We asked around, and it turns out no one is proud of sporting an extended gut or bloated mass around their waist. Male, female, young and old – no one likes to walk around with a big belly that gets everywhere before the rest of them. Well, maybe everyone except the fans of the new trend of ‘Dad Bods’. If you’ve read this far, we’re sure you’re not one of them though. Let us help you sculpt some rock hard abs with our collection of workout moves and some easy tips, backed by science! Who knows, maybe you’ll get over that spoonful of Nutella you mercilessly downed, Mr. Potato!
Side Plank
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Here’s a basic yet super effective workout to begin with. Start on your side with your feet put one on the other. Align your legs straight and life off of your side from your elbow placed at right angles to the ground. Contract your core and don’t forget to breathe! Hold this position for 20 seconds and release. Time to work the other side!
Bird Dog
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Is it a bird? Is it a dog? Maybe you’ll find out. Remain on all four and tighten your abdominal muscles. Keep your gaze fixed on the floor and keep your spine and neck in a neutral position. Once you’re comfortable with this pose, extend your right arm and left leg forwards. Extra points if you can work in a nice and burning stretch. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat with the left arm and right leg.
V-Ups or Vertical Leg Crunches
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Position yourself by lying flat on the ground with your legs vertically up as if against a wall. Hold this position and curving your back, try to extend so as to make your fingertips touch your toes. Make sure your core is contracted while doing this move and you should feel an amazing burn in the abdominal region. Repeat until failure!
Donkey Kickbacks
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For this move, get down on all fours and contract your core. With your neck and spine in a straight line, lift your knees about two inches off the ground. This might remind you of a somewhat plank-like position. Next, bring your right knee towards your nose and kick back your leg. Bring it back into center position and repeat with the left leg. Maximum repetitions will get you maximum results!
The Scale Pose
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This move is a bit advanced but as with all things, it gets better with more practice and gets amazing results. Sit on the ground with your legs crossed and maintain a neutral neck and spine. Next, place your palms on the ground and pull up your pelvic floor – kind of like holding in an emergency run to the bathroom. With this in place, lift off with the ground with your palms and hold for about three seconds. Do a few of these and you’ll feel elevated! (Pun intended).
The Boat Pose
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Sit with your feet on the floor and lightly bend your knees. You can clasp the back of the knees with your hands for support. Lean back and contract your core. Then, slowly begin to raise your calves till they are parallel to the floor and hold this for a few seconds. This pose is guaranteed to sail you smoothly to those abs!
Sumo Squat
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Stand tall with your feet at hip width. With your hands, either crossed on your chest on arms extended outwards, bend your knees and squat as low as possible. Track your toes right under your knees and make sure your knees don’t go ahead. Slowly, raise back up and repeat.
Swan Dive
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Lay down on your stomach and stretch your arms overhead. Lift your arms and legs about six inches off the floor and keep your toes pointed to feel that burn! Contract your core and don’t forget to exhale. Keep in this pose for a few seconds and bring your arms behind you and slowly make circles. This move is sure to get you those rock-hard abs!
Windshield Wipers
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Lie down flat on your back and your knees should make right angle. Straighten your arms on your sides and stretch out your fingers. Slide your arms away from you and raise your legs off the air, maintaining the right-angled knees. Swish to the right and then swish your legs to the left. Keep repeating till failure. Something about these windshield wipers reminds us – clean up that diet too!
With these killer workouts out of the way, here are some more tips that can help melt that flab from your abs. Remember, exercise will only get you so far. For long-lasting results, you need dedication and persistence. There is no reason for you not to see results if you stick to it!
Stock up on fiber
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Fiber may not have any nutritional value per se, but after reading this you’ll never want to ditch it again. Upon entering your stomach, fiber mixes with the water content available and forms a paste or gel, if you may. Not only does this aid peristaltic movement but also helps in making you feel full for a long time. Another advantage of fiber is that this gel lines your intestines, so stock up!
Don’t stress
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There are numerous studies that have shown that stress is directly related to weight gain. The culprit? Cortisol. Secreted when the brain is under too much stress, Cortisol plays a key role in an appetite gain and makes you want to gobble down whatever you can see. We already know that’s bad, but stress generally weakens the heart too. We suggest you take things slower in life if you’re too stressed and sometimes take a break!
Eat that meat
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Proteins are an amazing source for muscle development and repair supplies. Studies have shown that proteins can help not only keep you fuller for longer but also burn fat because they take energy to be digested. Lean white or red meat, fish, and nuts should all be on the menu for you!
No Trans fats!
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A common mistake a lot of people who complain about being overweight make is eating too many of the bad fats. The best example perhaps is margarine, which is packed with trans fats and makes you gain weight very quickly. If just gaining weight wasn’t bad enough, it also inhibits insulin working, leads to inflammation and heart disease. Definitely, nothing to look forward to!
Too sweet equals too bad!
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Sorry if you have a sweet tooth but a lot of sweets are needless to say, bad for your health. What most people don’t realize, however, is that the most common source of sugars is carbonated drinks and packaged fruit juices, which have way more calories than your body needs. Go easy on those drinks and go for fresh juice or maybe a glass of cold water instead?
Catch those Zs
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Sleeping is good for efficient fat loss. Yes, you read that correctly. Sleeping is the body’s natural way of recovering after a hard and long day and can clearly be seen to be directly related to melting that flab. Studies have shown that people who have a full night’s sleep, which equates to around eight hours, tend to have a flatter stomach as compared to those who haven’t had their rest. But before you hit the sack – know that the quality of sleep is the key factor here, not sleeping like a kitten for hours on end!
Fall in love with the coco
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Coconut oil should be one of the wonders of the world for all the goodness it brings. Proven to be even better than Olive oil, coconut oil is probably the healthiest form of fats which you can eat. Stay in moderation though, and watch those inches come off your waist in a week. Just be advised though, that this should be taken after having eliminated at least one form of weight gain in your diet – maybe the soda?
Go for the green
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Packed with antioxidants and full of good stuff like a cholesterol balancing agent, green tea is often seen to be super underrated. Sipping through a jug of green tea can have an amazing impact on your body, which science backs. Just make sure it’s lukewarm though. You don’t want it too hot or too cold!
Except when it comes to fruit
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When it comes to fruit, choose red over green. Watermelon over honeydew, an apple over a pear and maybe a strawberry over a Granny Smith. According to research, the flavonoids that give these red fruits their bright and radiant colors are helpful in humans too. They tap into the fat burning genes and give them a good push – which means bye-bye belly fat!
Fix up a trail mix
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We’ve accepted that more proteins and less fat means fat loss, but here’s for a snack – you deserve it. Put together some trail mix, inclusive of dark chocolate. Here’s the catch though. You’ve got to use unsalted nuts and dark chocolate in order to make it the most effective. And oh – while you’re at it, throw in some extra peanuts, those will help you burn fat like a pro.
If you’ve made it this far down this article we’re sure you must be excited to know now that a flat stomach is neither out of reach nor is impossible. The sooner you start, the better. Wishing you the best of luck on your journey to those abs. Let us know how it comes along!
