Fitness

Tummy Time…… Exercise to flatten your tummy

Black woman exercising

We all have personal goals regarding our body image, whether a new year’s resolution to be healthier or even to get that desirable body to show off at the beach. At some point, you put out all your effort to exercise to successfully reach that goal, and within a few weeks, you start to feel more energetic and fitter, you see the definition in your arms, your thighs look firmer, and your friends start to give you compliments. You feel good about your hard work, but you can’t seem to get rid of that pouch. It is no secret that your tummy is the hardest place to lose the fat, and this statement is strongly supported by Cecilia Morris- Murray, a personal trainer at Express Fitness; “It is the last place you’ll lose weight.”

Since being locked down on quarantine, we looked to her expertise to assist with all the flat tummy aspirations. “The reality is, you can’t choose where you lose fat from, you can’t tell me, as your trainer, that you want to keep your bottom and legs but you just want to get rid of the tummy,” said Cecilia. She says that for weight loss in general, diet plays a significant role while exercise is secondary.

She recommends a mixture of cardio and weight resistance training. The minute you stop doing cardio such as running on the treadmill, using the elliptical machine or jogging, your body immediately stops burning calories. On the other hand, making cardio an integral part of your exercise regime keeps your body in calorie-burning mode hours after you’ve finished your workout.

The abdominal area consists of different layers of muscle, which contributes to the difficulty in gaining the coveted “abs”.

The muscles located at the front of the abdomen are known as the six-pack, and we build this area by doing the big crunches and sit-up exercises. These exercises will only achieve “a tight stomach with fat” as they are meant for toning. In doing solely these exercises, the core is neglected which are the deepest muscles and they wrap around your spine for protection and stability. “If these muscles are loose, the abdominal area will look a mess.”

Cecilia recommends doing planks as they focus on core strength, giving you the ability to strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles simultaneously.

Flat tummy exercises

To effectively attain the flat tummy and show off the six-pack here are a few flat tummy exercises:

1) Have an excellent six-weeks program as a routine will only cause you to plateau in your results.

2) Do power exercise to strengthen the legs and abs; these include squats and dead-lifts. Compounding exercise burns a lot of fat because it requires so much effort from the body.

3) Incorporate cardio weight resistance training and high-intensity interval training (HIT) to maximize calories and fat burning.

Read: 5 Interesting Reasons Why You Are Not Losing Weight

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