blake
Shrinking abdominal fat is a common fitness goal. Extra weight tends to accumulate around your abdomen as you get older. Visceral—or abdominal—fat is linked with a slew of health concerns, including type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, heart disease, and even gallbladder surgery.
To remove a potbelly, you must adopt key healthy practices into your lifestyle, such as eating a nutritious diet and doing strength training and regular cardio. This may sound like common sense, but it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of being sedentary—particularly if you work from home. We’re here to assist you with that.
Cardio and crunches are two of the most common mistakes made when attempting to lose abdominal fat. Instead, you should engage in strength training at least three times a week, with a particular focus on complex activities. This is because strength training will burn more calories, increase lean muscle mass, and boost your metabolism. Ab and Cardio exercises have their place, but they should be used as a complement rather than the primary component of your workouts.
If you’re over 40 and have a pot belly, I suggest incorporating the exercises listed below into your routine.
1 — Dumbbell Thrusters
Begin with holding a pair of dumbbells above your shoulders. Keep your chest up and tight, and squat down towards the floor until your hips are parallel with the floor. Once you’ve reached that parallel posture, push through your heels and use the squat’s momentum to press the dumbbells straight up. At the top of the lift, flex your triceps, then return the weight under control back to your shoulders before repeating another rep. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
2 — Dumbbell Renegade Row
Assume a pushup position with your feet wide and your hands at your sides, holding two dumbbells. Taking one hand and rowing the weight up by pushing one elbow toward the hip and squeezing your lat, keep your core taut and glutes squeezed. After returning the dumbbell to the ground, do a row with the other arm. Performing 3 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions on each arm is recommended.
3 — Bulgarian Split Squat
While Standing, rest your back foot on a couch or bench, and step out with the other foot about 2 to 3 feet from the couch. Hold a dumbbell at each side and begin by lowering your body while under control until your back knee is close to touching the floor and the front knee is in a runner’s lunge position. Then use your weight to propel through your front heel to return to standing while flexing your glutes and quads as you rise doing 3 sets of 10 reps each leg.
4 — Decline Bench Leg Raise
Begin by placing your upper back on a decline bench press. Flatten the lower back before beginning to pull your feet towards you. Kick up your legs as high as you can after they’ve passed in front of you. At the top, tense your abs hard then slowly lower them while under control and keeping tension in your core. Try to complete three sets of 10 to 15 reps.
