Exercises To Flatten Your Stomach & Make Your Waist Smaller

Many exercises can help you flatten your stomach; however, training abs for spot reduction of body fat does little to trim the waist. Focus on decreasing body fat with exercises that burn fat directly from the abdominal area. In addition, building a little lean muscle will also go a long way toward making your waist appear smaller and elevating your metabolic rate to keep it that way.

Walking

Walking is a great exercise that anyone can do at any age. Thirty minutes of vigorous walking three times per week does wonders for keeping the weight off. Even better, you can walk on the treadmill, set at an incline, immediately after performing a resistance training workout. “Combat the Fat” author Jeff Anderson calls this “super cardio,” because it burns body fat directly. The low-intensity cardiovascular workout provided by walking helps to maintain lean muscle while burning unwanted stomach fat.

High-Intensity Interval Training

HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, also directly targets body fat. In fact, this form of cardiovascular exercise can stimulate the production of potent fat-burning hormones that directly target abdominal fat to reduce waist size, according to “The Abs Diet.” High-intensity interval training means doing 20 to 30 minutes of medium-intensity cardio, punctuated with 15- to 30-second all-out sprints every few minutes. For example, you could pedal on the exercise bike at a comfortable yet challenging pace, then pedal as hard as you can for 30 seconds every two minutes. This form of exercise should be done only once or twice a week, and be sure to take in a post-workout meal or shake that includes both high-quality protein (whey protein, for example) and carbohydrates for muscle recovery.

Squats

Squats cause the body to secrete more growth hormone and testosterone, known as anabolic and fat-burning hormones. With a barbell on your upper back, balanced between your shoulder blades, squat down as if sitting, keeping your knees from extending past your toes. When you reach the point where your upper legs are parallel to the ground, push through your heels to lift the weight back up to the standing position, without locking out your knees at the top. At first the movement will seem unnatural, so start light and work your way up to heavier loads. Squats may also be done on a self-spotting Smith machine, weight machine or with dumbbells. According to “Xtreme Lean” authors Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman, squats cause the body to burn fat directly from the midsection.