exercise to shrink your stomach – Do you have a larger belly that’s bothering you? Do you want to work on improving your belly shape through diet and exercise? If so, you should consider adopting a healthy lifestyle and engaging in exercises to reduce your belly. It’s important to understand that your belly will become smaller and stronger not just by burning fat but also by stimulating your abdominal muscles to develop and become stronger.
Here are some types of exercises that can help burn belly fat and make the muscles in your abdominal area more accessible. You can do these exercises at home by yourself:
types of exercise that can burn your belly fat
1. Jogging / Sprint
Jogging or running is a calorie and fat-burning exercise, especially effective for the fat around the belly, arms, and thighs.
- How to do it: Run around a field or in your neighborhood, varying your pace between fast and slow.
- Process: Perform this exercise in the morning and evening, before breakfast and before dinner
2. Side Running
Running sideways can burn more calories than regular running and can efficiently target belly fat.
- How to do it: Run sideways on a field or in your area.
- Process: Include side running as part of your jogging routine, doing it for about 10 – 15 minutes every hour of running or jogging.
3. Walking
Walking is an effective calorie-burning exercise that can help reduce calories and fat, particularly around the belly area.
- How to do it: Walk about 5 km every day, whether it’s to work or just for a leisurely stroll in crowded areas like malls or parks.
- Process: Make walking a daily habit for the best results.
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Reverse Walking
Reverse walking has been shown to burn more calories than regular walking and can help you shape and reduce your belly.
- How to do it: Combine regular walking, running, and side running with reverse walking on a spacious field or an uncrowded area.
- Process: Reverse walk for about 15 minutes every hour during your jogging sessions.
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Climbing Stairs
Climbing stairs may not seem like exercise, but it can potentially burn a significant number of calories. Regularly using stairs instead of elevators or escalators can effectively contribute to reducing belly fat.
- How to do it: Avoid using elevators or escalators and opt to take the stairs whenever possible.
- Process: Make this a regular practice, like climbing 30 flights of stairs a day, twice a day.
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Biking
Biking is a popular exercise for weight loss and can effectively reduce belly fat by burning calories and toning abdominal muscles.
- How to do it: You can ride a bike around your neighborhood or use a stationary bike at home, which provides similar benefits.
- Process: Cycle for about 2 – 5 km every day, 2 – 4 times a week.
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Soccer / Futsal
Soccer combines ball-handling skills with running, making it a calorie-burning sport that can efficiently reduce belly fat.
- Process: Play one or two sets per game. Aim to play 1 – 2 games per week.
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Swimming
Swimming is not only considered a height-increasing exercise but can also help reduce belly fat by toning muscles and burning calories.
- Process: Swim regularly, 2 – 3 times a week, using different swimming styles during each session.
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Skipping Rope
Jumping rope is a high-calorie-burning exercise that can effectively reduce belly fat. With its bouncing movements, skipping rope can be a suitable option for trimming belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Position your body comfortably.
- Rotate the skipping rope at varying speeds.
- Process: Perform this exercise in the morning and evening, with a minimum of 30 rotations per session.
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Crunch Exercise
Crunches are an exercise that can efficiently work on your abdominal muscles, helping to reduce belly fat and create a leaner waistline.
- How to do it:
- Lie down on your back.
- Lift your legs, bending your knees to a 90-degree angle.
- Lift your upper body toward your knees, almost touching your knees with your head.
- Then, widen the gap between your head and knees by moving your legs while keeping your upper body raised.
- Repeat this movement multiple times.
- Process: Perform 2 – 4 sets of this movement every day for stronger abdominal muscles and a smaller waistline.
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Sit-Ups
Similar to crunches, sit-ups can help tone the side muscles of your abdomen and make your waistline flatter and smaller.
- How to do it:
- Lie on your back.
- Keep your legs flat or slightly bent.
- Lift your upper body towards your knees without moving your legs.
- Perform this motion repeatedly.
- Process: Do 3 – 4 sets of sit-ups every day, consistently.
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Twisted Sit-Ups
Twisted sit-ups are a variation of regular sit-ups where you twist your torso to the left and right during the exercise. This can efficiently work on your abdominal muscles and help reduce belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Position yourself as if you were going to do sit-ups.
- Lift your upper body towards your knees without moving your legs.
- Twist your torso to the left and then to the right.
- Process: Perform twisted sit-ups for about 3 – 4 sets every day.
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Press Sit-Ups
Press sit-ups are similar to regular sit-ups but involve adding weight, such as a dumbbell or a plate, to increase the challenge. This can help build abdominal muscles faster and contribute to reducing belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Position your body as if you were going to do sit-ups.
- Hold a weight in both hands, as if you were holding a steering wheel.
- Lift your upper body towards your knees while holding the weight, without moving your legs.
- Process: Perform 1 – 2 sets of press sit-ups daily, with varying weight resistance.
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Back Ups
Back-ups can help strengthen your abdominal muscles, making your belly firmer and smaller.
- How to do it:
- Lie down on your stomach.
- Lift your upper body as high as possible, without moving your legs.
- Process: Perform back-ups for about 2 – 3 sets every day.
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Seated V-Ups
Seated V-ups can help tighten and tone your abdominal muscles, effectively reducing belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Sit on the floor or a mat.
- Keep your arms behind your back for support.
- Lift your legs and form a V-shape, bringing your knees close to your chest.
- Hold this position for a moment.
- Lower your legs and repeat.
- Process: Perform 1 – 2 sets daily, holding the V position for 5 – 10 seconds.
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Vertical Leg Crunch
Vertical leg crunches are similar to regular crunches but involve raising your legs, increasing the intensity and effectiveness of the exercise in targeting belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Lie on your back.
- Lift your legs straight up.
- Perform the crunch motion without lowering your legs.
- Process: Perform 1 – 2 sets daily, as this movement can be challenging.
17. Bicycle Exercise
- If you can’t ride a bike, the bicycle exercise is an alternative that can be effective for reducing belly fat and toning abdominal muscles
- How to do it:
- Lie on your back.
- Lift your legs, bending your knees to a 90-degree angle.
- Perform a pedaling motion, bringing your elbow towards the opposite knee.
- You can vary this by twisting your torso to the left and right while pedaling.
- Process: Perform this exercise for 3 – 4 sets daily.
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Vertical Leg Bicycle Exercise
This exercise is an excellent choice for building abdominal muscles and efficiently reducing belly fat. It’s similar to the bicycle exercise but with legs raised vertically.
- How to do it:
- Position your body as if you were doing a candle pose (headstand).
- Maintain this position while performing the pedaling motion.
- Process: Perform 2 – 3 sets daily, with each set consisting of 10 pedal rotations.
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Candle Pose
A relatively straightforward exercise to reduce a protruding belly is the candle pose. This movement can help tighten your abdominal muscles and contribute to shrinking your waistline.
- How to do it:
- Lie on your back.
- Lift your legs vertically with your buttocks flat on the ground.
- Support your hips with your elbows.
- Process: Hold this position for 5 minutes per session, and you can do more than 4 sessions a day.
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Elliptical Trainer
The elliptical trainer is a machine that combines walking and stair climbing. It can efficiently work on your abdominal muscles and help burn fat, leading to a reduction in your belly size.
- How to do it: Adjust the resistance and height settings on the machine and perform a workout on it.
- Process: Engage in elliptical trainer exercises for approximately 30 minutes each day.
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Torso Twist
Torso twists can work on your abdominal muscles and help burn fat in the belly area effectively. This exercise focuses on the belly and can contribute to reducing its size.
- How to do it:
- Position yourself on a torso twist machine.
- Rotate your upper body left and right alternately.
- Process: Do this exercise for about 2 – 3 sets per day in each direction of rotation.
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Russian Twist
The Russian twist is a twisting exercise that involves using weight, such as a plate or dumbbell, to add resistance. This exercise is effective for working on your abdominal muscles and reducing belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Lie on your back.
- Hold a plate or dumbbell as if you were holding a steering wheel.
- Lift your upper body and twist it left and right alternately without moving your legs.
- Process: Perform this exercise for about 2 – 3 sets per day in each direction of rotation.
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Hanging Leg Raise
Hanging leg raises require a lot of effort and can be highly effective in building abdominal muscles and reducing belly fat.
- How to do it:
- Position yourself as if you were going to do pull-ups.
- Lift your body using your arms and hold it.
- While holding your body’s weight, swing your legs forward and hold them at a 90-degree angle with your torso.
- Process: Hold the position with your legs at a 90-degree angle for 4 – 10 seconds. You can perform this exercise according to your strength level, at least twice a day.
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Jackknife Exercise
The jackknife exercise combines elements of vertical crunches and vertical sit-ups. It can help tighten abdominal muscles and contribute to a flatter and smaller belly.
- How to do it:
- Lie down on the floor or a mat.
- Lift your legs diagonally and hold them.
- While your legs are in a diagonal position, lift your upper body while reaching for your toes.
- Process: Perform 1 – 2 sets of this exercise daily for a stronger abdominal area and a smaller waistline.
Maximizing Belly Reduction Exercises:
To maximize the effects of your belly reduction exercises, consider adopting a healthy lifestyle with the following dietary and lifestyle tips:
- Increase your consumption of high-protein foods.
- Consume foods rich in minerals and vitamins.
- Include fiber-rich foods in your diet.
- Avoid high-calorie and high-fat foods.
- Stay well-hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
- Ensure you get enough sleep.
- Don’t overexert yourself during physical activity.
- Rest when you feel fatigued.
By combining these exercises with a healthy diet, you can experience the benefits of these workouts within a relatively short period—typically just one month.
