Belly Fat and How to Beat It
Of all the e-mails I get sent every day, by far the most common — from men and women alike — are questions about how to lose stubborn
belly fat.
A pot belly... love handles... the spare tire... call it what you
will. It seems to be the area of your body that you'd really like
to do something about.
Read on, and I'll explain why belly fat is so bad, and what you
can do to get rid of it.
Not only is a firm, flat stomach the ultimate symbol of sex appeal,
researchers have found that losing abdominal fat is one of the most
important steps you can take to stay healthy for life.
Most people realize that excess fat is unhealthy, but the key is
where the fat is distributed. People with apple-shaped bodies (fattest
in the abdomen) have a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes
than those with pear shapes (fattest in the hips, buttocks, and
thighs).
There are two main types of fat in the stomach area. Visceral (pronounced viss-er-al) fat
is stored deep inside your body. It surrounds and protects your internal organs. Subcutaneous (pronounced sub-cue-tain-ee-us) fat, on the other hand, is stored just under your skin. It's the stuff that wobbles when you jump up and down.
What's the best way to lose belly fat?
It won't surprise you to learn that the best way to lose abdominal
fat is to eat right and exercise regularly. And there's a growing
body of research to show that the fastest way to burn off the
fat from your belly is with a combination of weight training
and aerobic exercise.
A good example comes from research published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism [4]. For the study, researchers compared the effectiveness of two exercise and diet programs. Subjects taking part in the study were assigned to one of two groups.
- Group one followed a diet based on the traditional food guide pyramid (50-55% carbohydrate; 15-20% protein; less than 30% fat). They also did cardiovascular exercise 4-6 days per week at 50-75% of their maximal heart rate. Each workout lasted 30-60 minutes.
- Group two followed a diet that was higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate and fat. Their exercise program consisted of alternating days of resistance and cardiovascular interval training six days per week.
Body composition was assessed by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) before and after the 12-week training program. DEXA is an extremely accurate way to measure changes in body fat. It’s far more reliable than the skin fold calipers or body fat scales often used in health clubs.
And the result?
Subjects in group two (remember, these were the people who lifted weights, did more intense cardio, and ate more protein) lost more fat overall (-20.6%) than the normal group (-10.1%). They also gained 2 pounds of muscle (0.9 kilograms) while the cardio-only group, not surprisingly, lost muscle.
More interesting still, abdominal fat dropped by 26% in group two, but by just 13.5% in group one. In other words, subjects in group two lost almost twice as much belly fat as those in group one.
You can see the results in the graph below.
Now, I should point out that this wasn't the perfect study. For one, although the subjects were told to record what they ate, there's no way of knowing how accurate these records were. In other words, this was not a study where the diet was tightly controlled by the researchers.
Unfortunately, self-reported food intake is a notoriously inaccurate way to measure calorie intake. Some studies show that people underestimate their calorie intake by up to 50% [3]. Which means that someone who says they are eating 1000 calories per day may really be eating 2000 calories.
It's also worth nothing that subjects taking part in this study exercised for up to six days per week. Don't worry if you don't have time for all this exercise. With the right program, four days a week is plenty.
So, if you want to lose belly fat, what should you do?
Firstly, you will need to exercise. And a feeble 30 or 40 minutes of cardio in your so-called "fat-burning zone" two or three times a week isn't going to be enough. As you've learned, a full-body training program that includes both cardiovascular and resistance exercise will deliver better, faster results.
Forget about doing hundreds of crunches, sit-ups, or any of the various "drawing in the belly button" exercises. They're virtually useless for most people when it comes to losing belly fat.
As Mike Geary, author of The Truth about Six Pack Abs, points out: "Let's get this straight right now. Abdominal exercises do NOT burn fat away from your abs! This can only be accomplished through a much more effective full-body training routine that maximizes both your metabolic response and your hormonal response to your workouts."
Remember, belly fat is stored energy. To get rid of it, you need to burn more energy (calories) than you eat. And these exercises don't burn enough calories to make much of a difference to the appearance of your waist and stomach.
"The truth is, getting six-pack 'killer' abs has almost nothing to do with training," adds Tom Venuto, author of Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle. "It has everything to do with low body fat."
If you've seen pictures of Tom, you'll know he has some of the best abs in the business. "Some people might argue that I was just blessed with good genetics in the ab department, which may be true," says Tom. "But based on my experience with others who have less favorable genetics, I still believe that developing the abdominal muscles is easy. The hardest part is getting your body fat low enough for your abs to show."
You'll also need to eat the right foods. I know it's a cliché, but a flat stomach is made in the kitchen and not the gym. Deciding what to eat can be difficult, especially with the mass of conflicting and confusing information out there. When it comes to nutrition, most people have been given only half the story. Usually, it's the wrong half!
Ultimately, while there are a few basic principles to keep in mind when it comes to nutrition and weight loss, losing belly fat requires that you take in fewer calories than you burn. Don't be seduced into following an overly complicated diet masquerading under the guise of a "new and revolutionary" approach to weight loss.
Finally, you'll need to be consistent. To lose belly fat, eating right and exercising regularly needs to become a habit, not just something you do when you can be bothered or when you "have the time." If your current schedule makes it difficult to find the time for exercise, change it. Get out of bed earlier. Turn off the TV. Stop wasting time on Facebook.
If you're looking for a highly effective fat-burning exercise routine that will help you burn off belly fat and lose the love handles, the Fight Fat and Win program (FFW) is the one I use myself and recommend to others. Based on some of the latest nutrition and exercise research, FFW is designed to help you quickly burn belly fat while preserving valuable muscle tissue.
About The Author
 Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest and other popular fitness magazines.
If you're stuck
in a rut with your current exercise and diet plan... fed up with
only losing a pound here and there... or still skinny after months
(or even years) of trying to build muscle and gain weight... click here now for instant access to his step-by-step muscle-building and fat-burning workout routines.
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References
1. Santa-Clara, H., Fernhall, B., Baptista, F., Mendes, M., & Bettencourt
Sardinha, L. (2003). Effect of a one-year combined exercise training
program on body composition in men with coronary artery disease. Metabolism,
52, 1413-1417
2. Park, S.K., Park, J.H., Kwon, Y.C., Kim, H.S., Yoon, M.S., & Park,
H.T. (2003). The effect of combined aerobic and resistance exercise
training on abdominal fat in obese middle-aged women. Journal
of Physiological Anthropology and Applied Human Science, 22,
129-135
3.
Lichtman, S.W., Pisarska, K., Berman, E.R., Pestone, M., Dowling, H., Offenbacher, E., Weisel, H., Heshka, S., Matthews, D.E., & Heymsfield, S.B. (1992). Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake and exercise in obese subjects. New England Journal of Medicine, 327, 1893-1898
4. Arciero, P.J., Gentile, C.L., Martin-Pressman, R., Ormsbee, M.J., Everett, M., Zwicky, L., & Steele, C.A. (2006). Increased dietary protein and combined high intensity aerobic and resistance exercise improves body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 16, 373-392
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