Quit these bad habits ASAP.
A majority of my clients have one goal in mind: to burn belly fat.
When we meet for the first time, I normally ask about their current fitness
routine, how long they've been doing it, and what kind of results they've got
so far. I see that they do a lot of common exercise mistakes that slow them
down.
I'm here to help if you've been exercising out for a while but
haven't noticed any changes in your belly. When it comes to losing belly fat,
these are the worst mistakes you can make. Continue reading to find out more.
1. You're only performing sit-ups and crunches
Sit-ups and crunches simply won't help you to lose belly fat.
Regardless of the fact that your abs may seem to be working and burning, this
limited routine will not produce the results you want. These exercises are
great, but the primary function of your abs is to stabilize the spine and
transfer power. When training your core, you should do so with the intention of
trying to make it stronger to protect your back and improve the performance of
your compound exercises, which require core strength.
2. You're focusing on cardio over strength training
Another common exercise mistake is believing that only running or
even doing cardio will help you lose belly fat. Cardio is good for heart
health, endurance, and calorie burning, but it isn't as effective as strength
training.
Strength training assists in the development and preservation of
muscle mass, which increases metabolism. If done right, an intense weight
training session can also burn more calories than cardio, due to the excess
post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) effect. Strength training, focusing on
compound exercises, should be done at least twice a week if you want to lose
belly fat (ones that involve more than one muscle group).
3. You're only using light weights and high reps when strength
training
If you're doing strength training, don't make the mistake of using
only light weights and high reps. This is a fitness myth that isn't going away
soon. Lighter weights and higher reps may give you a burn, but they won't help
you lose belly fat. This is because your muscles must be required to work
harder if you have enough resistance.
Also, if you're constantly lifting the same amount of weight and
reps, your body adapts, which makes it harder for you to progress. Instead,
choose a weight that's challenging (but not dangerous) and focus on lifting
heavier weights if you're physically able of doing so.
4. Your main focus is calorie burn
People are obsessed with how many calories their favorite fitness class, workout, or activity burned. The issue with this mentality is there can be a major margin of error. In addition, people psychologically think because they burned a certain amount of calories, they can eat them all back, but that's not how it works—especially if you're overestimating your activity. In order to lose fat, stick to your calorie deficit no matter how many cals you think you burned during a sweat session.