Exercising to shrink your stomach should be performed differently than exercise for other reasons. Each session should involve high-intensity, full-body movements that force the body to use up large quantities of calories. While ab exercises will help tighten the muscles of your stomach, they are not enough to reduce the size of your tummy, as spot reduction of fat through exercise is not possible.
Step 1
Work your muscles twice a week on nonconsecutive days. Performing exercises for three sets of 15 to 25 repetitions will help prepare your ligaments and tendons for more strenuous exercise, says the National Academy of Sports Medicine. A sample exercise session starts with crunches and back extensions, then continues to dumbbell bench presses, standing rows, single-leg squats and single-leg bridges.
Step 2
Perform high-intensity cardio at least twice a week. Tabata is a high-intensity interval training program that consists of 20 seconds of sprinting followed by 10 seconds of recovery walking. Eight cycles complete your workout, and with the addition of a five-minute warm-up and cool-down, these exercise sessions take a mere 14 minutes to complete. Tabata's inventor, Dr. Izumi Tabata, found that participants increased the calories they burn for up to 48 hours afterward.
Step 3
Use kettlebells once a week. Kettlebell workouts burn as many calories as running at a six-minute-per-mile pace, according to a study by the American Council on Exercise. A typical session includes kettlebell swings, windmills, figure-eights and Turkish get-ups.
Step 4
Run five days a week. In addition to the high-intensity cardio days outlined above, an hour of prolonged, steady cardio should be performed most days of the week, says the American College of Sports Medicine, or ACSM. Warm up for five minutes with a brisk jog and cool-down for five minutes afterward.
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