A flat belly is a badge of honor. It’s an outward sign that you keep fit and watch what you eat. And beyond the vanity aspects, a more chiseled torso makes you stronger and less prone to injury. That’s because the dozens of muscles between your shoulders and hips are involved in every movement you do.
1. Burpee
If you want to lose your gut, you need to work as many muscles as possible. The burpee does just that. The explosive exercise—which entails going from a pushup position to a jump and back to a pushup position—hits every muscle from head to toe. In fact, a recent study from the American College of Sports Medicine found that 10 fast-paced reps are just as effective at revving your metabolism as a 30-second all-out sprint, so you can burn your belly fat faster than ever before.
DO IT: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lower your body until your palms rest on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Kick your legs backward into a pushup position, perform a pushup, and then quickly reverse the movement and perform a jump when you stand. That’s 1 rep.
2. Mogul jump
You may associate moguls with cold and snow, but this version will burn a ton of belly fat. “It trains your abs, lower back, and hips to work together to rotate your body from side to side,” says Todd Durkin, C.S.C.S., owner of FitnessQuest 10 in San Diego, California. And the more powerfully you explode off of the floor, the more you’ll elevate your heart rate and work your muscles.
DO IT: Get into a table-top position with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees directly below your hips. Dig your toes into the floor and elevate your knees so they hover just above the ground. Keeping your feet together jump them to the left, pause, and then jump them to the right. Repeat for reps or time
3. Medicine-ball slam
If you haven’t used a medicine ball since high school, you’re missing out.
“Your core is your centre of power, so performing explosive movements like the med-ball slam requires all the muscles between your neck and your hips to work together,” says Sean De Wispelaere, an expert coach for Men’s Health Thrive.
And if you pick up the pace and propel the ball with more power and velocity, you’ll elevate your heart rate and burn some serious belly flab, he says. You don’t even need to increase the weight. A 6-pound medicine ball will work just fine if you go hard and push yourself.
DO IT: Hold the ball above your head with your feet shoulder-width apart. Slam the ball on the floor as hard as you can. Catch the rebound and repeat.
If you haven’t used a medicine ball since high school, you’re missing out.
DO IT: Hold the ball above your head with your feet shoulder-width apart. Slam the ball on the floor as hard as you can. Catch the rebound and repeat.
