Many individuals are interested in burning abdominal fat and getting 6 pack abs, except they don’t know how. The stomach and abdomen is the area where many people want to lose fat and tone up. Besides looking good, losing fat around the waist is very important for you to stay healthy and has been linked directly to reducing the risk of heart disease.
While being overweight is considered unhealthy, it is where you store fat on your body that is the issue. If you have an apple shaped body with a lot of fat around the abdomen then you have a greater chance of developing diabetes and heart disease as compared to those who are pear shaped. The key to losing belly fat is to make sure that you are persistent and consistent in what you are doing.
There is more than one kind of fat around the abdomen, as there is deep layer fat called visceral fat and fat that is just under the skin called subcutaneous fat. It is the subcutaneous that moves and wiggles when you move and it is this fat that individuals want to get rid of.
To get rid of abdomen fat you need to do the right combination of ab exercises as well as following a good diet. While there is no special diet to follow, there is a special exercise combination that is needed to lose belly fat. To lose fat you need to combine full body aerobic exercise with weight training. You also need to closely monitor your calorie intake as most people underestimate how much they eat and then wonder why they are not losing weight.
It is important to exercise a minimum of five times a week. Each exercise period should last for at least 30 minutes. To burn abdominal fat you will not have success with just aerobic exercise alone. You need to have an exercise program that incorporates full body cardiovascular and strength training. Crunches alone do not burn belly fat. Sit ups only tone the stomach muscles, they do not burn fat.
Having an understanding of how your body burns food for energy is also important. Your body’s first choice for energy is carbohydrates and then fat. By eating a low carbohydrate diet you can have your body burning more fat when it needs energy. It is also important to keep track of your calories as you want to eat less calories than you burn.