Lose Belly Fat With This Style of Workout

Do you want to flatten your belly and lose weight?  It may be time to rethink your exercise program.  The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness recently published a study that shed light on the best way to flatten your stomach.  No, it’s not stopping eating (though that’s a help), but a way to exercise your overall body. 

In this study which took place over 8 weeks, participants were divided into two groups.  The first group exercised 4 days per week doing typical strength training with weights and resistance machines and performing a cardio aerobic workout such as jogging, biking etc.  The second group worked out 4 days per week.  Two of the days were typical strength training with weights and resistance machines and a cardio aerobic workout such as jogging, biking etc. The other two days the workouts were High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T).  HIIT workouts consist of short bursts of hardwork followed by a short rest period then repeated. 

Hiit workouts can be applied to all aspects of fitness training.  A HIIT can be performed with a weightlifting workout, calisthenics or an aerobic workout such as biking, running or swimming.  Even better a HIIT workout can be a combination of all three.  For example a person could do a set of weights for 20 -30 seconds, take a few breaths and drop to the floor and do 20 sit-ups, rest and then do jumping jacks or jog for 30 seconds, then repeat the sequence over and over again.  Its all about the intensity, the short bursts of activity followed by a short recovery period (rest).  A beginner starting out with HIIT would do 20, 30, or 40 seconds of straight exercise followed by a rest period that would be twice as long as the exercise (40, 60 or 80 seconds recovery).  After a few weeks the workout would progress to a 1 to 1 type program, meaning 20-30 seconds of straight exercise followed by 20-30 seconds of rest. 

Another version of HIIT is a Japanese exercise program called Tabata.  This is the style that I use in my workouts.  20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest then repeat until program is finished.  HIIT workouts typically last about 30-45 minutes. 

Back to the study results.  The HIIT group lost more overall weight and inches to their waistline then the control group.  In addition, they significantly reduced their level of visceral fat (belly fat) then the control group.  The HIIT group also showed major increases in cardio respiratory fitness, much more so than the control group.  The best benefit though is by pushing the body with intense, short bursts of exercise metabolic levels are raised and the body continues to burn more calories throughout the day, even at rest!!
 

Pregnancy and Chiropractic:  The post baby belly bulge can be caused by a condition called diastasis recti. The growing baby during pregnancy pushes the abdomen muscles apart causing a split in the center.  In most post pregnancy cases, the muscles will go back to normal over time.  In other cases the psot pregnant patient will need to spend time doing core abdominal exercises to help fix the problem.  Ask you pregnancy chiropractor to demonstrates core exercises for you.

Author

Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.