You can't get around it: To tone and trim your chest and stomach, you'll need to lose weight. Fortunately, the type of fat that accumulates around your midsection, which is called visceral fat, usually comes off more quickly than fat in other parts of your body, such as your hips and thighs. Exercise represents a better approach to burning visceral fat than dieting, although ideally, you should practice both to trim the flab from your chest and stomach.
Step 1
Start exercising. If you do some form of aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes each day, you'll start to burn the fat around your chest and stomach, according to Harvard Medical School. If you can fit in more aerobic exercise, you'll lose the fat and trim fat from your chest and stomach faster. Your exercise routine should include moderate-intensity activities such as jogging, fast cycling or even brisk walking. You should aim for an activity that makes you breathe hard and sweat.
Step 2
Lift weights or perform some other form of strength training activity, such as exercises with resistance bands. Although you don't have to lift weights as often as you jog or bike, you should try to fit in a 30-minute anaerobic workout at least twice or three times each week on nonconsecutive days. This will help you build muscle, which in turn will help you burn off your excess chest and stomach fat. Choose a weightlifting routine that works all your muscles.
Step 3
Cut your calorie consumption back by about 500 to 600 calories a day. You might be able to accomplish this through a few simple changes, such as giving up processed snack foods and soda. Re-focus your diet on fresh vegetables, fruits and unsweetened whole grain products, with some lean protein such as fish, chicken or tofu added. If you need to add oil, use olive oil or another monounsaturated fat because this type of fat has been linked with a lower risk for heart disease.
Step 4
Start exercises that will tone your chest and stomach muscles. Unfortunately, exercises geared toward working your chest and stomach muscles won't get rid of fat deposits there, but they can make your stomach and chest appear better-toned and well-defined once you've lost the excess weight. For your stomach, work up to three or four sets of 25 crunches at a time. For your chest, you can do push-ups; aim for two or three sets of about 15 push-ups, with a 30-second break in between sets.
Tips and Warnings
- Discuss your plans for exercise and diet with your physician, who might have some additional tips to help you tone your chest and stomach.
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