Cardio exercise improves heart health and endurance and can burn a significant amount of calories and fat. Examples of cardio exercise are running, swimming and using fitness machines like a stair climber or treadmill. Since losing weight is linked to factors like body type, body mass index and the amount of time you dedicate to exercising, there is no set amount of time it takes for any one person to shed excess fat and tone abs.
Burn Calories
In order to lose weight you have to burn calories. One pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories. By burning 500 calories a day, you can burn 1 lb. a week. Harvard Health Publications reports that with 30 minutes of cardio exercise like low-impact aerobics, a 125 lb. person will burn 165 calories. A 155 lb. person will burn 260 calories after riding on a stationary bike for 30 minutes. By the end of one month of doing these cardio exercises five days a week, the 125 lb. person will lose just under 1 lb. A 155 lb. person will lose about 1.5 lbs. While 1 to 2 lbs. will by no means flatten your tummy, working out five days a week for four to six months will have a significant, cumulative effect on your abs as well as legs, arms, face and buttocks.
Body Mass Index
The amount of time it will take to get a flat belly by doing cardio exercise is highly dependent on your body mass index, or BMI. Body mass index refers to a measure of fat based on your height and weight. An obese person, with a BMI of 30 or greater, will have to lose significantly more weight than someone who is overweight and has a BMI of 25 to 29.9. A 5 feet 4 inch person who weighs 125 lbs. has a normal BMI of 21.5. An additional 30 lbs. of body fat places her in the overweight category with a BMI of 26.6. At 185 lbs., she would have a BMI of 30.2, which is obese. By doing a 60-minute cardio workout on a stair stepping machine every day, the 185 lb. person burns 532 calories and the 150 lb. person burns 446 calories. After 4 months, they will drop roughly 24 lbs., an entire BMI category.
Types of Exercise
Certain types of cardio exercise will help you reach your goal of toning your abs more quickly. A 5 feet 4 inch man who weighs 155 lbs. needs to lose about 10 lbs. to be a normal weight and drop excess fat. He will burn 260 calories by doing 30 minutes of low-impact step aerobics and 335 calories by doing 30 minutes of exercising on an elliptical trainer. It will take him about four or five months to lose 10 lbs. by doing 30 minutes of low-impact step aerobics, or between three and four months to lose the same amount of weight by doing 10 minutes of elliptical exercise every day. By doubling his cardio workout, exercising 60 minutes rather than 30 minutes, he can lose the same amount of weight and achieve flat abs in half the time.
Resistance Exercises
While cardio exercise plays a large role in helping you shed excess fat, cardio exercise alone does not build and tone muscle. Supplementing your aerobic workout with resistance exercises, such as situps and pushups, helps tone abdominal muscles and build lean muscle mass more quickly. A 160 lb. person can burn 102 calories with a 10-minute situp session and about 127 calories with 10 minutes of doing pushups. Because these exercises tone muscle, by combining them with other aerobic activities, such as step aerobics or using an elliptical machine, you can burn a considerable number of calories and achieve a flat belly in less than six months.
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