, another traditional core-strengthening move, make heavy use of core and hip flexor strength to lift your torso from a flat position. Twisted sit-ups or inclined sit-ups with bent knees can be added to this exercise to up your game. The combination of sit-ups and cardio can guide you on the path towards a firmer and flatter stomach.
13. Leg Raises
Leg raises are an effective choice when searching for the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast. Lying leg raises stimulate the lower abdominal muscles as you lift your legs skyward while keeping them straight. With toes angled, this exercise focuses on hamstrings, while bending your knees zeroes in on your abs. Leg raises demand strong core stability to hold the pelvis steady, making it a potent move for belly fat diminishment.
14. Planks
Planks create monumental core stability and stamina to help achieve a flatter stomach. Holding a high plank position with forearms and toes for between 30 and 90 seconds instigates intense abdominal engagement. Innovations like the side plank, reverse plank and dynamic plank further solidify core strength.
The ideal outline for a core workout poised to be the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast merges stabilization exercises such as planks with crunch variations aimed at muscle buildup. Aspiring for 2-4 core workout days per week with proper breaks in between for recovery is advisable. Be mindful to bypass excessive crunches and instead prioritize proper form over speed. These core-focused moves, when used alongside cardio and all-encompassing strength training, form a potent triad to lose belly fat rapidly and efficiently.
Superior Oblique Workouts for Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
The oblique muscles, located along the sides of your torso, are vital targets when looking for the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast. Oblique-focused workouts bring definition to your waistline and improve your overall core functionality. These specialized movements also contribute to a slimmer, more chiseled physique. Here are a few top-notch oblique exercises:
15. Russian Twists
Positioned on the floor and clutching a medicine ball or weight to your chest, twist your entire torso from side to side, ensuring your motion is led by your core and not just swinging arms. Maintain control throughout this motion for complete oblique engagement. Carry out 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps per side. Russian twists, by their very design, help carve a trimmer waistline.
16. Side Planks
Side planks pertain specifically to oblique training, as you resist gravity to maintain core stability. Prop up your body on one forearm, aligning it beneath your shoulder, extend your legs, and lift your hips off the ground. Hold this position for 30-60 seconds per side while ensuring your torso won’t sag. Side planks are optimal for toning and tightening the obliques.
17. Bicycle Crunches
Initiating in a face-up lying position with hands secured behind your head and knees positioned in a tabletop alignment, twist, bringing the opposite elbow towards the bent knee in a cycling motion. Perform this controlled alternate motion for 15-30 reps per set. Bicycle crunches effectively target obliques, enhancing contouring on your sides.
18. Oblique V-Ups
Commencing from a back-lying position with a dumbbell or weight plate held above your chest, keep your shoulders slightly raised and rotate your torso to guide the weight towards the opposite bent knee, ending in a V-sit pose. Repeat 10-15 times per side, and this waist-trimming exercise can be considered the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
19. Chop Wood
Grasp a medicine ball with both hands, extend your arms overhead, and powerfully chop diagonally down and across your body, finishing at your opposite hip. Repeat this dynamic twisting motion to return overhead. These 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps result in sculpted obliques.
Incorporating these oblique exercises into 2-3 of your weekly ab workouts is crucial when you’re on a mission to reduce belly fat fast. Exhaust your muscles but ensure you maintain the correct form at all times. Oblique training refines your abdominal definition, culminating in a leaner and more sculpted waistline.
Flagship Lower Back Workouts for Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
Enhancing the strength of your lower back muscles is critical whether you’re seeking to improve your posture, augment your core stability, or carve out an admirably flat, tight stomach. Sculpting the lower back adds both shape and definition to your core. Here are some of the best exercises to reduce belly fat fast:
20. Supermans
Initiating in a face-down position, extend your arms overhead. Simultaneously lift your head, chest, and legs off the floor. Squeeze your glutes and hold for a moment. Then, under control, lower your body, avoiding an arched back. As the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, Superman powerfully works on your lower back muscles while burning a fantastic number of calories. Strive for completing 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps.
21. Back Extensions
Utilize a Roman chair or a back extension bench to isolate your lower back muscles safely. Brace your hips against the padding, secure your legs, and extend your torso so that your back aligns with the floor. Gradually return to your starting position for 15 reps. Back extensions are one of the best exercises to reduce belly fat fast when performed with proper form to prevent hyperextension.
22. Single Arm Row
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand and hinge forward at your hips until your arms hang vertically to the floor. Row the weight towards your chest until your elbow reaches full extension. Control the lowering movement. Repeat this 10-12 times for each side, providing a solid workout to your latissimus dorsi. This sculpting maneuver trims the back and sides, making it another of the best exercises to reduce belly fat fast.
23. Deadlifts
Deadlifts work wonders at building formidable strength throughout your posterior chain, including the erector spinal muscles that flank your lower spine. Maintain a flat lower back, and pull your shoulder blades together as you hinge at the hips and stand, lifting the loaded barbell. Deadlifts are advisable to practice with moderate weight for 10 reps and are genuinely the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
Incorporating back extensions and rows predominantly helps build definition in the lower back area while enhancing your posture. A robust lower back complements your abdominal training, contributing to a fully fit, functional core. Consequently, you stand taller and appear much trimmer.
Optimum Yoga Poses for Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
Bodyweight-focused yoga positions can serve as a valuable complement to traditional fitness routines, offering the best exercise for reduce belly fat fast by building essential core strength. These poses target the deepest abdominal muscles to ensure stability and control. As your core integration improves over time, you’ll cultivate a longer, leaner physique. Consider these top yoga poses for fortified abdominals:
24. Boat Pose
In a seated position, extend your legs straight and lean back, raising your feet several inches above the floor. Extend your arms alongside your ears. Engage your core to prevent spinal rounding, then breathe deeply while holding the pose for 30-60 seconds. Boat pose tones the entire core, including the elusive transverse abdominals, making it the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
25. Chair Pose
Stand with your feet together and bend your knees, squatting your hips down as if sitting in an invisible chair. Raise your arms overhead, doing your best to keep your navel drawn towards your spine and your weight centered in your heels. Hold the pose for 30-60 seconds, breathing deeply. As the core engagement required for stability builds abdominal muscles, chair pose is considered the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
26. Revolved Triangle Pose
Starting in Downward Facing Dog, step one foot forward into a lunge. Straighten your front leg, firmly grounding the corresponding heel. Rotate your torso upward, extending your top arm overhead. Wrap your bottom hand behind your back, gripping your front thigh or shin. Gaze up and hold the pose, taking deep breaths for 30-60 seconds. The twisting motion involved in this pose actively engages the obliques, making it the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
27. Plank Pose
Resembling a standard plank exercise, the yoga plank pose mandates full-body tension maintained by balancing weight across your hands and toes. Keep your hips elevated, your back flat, and your gaze slightly forward. Concentrate on securing your abdominals in toward your spine, preventing any sagging in your core. Begin with 30-second holds, gradually building endurance. Planks efficiently strengthen your entire core, making them the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast.
Remember that yoga is valuable for reducing stress, which can exacerbate belly fat accumulation. By engaging in a consistent yoga practice, you’ll enhance your core strength, flexibility, breathing, and mindfulness to better manage your weight and maintain a toned, lean physique. Emphasize poses that involve balancing, twisting, and core bracing to optimize fat-burning effects.
HIIT Workouts for Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
High-intensity interval training provides an extremely time-efficient and effective option for blasting away belly fat. HIIT workouts alternate between intense bursts of near-maximal effort exercise and short recovery periods. This pattern spikes metabolism, calories burned after exercise, and fat loss. Consistent HIIT accelerates abdominal fat loss for a lean, sculpted midsection. The best exercise for reduce belly fat fast is to engage in HIIT sessions.
HIIT sessions last 10-30 minutes and can be adapted to nearly any exercise modality. Some great examples of the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast through HIIT workouts include:
28. Treadmill Intervals
Set the treadmill to a challenging inclined grade. Walk briskly for 2-3 minutes then increase speed to 80-90% max for 30 seconds. Return to a brisk walk for 2 minutes. Repeat 10-15 times. The incline recruits core muscles while intervals torch fat.
29. Tabata Cycling
Tabata features 20 seconds of all-out intense cycling then 10 seconds of rest. Repeat continuously for 4 minutes. The extreme effort skyrockets calorie burn while improving cardio fitness.
30. CrossFit Circuits
Routines featuring functional moves done rapidly with little rest burn huge calories while working the entire body. Burpees, mountain climbers, jump rope, box jumps, kettlebell swings, sled pushes and more can be combined for an intense belly fat-blasting circuit.
31. Jumping Intervals
Perform different plyometric jumps like skaters, lateral hops and tuck jumps for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for 4-8 minutes. The explosive jumping recruits the core and burns serious fat.
32. Swimming Sprints
In the pool, swim at a moderate pace for 1-2 laps then sprint as fast as possible for 1 lap. Recover with 1-2 slow laps. Repeat interval swim sprints for 10-15 minutes. The high exertion torches calories and builds core stamina.
Whatever exercise you enjoy doing, crank up the intensity for short bursts with minimal rest to transform the workout into a fat-shredding HIIT session. Incorporating the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, just 2-3 short HIIT workouts weekly maximizes fat loss
Tips for Optimizing The Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
To utilize the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, certain strategic training and dietary tactics can play a major role in enhancing your results:
Prioritize Cardiovascular Exercise
To lay the foundation for fat loss and improved health, it is important to get consistent cardio exercise most days of the week. Cardio burns calories and uses stored fat for energy. To tap into the best exercise for reduce belly fat fast, vary your cardio routine by mixing high-intensity intervals with moderate-pace endurance training.
Fuel Properly
Proper nutrition is the building block for revealing those abs. Consuming a balanced diet with a slight calorie deficit ensures sufficient protein, healthy fats, and fiber intake. Correct fueling of your body not only enables optimal workout intensity but also accelerates fat loss. It is important to avoid extreme or overly restrictive diets.
Add Strength Training
Incorporating strength training into your regimen helps preserve and build lean muscle mass that burns calories, effectively making it a potent component of the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast. Full-body exercises like deadlifts, squats, and presses not only burn extra calories but also help shape the body.
Address Stress
Managing chronic stress is crucial as elevated cortisol levels can contribute to belly fat storage. Employing methods such as meditation, yoga, massage, and proper sleep can aid in stress management. Make efforts to reduce unnecessary stress wherever possible.
Stand and Walk More
Standing and walking pave the way for low-level physical activity that can significantly add up over time. Aim for a minimum of 7000 steps, but ideally, you should strive for 10,000+ steps daily.
Sleep 7-9 Hours Nightly
Getting proper sleep is vital as it helps regulate leptin and ghrelin hormones, which control your appetite. Prioritizing good-quality sleep can effectively manage cravings and weight. Additionally, being well-rested can significantly improve your workout performance.
The most effective strategy for fast belly fat reduction is a holistic one. It combines cardio, strength training, and core exercises six days a week, along with optimized nutrition, stress management, and healthy lifestyle habits. Remember, patience and consistency are key when targeting belly fat reduction.
Safety and Precautions for The Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
To significantly reduce belly fat fast through the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, it’s critical to consider safety precautions and maintain the proper form:
Consult Your Doctor
Before substantially increasing your physical activity, it is vital to consult your physician, especially if you’re dealing with any medical conditions. Discuss your fitness ambitions and inquire about any potential exercise limitations. Your doctor can assist in customizing the best exercise plan to reduce belly fat fast.
Allow for Adaptation Time
A gradual build-up in your workout intensity, duration, and daily frequency allows your body to acclimate to the heightened activity. This approach can effectively prevent excessive soreness and minimize the risk of injuries.
Listen to Your Body
Always be in tune with your body and heed any concerning pain signals. Intense joint or muscle pain suggests you might need to amend or discontinue a particular exercise. Alter your workouts based on your body’s signals.
Maintain Proper Form
Practicing exercises with proper techniques significantly reduces injury risks and amplifies your results. When performing the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, maintain the right spinal alignment during crunches, prevent back arching in extensions, and keep your knees behind your toes in squats. Prioritize mastering form before ratcheting up the intensity.
Focus on Mobility and Flexibility
A full range of motion is crucial before taking up strength training and high-intensity workouts. Activities like dynamic warm-ups and yoga help improve mobility, while regular foam rolling and stretching boost your workout performance.
Prioritize Recovery
Take time for active recovery in between strenuous belly fat-burning workouts. Ensuring adequate sleep, indulging in restorative practices like massage, and fuelling your body with wholesome foods are all critical for recovery and consequent fat loss.
Shedding belly fat demands dedicated effort, but adopting a smart, safe approach focusing on variety, progressive training, and overall health can help you perform the best exercise to reduce belly fat fast, thereby preventing injury. Consider enlisting a personal trainer who can craft the optimal exercise program tailored to your fitness level and needs.
Conclusion
Losing belly fat quickly requires a multipronged exercise approach combining cardiovascular exercise, core moves, HIIT, and strength training. Exercises that engage the entire core like planks, crunches, bicycles, and burpees while elevating your heart rate deliver results fast. But diet also plays a huge role, so focus on nutrition optimization as well. Stay consistent with the best belly fat-burning exercises and progress safely to transform your physique. Utilizing a comprehensive fitness regimen tailored to your needs will help you lose belly fat fast while developing overall health and fitness.
FAQs about Best Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat Fast
What exercise burns the most belly fat the fastest?
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts burn the most belly fat in the shortest amount of time. HIIT involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by an active recovery period. Exercises like sprinting, cycling sprints, battle rope slams, and rowing sprints tap into fast-twitch muscle fibers and elevate your metabolism so you continue burning fat hours after the workout ends. Aim for 30-90 seconds of maximum effort like sprinting or jumping, followed by 1-3 minutes of slower movement to recover. Compound full-body moves like burpees and mountain climbers are also excellent HIIT exercises that engage the core and burn belly fat fast.
How can I reduce my belly fat in 7 days?
While spot reduction of belly fat in a specific area is not possible, with diligent diet and exercise you can lose fat all over the body, including your midsection, in a week. Focus on high protein, low carb, low-calorie foods to maintain a caloric deficit while strength training and doing HIIT every day. Get in 30-45 minutes of intense cardio like sprinting, cycling or stair climbing and target the abs with crunches, planks, and other core moves daily. Reduce bloating and tighten your tummy with belly massages, avoiding salty foods, and eliminating gas-producing items. Drinking lots of water can also help flush out excess water weight and reduce bloat for a slimmer stomach in just 7 days.
How can I lose belly fat really fast?
The fastest way to lose belly fat is to create a large daily caloric deficit through diet and exercise. Increase activity with high-intensity cardio workouts that engage the core like sprints, jumping jacks, and battle ropes to maximize fat burning. Follow an aggressive strength training routine targeting the abs 2-3 times a week. Eliminate excess calories by reducing portion sizes and cutting out unhealthy foods, snacks, and beverages. Stay hydrated and get enough sleep to allow your body to recover. Additionally, managing stress levels and hormones may help mobilize stubborn belly fat. With determination and consistency, you can lose belly fat quickly, but be cautious of extreme dieting. Aim to lose fat in a healthy, sustainable way.
