Photo: Willow + Co
Hey there, ya snazzy thing!
I get asked a lot of questions about our abdominal area . . . tummy, belly — whatever you want to call it! So we are going to dig into some real answers on how to lose belly fat and the best ways to tighten that area.
I get asked at least five times a day: “How can I get rid of this belly fat?” and “How do I target my stomach area?!” I know that we are all built differently and store fat in different places, and it is frustrating when you are happy with your body but just can’t seem to lose the last bit of fat laying over those abdominals.
Now this answer is going to sound harsh, but bear with me. You can’t target your stomach area. What?! Yup, I said it. You cannot simply lose fat in one place on your body. No amount of crunches, planks, or sit-ups will get you there if you aren’t losing overall fat.
So how do we do that? The best way to lose fat is to work our largest muscles, as that creates high calorie expenditure (burning lots of calories!). Our largest muscles are our glutes by volume, back by width, and then our legs. This doesn’t mean we neglect our smaller muscles (shoulders, biceps, triceps etc.), but rather we make sure we are implementing good solid training days for those larger muscles. I personally train legs + glutes two times a week, and sometimes three if I can.
Working your back will not only burn those calories but act as a corset and help pull loose skin and more back and tight! Of course, you still add in some ab workouts to keep those muscles up to par, and building those muscles will also help act as a corset.
All of that being said, trust the process and lift those weights! It didn’t take us an overnight trip to get where we are, so it is definitely going to take some time to get to where we want to be. Don’t get discouraged, because you WILL get there!
In the meantime, here is a killer ab workout (no crunches involved, promise):
- Scissor criss-cross
- 4 plank jumping-jacks into plank knee crunches
- Side oblique touches
Click HERE for examples!
30 seconds each — x 3 rounds!
This can be done anywhere, anytime, so have fun with it, and I would love to hear what you think of it.
XO with love and some burning abs,
Leah