8 Ways to Reduce Your Belly Fat

By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide

Updated August 04, 2011

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

When you think about reducing belly fat, the first thing that comes to mind is probably ab exercises. Namely, which ones should you do to get rid of this fat? The fact is, ab exercises may be the least important thing you do, although strengthening your abs is just as important as the other muscles in your body. The key to losing belly fat, however, is more about burning more calories than you eat and letting your body respond to that.

In other words, you can't do ab exercises in the hopes of reducing belly fat.

That said, it's still important to work your abs, but you're better off concentrating on cardio, strength training and your diet for the best results.

When you do work your abs, treat them like any other muscle group -- challenge them with a few, well-chosen exercises, perform 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 16 reps, and give them a day of rest between workouts. Some of the most effective exercises include:

• Bicycle
• Ball Crunch
• Long Arm Crunch
• Reverse Crunch
• Plank

Don't forget, there are a number of whole body exercises that work your abs while targeting other muscles, which save time and makes your workouts more functional. You can find these challenging exercises in the following core workouts:

• Dynamic Abs
• Core Exercises on the Ball
• Total Core Workout
• More Ab Workouts

Previous

• Lift Weights to Reduce Belly Fat
• Diet and Exercise to Reduce Belly Fat
• Exercise More to Reduce Belly Fat
• Interval Training to Reduce Belly Fat
• Cardio and Strength Training to Reduce Belly Fat
• Do Ab Exercises in Moderation to Reduce Belly Fat
• Eat More Whole Grains to Reduce Belly Fat
• Drink Wine to Reduce Belly Fat -- But Only a Little

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