By following a simple plan of cardio and strength training, you can see progress in a shrinking stomach within two weeks. Three days a week of high-intensity cardio along with abdominal exercises to strengthen all the muscles of the abs will tone your tummy and drop belly fat. Jason Estrada, a personal fitness trainer who designed a belly-blasting routine featured in a Shape magazine article titled "Bye Bye, Belly Bulge!" says that, "Strengthening your deepest ab muscle and those at the sides is crucial for shrinking your waistline." Effective exercises include jackknifes, captain's chair tucks, and sit-ups on a Bosu ball.
Step 1
Do eight to 12 jackknifes with an exercise ball. Work up to 15 repetitions. Lie on your back and raise your legs straight in the air at a 90-degree angle to the floor. Hold an exercise ball against your shins with your arms straight in the air above your chest. Drop your left leg and right arm toward the floor simultaneously. Move slowly and stop when your arm and leg are parallel to the floor. Hold the ball in place with your right leg and left arm. Switch your arm and leg position to finish one jackknife rep.
Step 2
Do five to eight captain's chair tucks. Work up to eight to 10 reps. Sit in a captain's chair with your arms on the arm pads and your back flat against the chair. Pull your abs in and bend your knees into your chest. Extend your legs straight in front of you so that they are parallel to the floor. Bend your knees again without lowering them below your hips to finish one rep.
Step 3
Do 12 to 15 sit-ups on a Bosu ball. Sit on a Bosu ball with the blue side up. Lean back until your body is parallel to the floor. Place the middle of your back on the center of the ball and your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent. Hold a 5-lb. plate against your chest. Sit up on the ball using your ab muscles and without lifting your feet from the floor. Lean back and lower yourself down slowly to finish one rep. Work up to 20 reps holding a 10-lb. plate. Start with two sets and rest for 90 seconds between sets. Reduce your rest time to 60 seconds when you are able and increase your routine to three sets.
Step 4
Do high-intensity cardio on a cardio machine of your choice. You also may run outside or pick an activity that raises your heart rate significantly and gets you breathing harder for 30 straight minutes.
Step 5
Do abdominal exercises and cardio as described above three days a week, as recommended by Jeanine Detz, Fitness Director of Shape Magazine. Do them on the same day or alternating days and be sure to take one rest day between high-intensity cardio workouts and between abdominal workouts.
Tips and Warnings
- All of these equipment items should be available at your gym. Although Bosu balls and exercise balls are easy to use and store at home, the captain's chair exercise was rated the No. 1 most effective ab exercise for the obliques and No. 2 for the rectus abdominus by a study performed by the American Council on Exercise and lead by Dr. Peter Francis, so do not skip this exercise.
Things You'll Need
- Exercise ball
- Captain's chair
- Bosu ball
- 5- and 10-lb. exercise plates
References
- "Shape Magazine;" Bye Bye, Belly Bulge; Jeanine Detz; September 2009
- Ace Fitness: New Study Puts the Crunch on Ineffective Ab Exercises
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Physical Activity for Everyone
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