An expanding waistline may seem inevitable and unavoidable as you age, but you can fight back. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that seniors engage in at least 150 minutes a week of exercise such as walking briskly and two days of strength training, but to burn off belly fat and tighten your tummy, up to 300 minutes of cardio is ideal. Cardio burns fat off your entire body, but basic ab exercises will reduce the size of your abdomen.
Single-Leg Side Crunch
The CDC recommends that older adults do body weight exercises, weight lifting exercises and yoga for strengthening their muscles, as well as balance exercises three days a week. The single leg side crunch is a body weight exercise that works your abs for stabilization and your balance as you stand on one leg. The exercise combines a single-leg stand and lateral flexion of your spine to target the sides of your waist. To perform this exercise, stand on your right leg and place both hands behind your head with the elbows bent. Then, bend your left knee as you raise your leg up to the ceiling on the left side of your body. Bend to the left to bring your left elbow toward your knee. Stand back up and touch your left foot back to the floor. Repeat on the right.
Weighted Twisting Crunch
The weighted twisting crunch is a traditional abdominal exercise for the "six-pack" muscle and the sides of the stomach that uses a free weight. Dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells and medicine balls are all free weights used in strength training. A weighted plate like you find on a barbell is the easiest weight to use for this exercise, though holding a medicine ball or dumbbell to your chest would work too. To do the weighted twisting crunch, lie on your back and hold a weighted plate to the back of your head with a hand on each side and your elbows bent. Then, raise your head and shoulders toward the ceiling and twist to your right to bring your right shoulder closer to your left knee. Lie back down and crunch up again, but twist to the left.
Cat Pose
Cat pose is a simple yoga exercise categorized by "Yoga Journal" as a core pose because of the ab work involved. The ab muscles contract to pull in the belly. The pose also massages the internal organs and stretches the neck and spine. To do the cat pose, kneel on a yoga mat or carpet on your hands and knees. Position your body like a table with your arms and thighs as the table legs and your back as the flat table top. The arms and legs are straight. From there, round your back toward the ceiling and drop your neck toward the floor. Squeeze your abs tight. Lower back to the starting position.
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