Let’s dive in our Flat Belly Guide 2018! It may not be a secret that the best way to a six-pack is a healthy diet (even if it’s no diet at all) and regular exercise, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to get a flat belly. Read on for the ultimate guide to getting flat abs.
Know the Formula
Getting flat abs in time for Summer isn’t about starving yourself or living at the gym. Reducing belly fat involves a mix of smart eating and effective exercise. Make sure you eat enough food to keep your body from experiencing hormone imbalances; eating too little (fewer than 1,200 calories a day) reduces the amount of the fat-burning hormone leptin in your body, which will slow down weight loss. And if you’re just exercising without changing your diet, you’ll spend a lot of time at the gym with little result.
Posture Makes Perfect
Doing regular posture-building exercises packs a double punch when it comes to busting that belly. Having good posture helps you look slimmer instantly, while sticking to a posture-building routine every day will strengthen your ab muscles and help get you well on your way to a six-pack. Here are some posture-building moves to help you look like you’ve dropped five pounds.
Fight the Fat
Ab exercises will help define those muscles, but don’t forget cardio for overall weight loss — otherwise all those sit-ups will go to waste. If you want results fast, try high-intensity interval training, which has been proven to be one of the best ways to fight belly fat.
De-Stress
Having too much stress can lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body, which can increase the amount of fat you store around your belly. Can’t seem to de-stress? Take a few minutes each day to relax with these tips on how to de-stress.
Start With Oatmeal
The secret to getting flat abs includes a diet that helps shrink that midsection. The best things to eat include foods high in fiber and other foods that help you beat the bloat. Swap your normal breakfast for a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries, for example; the fiber in the oatmeal will aid in digestion and the antioxidants in blueberries may help you shed ab fat.
Drink to Detox
It’s not just in the foods you eat — what you drink can help debloat and flatten your tummy as well, so bottoms up! Drinking a glass of water with lemon every morning, for example, will help you alkalize your body, which helps you burn fat and detox your system. Besides lemon water, here is a blog post why you should drink more water nonetheless.
Stay Away From These
There are those foods that help slim your middle and those that make you feel like a bloated balloon. As you continue your ab-flattening workout plan, be sure to avoid foods that cause bloating, like broccoli and cabbage, when things start getting serious.
Choose Full-Body Exercises
If you’re looking for killer abs, don’t waste your time focusing solely on crunches, since they tone just one muscle group and exacerbate bad posture, especially if you sit with a rounded spine at a desk all day. Instead focus on full-body exercises, like squat to overhead press. Not only do these types of exercises save time by working multiple body parts while engaging your core, they also do so without the posture-wrecking position of a rounded spine. Check out our video on full-body workouts here.
Work All Layers
If you’ve only go one type of ab workout in your routine, your midsection is missing out. Working your core involves exercising all your abdominal layers, not just the top part that you can see. The inner muscles help pull in your belly for a slimming look, so be sure to work all of your ab muscles with this workout!
Don’t Forget the Muffin Top
Getting rid of a muffin top involves many of the same strategies you’re employing when it comes to washboard abs, but if you’ve got a little extra padding all around your waistline, there are a few more tricks you should have up your sleeve. Read labels carefully, for example; lurking trans fats in your favorite foods can increase the amount of fat you hold around your waist. And while you’re focusing on your abs while you work out, don’t forget back exercises like the Superman or the side bridge if you’ve got a muffin top to lose.