I’ll be the first to admit that my belly that used to be so flat definitely has a layer of fat, albeit a small one.

So I’m always encouraged when I get a dose of inspiration from one of my favorite fitness experts, Angie Schumacher.  Angie shares her fitness expertise on my blog and I think you’ll love today’s post about trimming off that stubborn belly fat. Good news? It doesn’t have to be so hard if you follow a few simple steps.

Summertime is just around the corner and if you are like most people, the chances of you wearing some form of swim suit is pretty good. You are going to want to have that waistline looking fabulous and sexy, am I right?

Most people think that the best way to burn off belly fat or get rid of that “spare tire” is by doing abdominal  work and I hate to be the one to break it to you, but they are so wrong! While abdominal work is great for helping you to create a strong, solid core and for building up those core muscles, that is all that it will do. You will be building up the muscle UNDERNEATH that layer of belly fat. I am sure there are lots of people walking around with some great looking abs underneath their bellies, but the one way that you are going to trim off that fat is by doing cardio.

Now when I say cardio, I do not mean jumping on the treadmill for 60 minutes every day or going on a 10 mile bike ride. I mean adding intervals OR bodyweight circuits to your fitness routine.

Intervals are periods of high intensity training followed by an active recovery period.  For example:

Start off on a treadmill at 3.0 mph for 2 minutes to get warmed up. Then increase the speed to 5.0mph for 1 minute, followed by a drop back down to 3.0 for 1 minute (or longer if needed). Repeat this 4-8 times and you have a great belly fat burning cardio session. You can do the same thing on a bike or walking. The main goal is to increase your heart rate and then bring it back down, making your body work harder than it would have to if you were doing the same form of exercise at a steady rate of speed.

By incorporating 15-30 minutes of intervals into your fitness routine at least 4-6x each week, you will have no problem burning off that belly fat and start seeing those muscles that you build up by doing your core or abdominal work.

You can learn more about Angie at her website: www.fatburningtips4women.com. Check out all the exciting things she’s up to!

Filed under: Exercise, Fat-burning