Flat Stomach Exercise
Flat Stomach Exercise
Flat stomachs are in great demand these days, with tightly fitted clothing, belly revealing shirts, and low slung jeans all the rage.
But getting and keeping a flat stomach can be challenging, especially for people who love to eat.
Luckily, you don’t have to make food your enemy to keep a flat stomach; you just have to make flat stomach exercise a regular part of your daily routine. It comes down to creating a new habit: exercise. And you don’t have to make a big deal out of it.
Crunches and sit-ups are tradition flat stomach exercises and if you life them and can do them, great. You have your work cut out for you. Many people do these exercises incorrectly though, resulting in neck and back injuries, or at best, in stomachs that aren’t as flat as they should be for all their hard work and effort.
Walking, running, and biking are surprisingly good flat stomach exercises. You don’t see many runners with belly fat, and there’s a good reason for that.
You can get close to the same results from brisk daily walks. Start out with twenty minutes and day and gradually build up to an hour or more. Once you have built up to an hour of walking each day, build in short bursts of jogging or running (about three minutes each) to really rev your metabolism and blast that stomach fat.
Yoga is another great flat stomach exercise. Yoga is a whole body and mind program that teaches sustained poses to stretch and strengthen specific muscle groups. Yoga also teaches proper posture and proper breathing, as well as meditation techniques.
Yoga works to flatten the stomach by teaching students to breath from their bellies and hold themselves in a straight posture at all times that naturally draws the belly in. Most people have atrocious posture and breathe very shallowly, from high up in their chests. Over time their stomach muscles loose their natural tone and a belly develops.
Yoga instructors are another group of people you rarely see having problems with stomach fat. That’s because over time the habits created through yoga practice lead to a stomach that stay strong and flat naturally. By reducing stress, yoga also prevents your body from storing fat in your belly as protection.
Whatever form of flat stomach exercise you choose, the key to success is persistence. Research has shown that it takes about two weeks to break a bad habit or form a new one. Pick a flat stomach exercise and commit to sticking with it for two weeks, then once it becomes a habit continue doing it for the rest of your life.
Of course, if you are very overweight you will probably have to drop some of that excess to get the stomach you really want. The good news is, with regular flat stomach exercise, weight loss is easier and more likely to be maintained once you reach your goal. The key is to get moving and keep moving. Give it a try!
You’ll look better. You’ll feel better. And your jeans will fit great!
