Workouts To Lose Belly Fat

The healthiest diet, hours of aerobic exercise and a thousand crunches a day may not be enough to reduce stubborn belly fat. While balanced nutrition and reduced caloric intake are essential to weight loss, the type of exercises you perform can affect the rate at which you lose belly fat. These ab workouts offer enough variety to keep your muscles from acclimating and your metabolism revved for maximum fat loss and a flatter tummy.

Alternatives to Crunches

Personal trainer Wini Linguvic, author of "Get Lean, Long & Strong in Just 12 Minutes a Day." says crunches alone are inadequate for losing belly fat because they target only one part of the abdominal muscles and don't burn enough calories. She recommends an exercise regimen that works the entire core, including upper, lower and side abdominal muscles, as well as the back. The workout includes variations on crunches, stretches, leg extensions and strenuous stretches, all done either on a mat or on an exercise ball, which works the muscles harder because you must stabilize during the moves.

Pilates

Fitness instructor Joy Petrash, of the Center for Sports Medicine in Walnut Creek, Calif., recommends Pilates as the ultimate way to lose belly fat and create definition in the stomach area. Pilates exercises work the entire core rather than just the front abdominal muscles that traditional crunches attack. Effective moves include the kneeling core twist, side kicks, leg circles and side pendulum.

Yoga

Fernando Pages Ruiz, contributing editor to Yoga Journal, writes that yoga develops strength in the abdominal area. Recommended poses include seated forward bend, upward extended foot pose, bridge pose, upward bow pose and revolved triangle pose. In addition to helping you lose belly fat, yoga increases flexibility, promotes proper breathing and stimulates relaxation in mind and body.

Strength Training

Full body muscle tone will increase metabolism and ultimately burn more calories, even at rest than cardio alone, according to the Mayo Clinic. Incorporate a strength training routine into your current workout schedule at least three times per week. The increased muscle mass will trigger greater loss of belly fat.

Interval Workout

The Mayo Clinic recommends interval training as a means of burning more calories during cardio exercise. Interval training means incorporating two or three minute bursts of intense activity throughout your workout. After each intense burst--for example, running for two to three minutes during your walk-- return to your usual, moderate pace until your body recovers from the exertion. Increase the intensity for another two minutes and return to the moderate pace.

Tai Chi

The Mayo Clinic cites the correlation between stress and abdominal fat. Excessive stress causes increased production of the hormone cortisol, which triggers the deposit of adipose fat. Workouts that manage stress are essential to overall health and may promote the loss of belly fat. Mayo Clinic recommends Tai Chi, a Chinese art combining focus, deep breathing and a series of physical movements that blend from one to the next in constant sequence. To get started with Tai Chi, the Mayo Clinic recommends taking a class to avoid injury due to improper performance of the positions.