One of the best ways to tell if you're carrying extra weight around your middle is to measure your waist, according to the Mayo Clinic. If your belly measures more than 35 inches when you wrap a tape measure around it at navel level, you may be at increased risk for heart disease, diabetes and other health problems. But the right fitness routine can help you burn abdominal fat to flatten your belly and reduce health risk.
Jogging
Your stomach is mostly fat, and aerobic exercise like jogging is one of the most effective ways to burn fat, says Tim Davis, director of personal training at New York City gym Peak Performance. Davis says in "Fitness" magazine that you should jog for 30 to 60 minutes at least two to four days a week if you're running to burn belly fat.
Crunches
The key to getting results with crunches is making sure you're using the correct form when you do them, explains Scott Cole, co-author of the book, "Athletic Abs" and creator of the "Best Abs on Earth" video. Cole explains in "Shape" magazine that you need to go slowly, and be sure to lift with your torso rather than your neck and take at least two full seconds to lift up and two seconds to lower back down. If you're still not getting the results you want, Cole recommends increasing the intensity of your crunches by doing them on a stability ball.
Pelvic Tilts
The Mayo Clinic recommends firming your lower abdominal muscles with pelvic tilts, in which you raise your pelvis slightly by tightening your abdominal muscles while lying on the floor with your knees slightly bent. You won't see immediate results from these exercises because you have to burn the layer of fat on top of these muscles for them to become visible. But once you've shed some of that fat, these exercises will give you a tighter, more toned tummy.
Lift Weights
Engaging in at least three 45 to 50 minute weight lifting workouts each week can help speed up your metabolism by as much as 15 percent, which helps you keep burning fat in your stomach and everywhere else -- all day long, explains Davis in "Fitness." Though a cardio workout burns more calories, strength training workouts help you burn calories for a longer period of time, so both are essential to stomach weight loss.
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