In order to lose belly fat, you need to melt it away with cardiovascular exercise. If you are in the process of doing this right now and you want to tone your tummy, perform abdominal exercises that focus on your upper, lower and oblique areas. The obliques are found on the sides of your stomach. Easy ab exercises are ones that do not involve complex movements. Even though they might be easy, you still need to use proper form when doing them.
Step 1
Warm up with several dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches are performed in a motion and they get your body in tune for the movement it is about to perform. Do stretches such as leg swings, arm circles, alternating toe touches, knee highs, trunk twists and forward bends.
Step 2
Start off by working your lower abs with leg lifts. Lie on your back with your legs straight and hands under your buttocks. Lift your legs 2 to 3 inches off the ground. This is your starting point. Elevate your legs 2 to 3 feet higher, lower them back to the starting point and repeat.
Step 3
Bend sideways to target your obliques. Stand with your feet shoulders-width apart, place your right hand on your hip and hold a dumbbell in your left hand with your arm straight at your side. Keep your lower body still as you bend laterally to your left, lowering the dumbbell toward the floor. Bend back to upright, repeat for a set of reps, then switch sides.
Step 4
Lie on your back to do crunches for your upper abs. Bend your knees, place your feet flat on the floor and place your hands on the sides of your head. Lift your head and shoulders forward, hold briefly and lower yourself back down. Repeat for a set of repetitions. Keep your head and shoulders just above the floor when lowering to keep emphasis on your abs.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform enough work to get results. Aim for 10 to 15 reps of each exercise. Do them one right after the other with 45-to-60-second rest breaks in between each, and then repeat three to four times. Work out three days a week on alternating days. Add more reps progressively as you adapt. Get to a point where you can easily do 15 to 20 repetitions. Execute proper form. Squeeze your abs forcefully at the midpoint of each movement and do not use momentum. Take the crunch for example. Squeeze your abs forcefully when you raise your torso and do not pop your hips up from the floor when you lower yourself back down. Exhale as you exert force with your exercises and inhale during the recovery phase. For example, when you raise your legs in the air with a leg lift, exhale, then inhale as you lower them back down.
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