7 Days of Fat Loss: 2 Training Tips to Beat Belly Bulge
By Kate Horney
It’s almost August and let’s face it, swimsuit season is in full force. Maybe you meant to start getting in shape sooner (like back in January) but it didn’t happen. So now you’re wondering how to get that flat midsection- and fast…
When it comes to getting rid of the belly bulge, crunches aren’t the answer. Our friends, the leading fat loss experts at Metabolic Effect put it best when they say, “Doing sit-ups to burn belly fat is like trying to change your tire with a pencil.” It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Core training is important, but if you’re serious about slimming your midsection, the key is to create a caloric deficit while balancing your metabolic hormones to ensure your body is burning fat.
Here are 2 of my best training tips to help you lose some belly fat and get your midsection ready for the beach in record time:
1) Weight Training– Engage in resistance training a minimum of 2-3 times per week. Adding weights to your workouts isn’t just for people who want to gain muscle. While traditional aerobic training may burn calories during your workout, this type of training does little to improve your metabolic potential. On the other hand, weight training creates the best hormonal environment for fat burning (belly fat included) as it stimulates the production of testosterone and human growth hormone- two incredibly powerful fat burning hormones that help you to burn belly fat both during your workout and long after your workout is over.
2) Interval Training– For a one-two punch that really kicks belly fat in the… belly…. add intervals to your resistance training. Interval training is designed so that there are alternated “working” and “resting” segments within the same workout. These types of programs focus on improving body composition, while also increasing performance. Follow the rest based training model that we use in Bikini Boot Camp workouts: push as hard as possible during the working segments, brining your body to its anaerobic threshold, and then rest until you’re ready to go again. Like resistance training, this style of training takes advantage of EPOC and enhances the caloric and fat burning effects both during and after your workout. When it comes to EPOC and the hormonal “after-burn,” intensity, not duration, is the key. Sprints and other high intensity intervals are efficient ways to increase fat burning hormones and beat that belly!
Related: 6 Hormones You Need to Know