Do you want to use your home gym equipment more effictively? If you are like many other busy people, losing belly fat can be very difficult. Weigh loss that includes losing the fat around your midsection is is not only important for your self confidence, but is also crucial for your health. Belly fat is either visceral or subcutaneous. Visceral fat can be rather dangerous, since it's found around the body organs.
Losing this type off excess fat is very important, since it can lead to serious health problems, such as insulin resistance, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The subcutaneous fat is generally the fat which one can see, like what's known as muffin top or love handles.
If you want to lose belly fat and you are too busy to hit the gym, you can make great progress by simply adjusting your diet and you should consider purchasing some equipment for a home gym which you can use to eliminate the belly fat.
Of course, this is just part of a much bigger picture. Many things attribute to belly fat like your diet and lifestyle, even medication, illness or your sex can attribute to excess fat on the stomach. Your waist circumference and its ratio to your hip is an important health marker, having a ‘beer belly’ and no notches left on your belt is a good indication that you have a higher possibility of diseases such as cardiovascular disease. You can measure your risk profile by finding out your BMI or Hip to Waist Ratio, simple calculators can be found easily online.
Try not to focus on a single area to lose fat, you need to aim to lose overall body fat. Fads such as body wraps and creams have no real effect on belly fat, you need to use nutrition and exercise together to improve your whole body. Sadly you don't decided where you burn fat from, your bodies genetics and biochemistry do, so the belly might be the last place you lose it from! Make sure as you start your journey of transforming your body you choose a method that's realistic, achievable and most importantly sustainable.
Don’t start a crazy diet you know will only last a few weeks, one that leaves you feeling starved, sick and stops you from eating all your favourite foods is not sustainable. In addition, don’t start a crazy workout plan that you know you won't be able to keep too long term. If you can find time lifting weights should be your priority alongside some cardiovascular training and general activity.
What Is Fat Loss?
Your body has fat reserves that it keeps around your organs (visceral) and under your skin (subcutaneous), When the energy in your bloodstream becomes sparse your body calls on this fat for backup. This is the reason you need to reduce the overall amount of calories to lower these types of fat. What are the risks of excess body fat?
- Depression
- Risk of organ failure
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Increased risk of cancers
- Increase risk of strokes
- Poor self esteem
- Reduced mobility
- Reduces sexual and reproductive health
Excess fat can almost affect every bit of your life and health. Even in sports and performance most of these will be improved by reducing body fat and increasing lean mass, with the exceptions of sumo wrestling and a handful of others.
Why Is It So Hard to Lose Belly Fat?
Many factors contribute to fat gain and fat loss, it's never as simple as to just eat less and exercise more (although these are key elements that need to be achieved). Millions of years of evolution have made your body perfect for survival and one of the mechanisms learnt through cold and hungry years is to keep hold of body fat. Fat is the perfect energy it's unlimited in its storage capacity and keeps you warm and insulated. We have hormones in our bodies that tell our brains we must keep to a certain weight or there is a risk of death, so our hunger hormones increase and we seek out high calorie foods. In modern times high calorie foods are all to readily available in bright enticing packaging, these are also food triggers we learn from a young age which have become habit over years. So it’s easy to see how difficult it can be to shift bodyweight.
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But all is not lost, we can get you started on the right track with some simple tips below. You can reduce your abdominal body fat (beer belly), even without a gym membership. Start slow and don't try to change everything at once, ensure you’re sleep well at least 7-9 hours a night and try to stay away from fad diets and gimmicks that almost always lead to failure and demotivation. Instead build some long lasting habits that are simple, efficient and most of all fun.
Exercise Tips:
Here are some of the equipment which can help you exercise at home, and lose belly fat.
Treadmill
Intensity and speed are rather crucial when it comes to losing belly fat. If you are a beginner at using the treadmill at home, it is very important to acquaint yourself to the treadmill, and gradually find a suitable pace. It is important for you to keep watch of the treadmill's functioning speed while you're working out. The speed should conform to length of your legs and fitness level; this apportions your strides, and proper strides determine the quality of your workout. Each workout session should start with a good warm up. After which, the pace can be gradually increased. Always speed up slowly so that you don't impose strain to your muscles and heart. You can start of with a simple walk, and gradually go into slow jog, then a jog and eventually run. Endurance is basically developed in due time, and after which you can gradually increase your workout sessions' duration. The treadmill workout at home will be more interesting if you vary the exercises.
Apart from walking, jogging and running, most treadmills have slopes and inclines. You can try out the inclines; this particular function also helps strengthen the muscles that are around your hips. The slope function works on principles of uphill climbs. As aforementioned, in order to get rid of belly fat, your workouts should be intense. The harder you work out on your treadmill, the more the calories you will burn. Upping the incline will add resistance, while revving up the treadmill belt speed will force you to pick up pace; this results in increased calorie burning power. Exercising on a treadmill will not only help reduce the belly fat, but it will also help your overall health. Aerobic exercises, like treadmill workouts, reduces health risks such as obesity, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Moreover, treadmill training help strengthens your heart, boosts your mood, and helps you live longer.
Other Benefits of Using a Treadmill To Lose Belly Fat
- Safe and reliable; the treadmill has been around for a long time (that is, since the 1800’s), and is readily found in every fitness center and homes. Therefore, it is safe to say that treadmills have been well developed, and perfected a lot more than most other cardio equipment on the market today. They are reliable and safe for use at home
- Versatile; from a slow walk to an uphill sprint, a treadmill offers a wide range of workout options in terms of incline, speed, and training programs. This is great because different people have different levels of fitness
- Easy to use; the treadmill basically emulates our natural movements for running, walking, and jogging, thus is easy to use
- High performance; using a treadmill requires substantial effort. This results in your body burning calories at a much higher rate. Alternatively, you can go to the track for jogs or runs where you can alternate between sprints and either walking or jogging. Sprinting, jogging or running on the track works your large muscle groups like your calf, core, thigh, and back muscles. You should expect to see some decrease in belly fat with regular sessions
Elliptical Training Machine
In case you are too busy to go to the gym, you can simply work out at the comfort of your own home using the elliptical training machine and effectively lose belly fat. As a matter of fact, it's said that the elliptical training machine is made to work the lower body better. And since it comes with movable handles, it also gives users an all over body workout; this means that it works both the lower body and the upper body, thus helping you lose belly fat more effectively because more muscle groups are used.
Benefits of Using the Elliptical Training Machine To Lose Belly Fat
- The elliptical machine is easy to use, and doesn't occupy a lot of space in your home which means that if your home gym is small, this is the perfect training equipment for you
- If you have got joint pain, the elliptical training machine creates less impact on your joints as compared to some other gym equipment; it simply engages your upper body which leads to much more calories being burned, and more upper body muscle growth
- Most elliptical training machines allow users to stride in reverse; this helps users activate different muscle groups, and offers adjustable variety mid workout
- People usually work out harder than they think when using an elliptical training machine. This means that the elliptical machine can burn a lot more calories with much less effort.If you acquire the 2 machines (the treadmill and elliptical training machine), and include them in your home gym, you'll have a much better workout routine which will lead to a quick belly fat reduction process
Combining these two machines will give you a well balanced system of effective workouts.
Alternative Exercises
Some of the alternative exercises you can perform include;-Planks; To do this exercise, you need to get in a pushup position, and then rest on your forearms and elbows. Pull the stomach muscles in tightly, keeping your bottom, back and neck in a straight line. Now, hold the position for about 30 seconds (or for as long as you can). Rest a little and repeat this exercise for 3 to 5 times.
Squats
To perform this exercise you need to stand with both of your feet about eight inches apart. Then extend both of your arms in front of you, and do 4 sets of 15 to 20 squats. Side stretches; To do this, you need to stand up with both of your feet hip width apart. Now put your hand on your hip, and then lift your left hand up with your palm facing the right side. Keeping both of your legs centered, slowly lean to your right side and reach over with the left hand, while stretching the left side. You can repeat this exercise for 3 to 5 times on each side.
Lunges
Stand in a shoulder width stance, take a large circular step with one leg, keep the front foot flat to the ground whilst keep the back leg as straight as possible lower your body to the ground and then push back to standing, repeat with the opposite leg.
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Nutrition Tips:
Try not to rely on exercise solely, you will need to change your diet for long term results. Here’s a few tips to get you started:
Eat More Vegetables
Vegetables are an excellent source of fibre, which helps you feel fuller for longer. This leads you to eating less overall which is essential when trying to lose fat. Vegetables should make up at least 50% of the food that's on your plate, if you don't like them try finding new ways to cook them and add foods to them to make them more palatable, butter or sour cream are my favorites. You can also make a flask of vegetable soup and drink two cups with every meal to make sure you get your vegetable intake up. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower are good choices for fibre, but your main goal is to eat as many colors as possible. More colors mean more nutrients. It's a lot easier to lose fat when you’re not deficient in nutrients.
Protein helps you feel more satisfied for longer, it also helps build muscle. Consuming a variety of different proteins helps you receive essential nutrients that play a key role in building your new physique. Eggs, meat and fish, as well as whey powders are a great addition to anyone's diet wanting to lose belly fat. A good aim is 
to hit at minimal 0.8g of protein per Kg of bodyweight each day.
Track Your Calories
You don’t have to track them forever but take 1-2 weeks where you log down everything you eat and drink (i use MyFitnessPal), this will give you an idea of your overall calorie intake. Most people are very surprised by the amount of hidden calories that slip by unnoticed, once you’ve seen these you can proceed to make small alterations to your diet. I suggest changing just one small thing a week and make it as easy as possible for you to succeed, for instance don’t just ‘give up bread’, especially if you enjoy bread. Instead reduce the amount you eat to a sustainable level, that also reduces the size of your belly.
*Bonus Tip
Avoid any product marketed as a ‘Fat Burner’. it’s wishful thinking that there is a magic bullet when it comes to fat loss, that there is one pill or powder that can be taken and you won’t have to do the hard work. This is nothing more than snake oil and marketing, to lose fat you must be in a calorie deficit.
When starting a new diet or training plan it's always a good idea to seek professional help. Adjusting your diet yourself can lead to nutrient deficiencies, illness and disease. It’s recommended to get advice from a nutritionist, this doesn't have to be expensive just tell them what you're about to do and they can let you know what not to do and give you a few tips for success. If you’re looking to do an extreme diet (which I don’t recommend) such as a juice diet, fasting, vegan or removing food groups you must let a qualified professional build the diet plan for you with regular check ins.
For your training program if you’re purchasing home fitness equipment a lot of machines come with some sort of support, most good treadmills and ellipticals have apps or features that give you guided workouts or virtual Personal Training. This is another reason why these are a great addition to your plan if you’re not looking to get a gym membership. Home gyms also come with exercise tips and recommendations of how to work out, I’ve also written some program examples in our fitness equipment review sections.
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