Exercise Of The Week✿ "Dumbbell DeadLift"

Dumbbell Deadlift

The dumbbell dead lift is a variation of the traditional barbell dead lift. All the same muscle groups are used and the lift is basically the same. The only difference is that your going to be using dumbbells instead of a barbell. A perfect exercise for those of you who don't have access to a barbell.

This exercise is considered a compound movement using the lower back, front thighs, and the butt as primary muscle groups. Secondary muscle groups include biceps, abs, calves, and hamstrings.
 

Position for the dumbbell dead lift

1. Standing with feet at shoulder length, bend at the knees and pick up two pairs of dumbbells. Stand up until the dumbbells are at your sides.
 

Execution of the dumbbell dead lift  

1. Slowly bend at the knees until the dumbbells reach the floor. Remember to bend with your knees and not the back.

2. Your thighs should be almost parallel to the ground while your arms are held straight with no bend.

3. Slowly stand back up to the starting position. The arms should remain straight as you come to a standing position.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #27 "Chew Your Food"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#27 Chew your food thoroughly!

This might seem odd, but it is important if you want a flat tummy. Chewing your food thoroughly is an incredibly easy and effective way to prevent bloating. You should be chewing your food until you can no longer identify what you've been eating by it's texture. Chewing tells the rest of your digestive system (stomach and intestines) to start the digestive process. Chewing thoroughly also breaks down the food in to finer particles and means that it can be broken down and absorbed better in your gut. If you don't chew your food sufficiently the food isn't fine enough to be digested, and this means your food remains only partial digested inside your stomach. The undigested food is then pounced on by the "bad" bacteria in the colon, which can lead to bacterial overgrowth, flatulence and other symptoms of indigestion. Hopefully, now knowing how important totally chewing your food is to your body, and in obtaining a flat tummy you will now take to added time to chew your food thoroughly before swallowing it. Taking few extra seconds chewing your food will make a big difference in your overall health and toward your goal of ridding your tummy of belly fat.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #26 "Cut Out Sugar"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#26 Cut out sugar

Because of the effects that food has on our body, it doesn't just matter how many calories you eat, but it also matters what you eat. The hormone that acts in opposition to insulin is called glucagon. Where you want to keep insulin as low as possible, do to it's fat storage effects. Therefore you want to keep your glucagon levels high because it mobilizes fat from storage. Whenever you eat high sugar food or refined carbohydrates, (ig white bread) your blood sugar spikes causing insulin to spike and glucagon to be low. Therefore you definitely want to eat as little sugar as possible. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that's extremely calorie-dense. At four calories for each gram of sugar it's a easy to go overboard on sweet treats and beverages and not even be aware you are. According to medical experts, sugar consumption, especially the added sugars from soft drinks, is directly tied to weight gain and obesity -- increased body fat, and belly fat.  So, the lesson is cut out the sugar, or at least most of it if you want that beautiful flat tummy to shine through.   It's worth giving up sugar, eating healthy and training hard for, as it's true what they say about being fit and healthy "Nothing taste better than a fit, beautiful body.

 

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #25 "Eat Every 3 Hours"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#25 Eat every three hours 

Eating a low-carb snack in between your main meals will help your body starve off hunger and avoid blood sugar spikes. This is important because the lower you're able to keep your blood sugar, the lower the levels of the hormone insulin. Insulin is a hormone that encourages fat storage, particularly in the tummy area. So, try to do what you can to keep your insulin levels as low as possible by keeping your body feed every three hours. It doesn't have to be a large meal, in fact keeping your meals smaller and feeding your body 5-6 times throughout the day will keep your body from being hungry and going into starvation mode. We all know what starvation mode does to our body? If you don't? It is not better to not eat as your body will go in to fight or fight mode and hold on the all your fat, including belly fat. Then when you finally feed your body after starving it all day or longer then 5-6 hours your body will hang on to every bit of it in fear of being starved again. If your body is accustomed to getting food more frequently like every 3-4 hours it will keep burning just like a furnace and that means no stored belly fat. Eating a healthy snack between your meals will also keep your energy levels and massively reduce the risk of junk food binges. So, get to feeding your body and burn off that dreaded belly fat... uncover the beauty beneath the fat!

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #24 "Beward of Alcohol"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#24 Beware of Alcohol

If  you're truly serious about losing belly fat you need to watch your alcohol intake. Research published in the journal of nutrition shows that people who drink alcohol, but don't binge drink have less belly fat than people who drink occasionally, but drink heavily. (ie binge drinkers) Drinking large volumes of alcohol are thought to elevate cortisol, which increases belly fat. In other words don't save up for a big night out. Studies also suggests that light to moderate wine drinking (ie.one glass of wine) can help protect against belly fat. So, just remember on those few special occasions and holidays through out the year don't over-load your poor body with tons of alcohol. Even if you don't drink regularly and feel it's okay to splurge, remember what you're doing to your body and the effects it will have on your body and the belly fat that you're trying so hard to rid yourself of or keep off. We all deserve to splurge and enjoy food and drink on holidays and special occasions, but always keep in mind better ways you can still enjoy and celebrate without hurting and harming your body and hindering progress made. Be smart, be belly fat free and fit and healthy.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #23 "Drink Water"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#23 Drink Water

Water may contain zero calories, but it's power extends well beyond being a low, or no calories beverage. Studies show that drinking water can actually help you lose weight. Research has shown that drinking just 2-8oz glasses of water before meals can help you lose weight, because you eat up to 90 fewer calories. But, more than helping you lose weight, drinking water can help you lose belly fat. You may ask why? Dehydration may rise your cortisol levels, which inhibits your efforts to lose belly fat. So, staying well hydrated is one of the positive things you can do towards shedding that dreaded belly fat. 

1. Drink cold water. Drinking cold water will cause your body's metabolism to work harder to bring the water up to room temperature.

2. Start off your morning by drinking a large glass of water before eating anything else. This will help to increase your metabolism and help your body to get rid of toxins. It will also keep you from overeating during breakfast, as it will make you feel more full.

3. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and more if possible. When you are dehydrated, your body stores more water, especially in fat cells. By staying hydrated, your body will not store as much water and the size of your fat cells will decrease.

4. Take sips of water between every bite of food. This will help to slow down your food intake and help you feel full more quickly.

5. Keep a glass of water with you at all times and sip from it frequently throughout the day. This will help to keep you from snacking out of boredom or from mistaking thirst for hunger.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #22 "Posture"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#22 Posture

This tip will not directly help you lose belly fat, but it will go a long way in making belly smaller.  Slouching will make your belly bigger or give you a belly, even if you have little belly fat. So yes, your mom telling you as a child to sit-up and don't slouch wasn't just for kicks, it really was to your benefit to learn not to slouch and straighten up your posture. Good posture is slimming as it pulls you in. Your ears should be aligned with your shoulders over your hips, your hips over your knees, and your knees over you ankles. Your shoulders should be open and your belly button pulled in to your spine. 

A properly healthy aligned posture provides benefits.. Improves your appearance. Reduced the occurrence of tension headaches. Decrease back pain and shoulder discomfort. Reduces the risk of spinal injures. Will make you appear taller and thinner. You will look confident. Factors that contribute to poor posture.. Obesity, pregnancy, high heel shoes, tight or weak muscles, poor sitting and standing habits. Ectomorphs tend to be lightly muscled/ weak and more prone to poor posture. In order to have good posture you need to be consciously aware of how you're holding your body and support your body to maintain this posture with core work, strength-training exercises and stretching. All of these #30 ways contribute to your body as whole and help toward losing belly fat. Strengthening your abdominal muscles, your core and your posture will be a commitment for you as you're working towards ridding your body of the dreaded belly fat and over all body fat. 

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #21"Watch Your Back"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#21 Watch Your Back

It's great that you're working on your abdominal muscles. However, don't forget about your back muscles. You need to remember to target your back to counter balance the mostly forward bending abdominal exercises. Both the abdominal and back provide your postural support. Therefore do some back strengthening exercises to help prevent back pain and help promote even muscular development from your front to your back. Strengthening your back and abdominal muscles will help...1) Decrease the likelihood of back pain. 2) Reduce the severity of back pain. 3) Protect against injury. Strengthening your back muscles to counter balance all the abdominal training you're doing will help in your efforts to rid your body of belly fat. It's part of the big picture and you will learn how your body works and how just doing one part of your body isn't going to get you to your goal. You cannot just do abdominal exercises and spot reduce the belly fat away. There's much more involved and much more of your whole body involved to rid your body of not only the belly fat but body fat over all. Uncover the beauty beneath the fat and let your fit, sexy, strong healthy body shine.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #20 "Stability Ball"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#20 Stability Ball

The stability ball also know as the Swiss ball and exercise ball is one of the best tools to build your ab muscles, and probably also one of the cheapest. Just by sitting on the ball engages the muscles of your core... abdominal, obliques, and back. Research in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning shows that doing crunches on the stability ball engages the abdominal muscles far more than then doing them traditional way on the floor or mat. The stability ball offer real fitness benefits without a complex new equipment learning curve. Stability balls increase the intensity of the abdominal workout, they make even the dreaded abs exercise seem manageable. Sit-ups are a whole new experience on a stability ball.

The abdominal contraction while executing a sit-up on a stability ball has been shown to be far more intense then when lying on the ground, proving conclusively that your abs get a far more intense workout with this method. The exercise ball has the added benefit of helping to work a selection of other muscles such as your legs and the stabilizing muscles of your core. These stabilizing muscles can be recruited as much or as little as you like by narrowing your foot stance. Ab exercises on the ball are fantastic and there are dozens of variations you can do to really blast those abs of yours, so get to working out your abs. This goes back to #19 about training your abs to keep them strong, toned so as you burn off your belly fat you will uncover your beautiful, fit stomach you've been working so hard on. #FitandBeautiuful 

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Top #30 Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #19 "Ab Exercises"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#19 Ab Exercises

Doing ab exercises will not help you in losing belly fat as such, but it will help you build a strong core and give you amazing abs underneath. Once you've torched the belly fat with cardio and clean diet those amazing abs will shine right through. So never think doing them will get rid of your belly fat, but never think that they are not essential to the goal you're after toward the big picture. The weight training, and the abs work is building and sculpting the muscles underneath and those beautiful muscles will slowly be uncovered as you commit and keep going on your quest for a better more fit you. 

Research as show that bicycle crunch, captains chair, ab crunch on stability ball, vertical leg crunch, long arm crunch and the plank rank in the top 10 best ab exercises to build your ab muscles. Just keep working out those abs and keep your core strong as you are incorporating daily cardio and clean, healthy eating. The dreaded belly fat will be shredded soon and you will be so thankful and happy you kept your ab training up when you see the beauty being uncovered as you continue your fit4life quest to a better more fit you.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #18 "Cardio After Weights"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#18 Cardio After Weights 

Do your muscle training first followed by doing your cardio training. Japaneses research shows that doing cardiovascular exercises after resistance training burns significantly more fat that completing cardio first. The same study found that fat burning was the greatest during the first 15 minuets of the cardio workout done after resistance exercise. Some people especially if preparing for competition will totally separate the two doing cardio early morning to burn more fat upon waking up. Then doing their weight training later on in workout #2. This workout #2 may be followed by a shorter cardio session to boost the fat burning right after your resistance training workout. Like everything, everyone is different and so are their daily schedules, so taking this information and incorporate it in to your own workout schedule so it can workout the best for you. Trying different approaches is the best way to see what works best for your own body. I personally have found doing your fat-burning cardio workout more beneficial when done after lifting weights. I have split to two workouts up throughout the day when preparing for competition, but when I'm not I will do my cardio after my weight training and I will do my long, harder runs on a separate days where I am not doing my resistance training. This works for my body and I have tried out several different combinations to see what works best for me and my own body. I do believe without a doubt if you want to burn more belly fat, and fat overall do at least a short 15-20 min cardio session after your resistance training to burn some more fat and uncover that beautiful, fit body just waiting to be free.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #17 "Age"

Top #30 Greatest Ways to Lose Belly Fat..

#17. Age 

Okay, so there is really nothing we can do about turning back the clock, but here are some things that happen with age that are inevitable. For example.. as we get older our muscle mass tends to decrease and body fat increases (in physically inactive people this starts after the age of 30) but this is from sitting more and moving less.  A full body resistance program will help prevent the loss of muscle. A important reminder to remember is that muscle helps increase metabolic rate, which means you burn more calories making it easier to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Incorporating weights in to your exercise program will be a huge benefit especially as we are getting older. If your a newbie to lifting weights don't worry as it's never too late to learn how. In fact my parents are in their early 70's are just now starting to add weight lifting to their working regime. It's unfortunate that they now live in California so I am unable to be their personal trainer, but when they joined the local gym where they live a personal trainer was part of the package for 10 sessions each. It would be to your benefit if you're new to lifting weights to get a personal trainer to instruct you in the beginning so you know you're doing it correctly and getting the maximum benefits from your weight lifting workouts. Plus it's as important to learn the correct way so you do get the most out of your weight training workouts. We may not be able to stop time or change the fact that we all are getting older, but we can do everything possible to not look like or feel like we are. A big plus is muscle is a sign of youth and it is vital in making the body fit, shapely and firm.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #16 "No Smoking"

Top #30 Greatest Ways to Lose Belly Fat..

#16. No Smoking

This is most likely going to be one of the hardest ones if you're a smoker, but it's important to know that nicotine will impede fat loss from the belly area. So if you're really serious of about obtaining flat abs, getting rid of the dreaded belly fat, and other health incentives of smoking cessation haven't given you enough incentives to stop. Perhaps this will be the one incentive what will give you the desire to quick smoking. Just knowing that smokers tend to have more belly fat than non-smokers will help make the positive life choice to stop smoking. Smoking may not only lead to increased amounts of belly fat but it also a reduction in lean muscle mass.

Smoking habit causes the risk of deadly conditions like heart disease, cancer, lighting up also increases the size of you midsection. People who smoke are more likely to accumulate fat in the stomach rather than other parts of the body. A plan to lose the fat is essential, since excess weight in your stomach triggers harmful reactions that.. much like smoking, can shorten your life. The immediate effects of smoking on your body are numerous and include stained teeth and unpleasant breath. Long-term damage from smoking represents a more harmful threat, as your likelihood is greater to fall victim to heart disease, wrinkles, ulcers and gum disease, as well as lung cancer. Some people my rely on smoking as a method to control weight, but Harvard Medical School reports that smokers are more likely to have large stomachs than people who remain smoke-free. Smoking triggers a reaction inside your body that diverts the fat from places like the thighs and hips and causes an unhealthy buildup inside your abdominal area. Hopefully now knowing all of this will give you the incentive to toss the smoking habit out of your life even if the main reason is because you want your stomach to be fit, lean, beautiful and look fab in a swimsuit again.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #15 "Pilates"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#15  Pilates

Pilates may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about shrinking your belly fat, but it does and it will help towards shrinking your dreaded belly fat. Research has shown that Pilates will significantly improve posture. Having poor posture will give you a bigger belly than you have and give you a pooch even if you hardly have any body fat. So, if this describes you, consider taking some Pilates classes at your local gym or fitness center, or you also can follow a Pilates DVD at home.

Eliminating belly fat is one of the most common reasons why people are motivated to workout. Fat in the belly not only makes you feel self-conscious but can also contribute to such health problems as heart disease and poor posture. As you lose weight, your stomach is one of the first places to shed inches. However, once you are in a regular workout routine, you may find that your midsection still looks flabby. Core-related workouts, such as Pilates, are essential to strengthen your body and to help keep belly fat at bay. Pilates is designed to target your abdominal muscles and lower back, an area of the body also known as the core. This type of workout helps strengthen your stomach, back and pelvis. Although inner-strength training is the primary goal of Pilates, this type of workout is often sought by people who are looking to get rid of belly fat. 

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #14 "Post-Workout Meal""

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#14 Post Workout Meal

Cortisol levels in your body are elevated after you exercise, so you need to get those levels low as possible and maximize recovery after your workouts. To lower the cortisol levels after you have just completed a workout of any kind you need to consume a meal or drink immediately after you've just exercised. A combination of protein and carbohydrates consumed within 30 minuets after you've completed a workout will feed your muscles immediately and also lower the elevated cortisol in your body. When it comes to maximizing the results you get from your training sessions, the nutrients and supplements that you consume after you get finished could have a huge impact on how you'll be rewarded for the work you did while you were there.  

The goal with your post-workout nutrition is to return your body to an anabolic state as soon as you can once your training sessions is complete. Doing this will help you recover from the training session so you can be ready for the next one, which will both cut down your risk of injury and allow you to improve your skills and conditioning at a faster rate. One of the best and fastest ways to get your post-workout meal in your body is to drink a nutritious shake. A lot of fitness gyms will have a juice bar inside or close by for you to have a protein shake made for you within the 30 minuets after your workout, or you can bring your own and just add water and consume immediately after your workout. Bringing your own would be the best option so you know you're body will get what it needs right after your workout. So much can happen after you do your workout and if you wait till you get home or back to your office you may get side tracked by other activities and forget. So make this ritual, habit and part of your workout to have your post-workout meal.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #13 "Sleep"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#13 Sleep

To lose belly fat you might be surprised to know that getting plenty of quality sleep is very important and lack there of causes stress on the body. Sleep deprivation stresses the body and can raise fat-storage hormone cortisol. Research has shown that women who get only five hours of sleep a night are almost twice as likely to be obese then women who get seven hours of sleep at night. The hormones leptin and ghrelin that control hunger are also thought to play a role, and as insufficient sleep increases appetite while reducing the feeling of satiety. A combination of fatigue, insomnia, and irregular hours contribute to weight gain in the stomach area.. Some people misinterpret body signals from elevated cortisol, with its increased blood sugar and insulin release, and eat when tired. This combination of increased cortisol, inactivity, lack of sleep, and eating, increases deposits of fat around the middle or on the abdomen.

  

Reduce your levels of stress (Cortisol) to improve sleep..

1. Mediation, yoga

2. Making lists of things that need to be done and crossing each one off as it's accomplished.

3. Relaxing in warm water

4. Watching funny movies, comedy, laughter

5. Healthy diet and exercise 

6. Vitamin C has been noted to reduce cortisol

7. Recognizing and removing any source of stress, when possible and when in one's locus of control.

8. Medication if needed. Cortislim, Cortiburn, and Relacore to name a few.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #12 "Relax"

Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat..

#12 Relax

Research has shown that women with the biggest bellies also suffer with the most amount of stress, which is thought to be due with chronically elevated levels of fat-storage hormone cortisol. Try to adopt some stress reduction techniques to reduce any negative emotions which increase cortisol levels, such as anxiety, anger, fear and stress. Also learning how to nip stress in the bud before it causes damage by engaging in some stress free activities. Knowing yourself, and your body will help when you feel this stress coming on. Knowing when you're stressed you will be able to nip it in the bud by relaxing and not letting the stress take over, which causes your cortisol levels to sky rocket. Stress at times is okay, and most of us thrive on it, but only for a very short time. Allowing the stress to be drawn out and continuous in your daily life is very damaging and extremely unhealthy for your body and for you. Plus it's one of the main culprits which causes that ugly belly fat we all want to get rid of, but seem to have trouble doing so. So add relaxing to your daily to do list and know when you're stressed out so you can relax, de-stress and work towards getting rid of that belly fat. It's all part of loving and taking care of your body.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #11 "No Crash Diets"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To lose Belly Fat..

#11 No Crash Diets

Try your very best to avoid crash diets and very low calorie diets as well. Don't be tempted by the quick fix for a 48 hour lose 10 pounds fast advertizement, or any quick fix to lose weight the easy way. There are NO easy, quick fixes or magic ways to losing weight or belly fat. If you do these quick fix diets or lower your calorie intake for long lengths of time you will only stress your body and increase cortisol. Also very low calorie diets will trigger the bodies starvation response which therefore slows down your metabolism which causes the body to hold on to body fat reserves more tightly. In doing these quick fix diets or lowering your calories in order to lose weight you only have a back fire effect and come out worse off in the long run. You don't have to starve to lose belly fat, in fact you need to feed your body and make sure your body knows it's being feed. This way your body can let go of that dreaded body fat it holds on to while in fight or flight mode when calories are restricted or you're crash dieting. Doing this is not treating you body good at all. Remember if you want to lose belly fat, body fat you need to treat your body good by feeding it clean, healthy food within 3-4 hours for each meal. Exercise daily, drink lots of water and sleep enough. This is loving your body and in turn your body will love you back!

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Burn Belly Fat ~ #10 "Don't Exercsie Too Much"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#10 Don't exercise too much!         Do not exercise too much! More in this case is not better and can and will most definitely hinder your progress, muscle growth if you over train your body.  A lot of people don't release this and when just starting out you may have to learn the hard way. I always thought more exercise was better in my first year of lifting weights and I over trained my body big time. My brother made me rest a whole week without entering our gym to workout. It was tough for me to do because I was so used to training and loved it so much, but when I returned after a week of full rest my body was full, recovered, muscular and ready to hit the weights again. This time I kept the intensity, but kept it to an hour to 45 minuets. Plus I made sure to take my rest days and rest my muscles.

Over training stresses the body and is more common in weight lifting. After about 45 - 60 minuets of weight training cortisol levels dramatically.  Weight sessions should be intense but brief.  To avoid over training you should match your intensity and length or your weight training sessions to your ability to recover. Some people are able to recover faster than others so listen to your body as it doesn't lie. Mesomorphs tend to recover faster from their workouts verses ectomorphs require a much longer recovery time. So it's very important to know your body and know what your body can handle. Just remember you will not get to your goal faster because you workout 3 hours at a time. Being consistent with your workouts, resting when your suppose to and eating clean will get you to your fit goals.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #9 "Do Enough Exercise"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#9 Do Enough Exercise

 Don't do as little exercise as possible and think that any exercise is better than no exercise. While this is true with in reason to improve our overall healthy, but you do need to exercise sufficiently to burn fat off your body. Studies have shown and proven that people who ran 12 miles a week did enough to keep the belly fat off, but it wasn't enough to lose any existing belly fat. So basically this means running the 12 miles a week is just maintaining what you currently have now. This may be fine for those who are in top shape and don't need to lose any body fat, or belly fat. Now for those who do need to lose fat then they will have to go much further and exercise much harder to hit that stored fat on their body. Studies also showed people who ran at least 20 miles a week did reach the stored fat on their bodies and were able to lose belly fat. So while you're trying to lose belly fat and overall fat on your body you'll need to do at least 30 minuets of cardio training 5-6 days a week to hit the stored fat on your body. Be consistent and dedicated to this task and you will start to see the fat whittling off your tummy each week. #Exercise

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #8 "Try Boxing"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#8 Try Boxing

Boxing is a great sport and great exercise to work your core and build those abs. In order to throw a punch and twist your torso, you need to engage your core muscles. This will work your ab muscles and burn and trim that belly fat around your middle. Not only does it engage your core muscles while your boxing, it is a great cardio workout for your whole body. Burning fat from your entire body is how we get to those hard to reach stubborn places like that dreaded belly fat around our middle. Incorporating some new and different exercises, and sport activities to your regular workout training will help keep your body guessing and keep your fat burning. Having a variety of exercises and sport activities will keep you and your body from ever getting bored. Try some good old fashioned boxing, bag punching for a awesome fat burning cardio workout and keep trimming down that belly fat.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #7 "Exercise"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#7 Exercise

It has been proven in research that women who don't exercise gain a whopping 12% deep belly fat just over 8 months time. In other words, you're not just exercising to lose belly fat.. you have to exercise to prevent GAINING belly fat. It is a known fact that you cannot spot reduce and the parts of your body with the most fat are usually the last to go when you're trying losing weight. So you do need to exercise and commit to exercising on a regular daily basis to get to those hard to get fatty parts of your body. We all have our body parts where we gain more weight and men and women will lose differently. Men will lose weight faster than women do, but both men and women will lose in less fatty places first before hitting the more fattier parts of the body. So you do need to continue exercising and not give in after a few weeks, or a months time because you're not seeing results in the places you want to. If you commit and stay consistent over time you will start seeing it trim off your whole body. It's true it takes about 4 weeks for you to see a difference, 8 weeks for others to see a difference and 12 weeks for the world to see. So stick with it and commit to exercising your whole body and you will get to those dreaded fatty places and whittle down that belly fat sooner than you think. Plus you will feel feel good all over being fit, strong, sexy and healthy!

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #6 "Know Your Body Type"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat...

#6 Know Your Body Type

There are three body types, #1 Ectopmorphs ~who are naturally skinny with a fast metabolism.They are light muscled with low body fat. #2 Mesomorph ~who have a athletic build, are well muscled and can lose weight easily. #3 Endomorphs ~who have a sluggish metabolism, higher levels of body fat, gain weight easily and have to work harder than other body types to lose weight.

It's important to have the knowledge of your own body type. Each body type responds differently to training and diet so knowing your own body type and how it reacts will only benefit you and help you in reaching your goals more efficiently. Example: Endomorphs tend to respond and do better with low-carb diet and have to work on losing weight without slowing their already slow metabolic rate. Plus in knowing your body type it will help you make realistic goals. Another example: Ectopmorphs will struggle to boast the ribbed abs of a mesomporph. This is because ectopmorphs gain muscle with great difficulty. While endomorphs can have a flat, toned stomach, it will be more difficult for them. Meaning, endomorphs require a lot more training and clean eating. For a endomorph to achieve 6-pack abs would be much hard and require more training, eating clean than it will for a mesomorph body type. This is because having 6-pack abs requires more muscle and low body fat percentage.

It might not always seem fair and hard to understand for some, but it will benefit you greatly to learn about your own body type so you can work with the body God gave you. We all have our strong parts and our weak parts. Working with them and being able to create and prevail against any odds is what makes it worth while in the long run. It's maybe easier for some that are genetically gifted, but again the ones who are not genetically gifted with more obstacles to work around always work harder and seem to be the best fighters. So whatever body type you are learn about it and how to make it work for you in your life style. Each body type can obtain the fit, sexy, healthy body it was meant to be. It's just all up to you and how hard you're will to work for it?

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #5 Type of Exercise Matters

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat

#5 Type of exercise matters...

According to researchers the more weight-bearing exercises you do, the more fat you will burn in your tummy area. Weight- bearing exercise is any type of exercise you do on your feet and legs and that works your muscles and bone against gravity. Not only does it burn more belly fat, but it's essential for building and maintaining healthy bones. Example of weight-bearing exercises are... walking, running, using the elliptical machine, dancing and basketball just to name a very few. Example of non-weight bearing exercises are... swimming, bicycling, floor exercises. 

Weight-bearing exercise and weightlifting exercise might sound similar, but they are done for different healthy benefits. Resistance training mainly focuses on strengthening muscles while the main focus of weight-bearing activity is strengthening bone mass. While most resistance-training exercises do not fall into the weight-bearing category, it is possible to combine the two types of exercise into one. A comprehensive exercise plan should include both modes of fitness.  

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #4 "Exercise @High Intensity"

 Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#4 Exercise @ High Intensity 

I think the tortoise got it wrong as slow and steady doesn't always win the race. Forget about the "Fat Burning Zone" which is basically exercising at moderately low intensity.  Many studies have shown and proven that exercising at high intensity burns a lot more calories because it can boost metabolism for up to two days after your workout. Another plus is it burns more belly fat and overall fat from your entire body. An Australian study showed that women who did 20 minuets of interval training 3x a week burned more belly fat than women who exercised at moderate intensity for 40 minuets 3x a week. High intensity workouts should be done 2-3 x weekly on no consecutive days. Depending on your condition and what your training for, maintenance, weight loss or competing you can do more high intensity training. If you're just starting out and haven't done any high intensity training you'll want to start slow and work up to doing 2-3 days a week.  If you are in top shape and maintaining or working towards competing you will be able to do more high intensity workouts without any trouble. It is always best to incorporate these high intensity workouts on nonconsecutive days. This way your body can rest and recuperate between your high intensity workouts. Rest is just as important for your body to heal, grow and recuperate before hitting the next high intensity workout.

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #3 "Add Muscle"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

 #3 Adding Muscle 

It's no secret that you cannot just spot reduce a specific body part. So getting rid of that dreaded belly fat will take much more than just doing abdominal exercises. You will benefit greatly from a regular full body strength training program. Work out your abs along with your other body parts, one or two each training session. It's best to break your body parts up...Example: Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs, Shoulders. Muscle combinations can and should be change to keep your body from adapting. Example: Next time you train your chest combined with your shoulders, triceps/biceps, back/hamstrings and then do your quads/calfs. Adding in your ab exercises either after you train or before, but do not be lazy and promise yourself you'll do them next workout because you're too tired.  Abs are one muscle you can work more often than the other muscle groups which need a day or two between workouts, so you can add them in each workout and rest them on your total rest day. It's true you cannot spot reduce but doing your abs along with strength training and cardio will be the best way to get rid of and keep your belly fat away. Just dieting alone will not do the trick, nor will just exercising alone get rid of that ugly belly fat. You need all three components to get the true benefits in obtaining the fit body and abs you're striving for.

Adding strength training into your workout routine when your trying to lose weight will minimize the loss of muscle. As your losing weight and trimming down your belly fat a lot of muscle can be lost if your not careful. It is inevitable to lose some muscle if your going for weight loss, but adding strength training to your workout routine will help control and minimize your muscle loss. Plus the great benefit of gaining muscle will help you lose more fat even after your workout is done. The more muscle you have the more fat you're able to burn during and after working out. Studies have shown and proven women who do strength training lose more body fat than if they didn't. Plus strength training will also help you keep body fat off.  Strength training along with regular cardio, eating clean and healthy will get rid of that stubborn body fat all over.  Making it part of your everyday life will keep that unwanted, ugly body fat, belly fat  under control and off your beautiful, fit body.

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Top #30 Ways To Lose Belly Fat ~ #2 "Don't Just Diet"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#2 Don't Just Diet... Women who control their calorie intake and exercise regularly lose more belly fat than women who only diet. We need to remember that cutting your calories down to low slows down your metabolism. It also makes your body go into starvation mode and will hang on to your fat as a way of survival. It's important to get enough calories to keep your body fueled and burning. Feed your body 5-6 small meals through out the day, never allowing more than 3-4 hours pass without feeding your body. This will assure that your body will not think it's starving and go into survival mode and hold on to that dreaded belly fat. Keeping your body fueled through out the day along with regular exercise will keep your metabolism burning. Never just diet and restrict calories, starving yourself thinking you'll lose weight or your belly fat. Going that route as many women seem to do will only make your body worse and set you back emotionally as well. You will feel as if you're restricting yourself without any payoff and think why bother? Do it the right way and you'll find you can eat and not starve or restrict yourself so drastically to obtain the goal your striving for... losing belly fat and also being the fit, strong, healthy person you are meant to be.  

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Top #30 Greatest Ways 2 Lose Belly Fat ~ #1 "Cortisol"

Top #30 Greatest Ways To Lose Belly Fat..

#1 Cortisol

Our stomach area ranks among one of the top body parts that both men and women want to slim down. Not all of us want a rock hard wash board stomach or even have the will power or discipline to keep our stomach in that type of condition all the time. Most are able to shed the belly fat and work on their ab muscles to make a difference. There are both hard and easy ways to shed that stubborn belly fat around our mid-section.  There is no such thing as spot reducing a specific area to loose fat, but you do need to exercise your stomach to make it easier to loose fat from that specific area. Overall exercise and doing fat burning cardio will make your stomach area smaller as well as your entire body. There might be things that you're doing in your everyday life that are hindering you from loosing belly fat your stomach area. If you're exercising and doing cardio along with specific ab exercises and your still finding little or no change then we know your diet is the culprit in this case.

#1 Keep this belly fat hormone low "Cortisol"

Cortisol is a fat storage hormone that is released by the body in response to stress in your life. Cortisol isn't a bad hormone as it does have it's specific job to do for our bodies. However, cortisol increases appetite, sugar cravings, causes general weight gain and increases belly fat in stressed individuals.  While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation responses to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture and life situations these days the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress. This is what causes that awful dreaded belly fat around our mid-section.

Normally, Cortisol is most present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body. Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:

1. A quick burst of energy for survival reasons

2. Heightened memory functions

3. A burst of increased immunity

4. Lower sensitivity to pain

5. Helps maintain homeostasis in the body

To keep the cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. We are all different and will react differently to life's stressful situations. It's true that people with higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and will eat food that is higher in carbohydrates which causes more belly fat. 

It's so important for us to listen and pay attention to our body and know when we are reacting to higher stress levels. If we do this we can do specific things to lower the cortisol levels in our bodies to a healthy level. This will prevent the dreaded fat storage that seems to happen when we just cannot get our stress level under control. Learn to know when this is happening and take daily steps to make time for some of the relaxing techniques. Keep your cortisol levels in check with some relaxing techniques and stress releasing that will keep your mid-section slim and beautiful. If your not sure what relaxing techniques to start doing? Try some of the ones I listed below and maybe from there you can find some good ones of your own that will work for you. "Relax" Chill and make that belly slim, fit and healthy!

1. Journaling

2. Exercise

3. Yoga

4. Listening to Music

5. Breathing Exercises

6. Sex

7. Meditation

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Inspire Me✿ "The Pain"

"Pain"
I can choose to let it define me

confine me

refine me

 outshine me,

or I can choose to move on 

and leave it behind me.

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"You Can't Jump To The Top"

When you set impossible fitness goals, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. You may be able to stick to a rigid exercise schedule in the beginning, but you won’t be able to sustain it over time. This is especially true if  you're not used to hard core training. It’s just too big of a goal! So put aside those sky-high unrealistic goals in the beginning and just focus on setting healthy, achievable ones instead. 

Approach each goal like you approach stairs – one step at a time. If you stood at the bottom of a tall staircase, could you jump from the very bottom to the very top? No, not even if you wish extra, EXTRA hard! But if you scale down the bigger picture, which is to get to the top, you may just be able to jump past a few steps on your way up. Getting to the top is always attainable if you set your mind and commit to it.  Just know it takes time to get to that place and you need to be patient. Let your desire and passion fuel you everyday as you take each step up that staircase to that goal. Believe me it's more worth it when you work hard for it.  If it was so easy as jumping to the top in anything in life we all would be there.

Remember, your body has physical and mental limitations. It can only do so much at a time. But if you take it slow and give your body the time it needs to adapt to your exercise goals, you will get what you want – a slimmer, fitter, healthier you! Always remember to go that extra mile when you're training. It's never as crowed on that road and will set you apart from the crowd.  

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Exercise of the Week✿ "Close-grip Bench Press

Close-grip Bench Press

If your looking to build well shaped and muscular triceps, you might want to thing about adding close grip bench press' to your regiment. This exercise is a pure triceps mass builder and will help add slabs of beef to the lower part of your arms.

This movement is considered a compound movement using triceps as the primary mover while the front shoulders and chest act as secondary muscle groups.

To get the most from this exercise, keep your feet firmly planted on the ground, dig your shoulder blades into the back of the bench, puff you chest out, and keep your head and butt on the bench. Remember, don't bounce the weight off your chest.

This was one of the first exercises I got used to when I first started weight training. I have lots of favorite exercises and this is another one of them. At that time I didn't know how important they are and how much muscle mass they built. It could be one of the reasons that the triceps became my favorite and most developed upper body part. My brother and trainer would have me do regular bench press with Olympic straight bar just as I would do regular bench press, yet he would have me do a real close-grip and pack heavy weight on it for me. He would also have me do them directly after "Skull Crusher" as a finish pump to my triceps. Sometimes I would get into them so much I would just keep pushing past 10-12 reps until I my triceps blew up and I couldn't push no more... To failure! Love that feeling.

Position for the close grip bench press

1. Lie face up on a flat bench. Plant your feet firmly on the ground and keep your back flat against the bench.

2. Grasp a bar with a narrow grip so that your hands are about 2" to 3" (5 to 9 cm) apart.

3. Arms should be fully extended and palms should be facing forward.

Execution of the close grip bench press
1. Keeping your elbows close to your body, slowly lower the weight slowly to your chest. Lightly touch your chest and push upward. Do not bounce the weight. Repeat 3-4 sets.

 

Press play to view an instructional video on how to properly perform the close grip bench press.

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