Beware of Belly Fat Burning Exercises

Of all the fat around our bodies, it seems that belly fat is the most repulsive. Many men like a woman with an ample bottom or meaty thighs, but rare is the man with a spare tire fetish. Similarly, women prefer a guy who is tall but width seems to be a deal-breaker; go figure. Either way, the desire to banish belly fat shouldn't be seen as an exercise in vanity. Belly fat is more than just unattractive; it is downright unhealthy and the midsection is far and away the worst place to have fat deposits because the excess weight forces the internal organs to work much harder and strain themselves to accommodate your load.
As a sad coincidence, fat around the waist is also the hardest to lose, so the situation is doubly serious. Fortunately, exercise can help out with belly fat, though it may take a while longer for the fat loss to finally be focused on your belly. What you need to be cautious of, though, are workouts, products, and machines that promise a wonderful belly fat burning exercise. We'll take a look at a few of them and see if any actually deliver on their promises.

We'll start with sit-ups and crunches. Along with other abdominal exercises like ab raises and oblique twists, this family of workouts has long been thought to be the best belly fat burning exercise possible. These days, however, we know it isn't as cut and dry as that. Like all weight training regimens, the end result of sit-ups and its ilk are stronger and leaner abdominal muscles.

This is all well and good but it isn't as effective at shedding the fat around to midsection. It's true that you will be able to burn more fat where there is more muscle, so there is some fat shedding benefit to having strong abs, but abdominal workouts in and of themselves can't claim to be superior belly fat burning exercises.

Another thing you still see from time to time are exercise machines that promise to melt away your fat by using some sort of vibrating mechanism. There are machines that have a series of plugs that stick to certain parts of your body and are meant to jiggle away the pounds just to name one kind. Be particularly cautious about these, however.

There is no evidence whatsoever that suggests that sitting stagnant while machines vibrate your fat can translate into a belly fat burning exercise. On the contrary, it has been proven that fat loss is only achievable with some kind of aerobic exercise. As much as you hate to admit it, you'll have to put forth some sort of effort which leaves you winded if you want to banish fat from your waist for good.

So what kind of exercise is truly a worthy belly fat burning exercise? Ignore all of these contraptions and instead stick to what has worked for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years. Running, cycling, jumping rope, working out on an elliptical machine, rowing, and nearly any other kind of exercise that gets your heart rate boosted and makes you sweat.

There is no "quick fix" if you want to lose your belly fat, other than working out more frequently. While it may take time for the fat to be fully gone from your belly, as you will likely lose fat in areas like your face and legs first, rest assured that aerobic exercise can and will give you a flat belly. All it takes to reap these benefits is just twenty minutes of moderate to hard exercise two or three times a week. That amounts to an hour or less each week wherein you have to put forth any effort. Surely that is achievable even for the busiest among us!