When you want to lose weight, you usually have a wish about what you want to change. You want your belly to go away or your entire body to become slimmer. We’ll tell you how you can really get rid of belly fat.
by Cornelia Bertram, News Editor Published: 20.09.2024
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Whether you’re a fitness newbie or an experienced gym-goer, sooner or later everyone asks themselves how they should train in order to specifically lose some belly fat.
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With all the different training options, it can be really difficult to make the right decision to really tackle those love handles effectively. Many people have a completely wrong approach.
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“Abdominal fat does not decrease differently depending on the training method,” explains sports performance coach and certified strength and conditioning specialist Dr. Alex Harrison to the portal ‘POPSUGAR‘.
“If your goal is to lose belly fat, you need to reduce your overall body fat percentage.” Focusing only on your stomach with a specific exercise will not produce great results.
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So if you want to lose weight in the long term, Dr. Harrison says you should Strength training “This increases muscle mass and therefore the ability to burn more calories at rest,” he explains.
It is also important to know that your body will only lose weight if you consume fewer calories than you burn. You can achieve this calorie deficit much more easily with greater muscle mass.
Muscle mass is crucial
Another reason Dr. Harrison recommends doing strength training over cardio is because cardio burns both fat and muscle, and losing muscle mass would be counterproductive in this case.
However, to lose body fat and build muscle mass, you have to work hard. “I recommend training with weights four times a week and doing a light cardio session on one day.”
However, if you are completely new to training or don’t have much time, you can start with two strength training sessions per week and slowly increase according to your ability and needs.
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Focus on compound exercises
When training, Dr. Harrison recommends focusing on compound exercises – these target larger muscle groups at the same time, thus generating greater energy expenditure.
These exercises are more strenuous to perform, but they also burn more calories and fat. Examples include barbell squats, deadlifts, bench presses and pull-ups.
However, during training it is always very important that you listen to the signals from your body and slowly get your muscles used to the heavy weights. This way you can prevent injuries and not lose the fun.
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