Lose the Belly Fat: three Workouts that battle the fats from Thanksgiving

Belly fat is tricky to eliminate. In truth, there isn't a series of exercises that target belly fat specifically. But there are workouts and exercises that I believe lean out the mid section as by-product (so-to-speak) of the way the workout itself affects the body. Overall key is to incorporate exercises in a high intensity interval program that involve rotation, plyometric output (explosive movements)and push you to your threshold. Here are my 3 favorite workouts.

My Favorite, #1

Boxing, just not the arms flaying cardio bag workouts. Do it for real. The better your technique, the better you punch. The better you punch, the more calories you will burn because you are recruiting more muscle fibers into the movement, utilizing your entire body and core. Boxing is not an upper body specific routine. In fact, my obliques (muscles on the side of my waistline) and my legs fatigue before anything else. The trick is to superset rope jump intervals with boxing on the mitts. Then don't forget to layer core exercises like planks, bicycle crunches and jack knife sit-up.

ROUTINE RECOMMENDATION

8 rounds, 2 minutes each of boxing drills. Keep it simple, work basics like jab, cross and cross hook. Then 8 rounds of 1 minute on the jump rope and 8 sets of 30 seconds worth of abs exercises. So the format would go round 1  2 min on mitts, 1 mitt on rope, 30 seconds on abs. Each round will take about 4.5 minute each.

#2

One-to-Ones. This can be absolutely any combo of cardio, plyo and abs that you want. But begin the series post warm-up. I do it as a 10 round routine. My favorites are the stepper stairs or treadmill, with 2 foot box jumps, broad jumps, plie jumps and skipping. Then any ab exercise with rotation that you can think of. My favorite core exercise uses a cable machine and is a simple torso rotation side to side. Change the angle of the cable, alternate sides and make sure you pivot your feet with each movement.

ROUTINE RECOMMENDATION

1 minute run at your 80%, 1 min plyo, 1 min torso rotation. My favorite plyo is the broad jump, plie jump and box jump. Do 10 rounds of this. It is a 30 minute program post warm up.

#3

Solo Circuits. A solo circuit can use any type of exercises or equipment. It is technically circuit training. However, since you are not moving around a room from station to station, I call it a solo circuit. Bring all your equipment to you. The trick to designing any circuit interval program is choosing exercises that you can push yourself through and reach your threshold. This routine is going to assume you have warmed up and stretched out. We are going to have 10 exercises below that utilize the entire body and integrate your core. Do each one for 30 seconds and for 3 sets. So this is a total of 30 sets by the time you have finished.

ROUTINE RECOMMENDATION

30 seconds for each of the following exercises.  Jump tucks (knees to chest) Mountain Climbers Bicycle crunches Plank hold with knees to same side elbow (alternating sides) Hamstring curl jumps (jump off 2 feet, curl your heels to your butt) Knee Lifts with Rotation (alternating sides) Squat jumps Stepping Back Lunges (alternating sides)</li> Burpies</li> Crunches with rotation</li> </ol> Blog [l]