The Best Exercises to Lose Belly Fat — CPT Approved

In a time where social media surrounds us, standards of beauty have become increasingly distant yet deceptively attainable — promised from influencers claiming that a "10 minute ab workout" will burn off belly fat. While many people want to reduce their waistline for health reasons, the reality is that losing belly fat and achieving a more defined midsection is largely influened by genetics, muscle mass, and thermodynamics (basically, calories in vs. calories out).

We'll uncover the truth about how to lose belly fat, explore the exercises that support fat loss and core strength, and other tips and tricks to help you build the body and waistline you're working towards.

The Truth About Losing Belly Fat

Your body, and your belly fat, is made up of two types of fat. Subcutaneous fat is located just under the skin — you can pinch it. Visceral fat is deeper in your body, surrounding your organs, and is the type of fat strongly linked to health risks. Visceral fat is metabolically active, meaning it can affect your hormones and organs, so having an excess of it can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer — a large motivating factor to lose it for many people.

All bodies are beautiful, but losing belly fat is a common goal for many. And if you search the web, you're sure to come across countless articles and videos touting the ability to shrink your belly with spiecific targeted workouts. However, you can not spot reduce belly fat. 

How Does Fat Leave the Body?

Stored fat helps protect vital organs, keep you warm, and is your bodies go-to fuel source when carbohydrates aren't readily available, during low-intensity exercise when oxygen is easily accessible, or when the activity is prolonged, shifting your body's energy source to fat stores when stored carbohydrates are no longer available.

When fat is used for fuel, it's used from various sources throughout your body. This means that even if your perform countless sit-ups or core work, your genetics ultimately determines where in your body fat is released from (and stowed) first. Just another reason to blame your parents for something.

In this process, the stored fatty acids break down and release energy for your body to use. They then turn into carbon dioxide and water, which primarily gets released through your lungs as your breath or through sweat or urine.

You Can't Spot Reduce Belly Fat, But You Can...

• Eat in a sustainable, moderate caloric deficit (more on that below).
• Limit alcohol use which can add empty calories to your diet.
• Focus on total-body fat loss instead of targeted belly fat loss.
• Prioritize strength training to support long-term fat loss.
• Manage stress to limit cortisol-caused fat storage.
• Target shoulder and upper-back hypertrophy work to create the illusion of a smaller waist.
• Utilize a zone 2 target heart rate for fat burning by working at 60-80% of your maximum heart rate.

Combining Diet and Exercise for Fat Loss

Research shows that it is very difficult to lose fat without changing your diet. Sure, it can be done, but you'd have to add hours of cardio or training to your routine to see any meaningful changes. That being said, the most efficient approach is to combine exercise, a high-protein diet, and caloric restriction.

Similarly, this research suggests that caloric restriction alone, without exercise or a high protein diet, is less effective and may even lead to muscle loss.

So, the recipe for fat loss is fairly simple according to Ashley Boyer, ACE-CPT and master's candidate in Sports Performance and Conditioning at Southern Utah University. "Adjust your diet to feature high-protein whole foods like salmon, chicken breast, egg whites, cottage cheese, tofu, and tempeh," says Boyer. "Figure out your maintenance calories and eat between 10-20% fewer calories each day. Lastly, add in exercise to help you build muscle, increase calorie expenditure, and improve body composition."

Workouts to Lose Belly Fat

You're dialing in your diet, eating high-protein food sources, and tracking calories to maintain a caloric deficit, now it's time to add in the best exercises to help support your fat loss goals. Research suggests that the effective dose of moderate exercise is at least 150 minutes per week, with additional benefits to fat loss with up to 300 minutes a week. So, look to tackle a mixture of resistance training, aerobics, calisthenics, HIIT and LISS cardio to help you reach that dosage.

Read More: How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

Resistance Training with Gym Machines to Lose Stomach Fat

Weight training in tandem with a high-protein diet is the best way to preserve muscle mass while losing fat. Here are some of our favorite lifts and tageted core work featuring cable systems, barbells, gym machines, and more:

[Read More: 9 Exercises for Strong Abs]

Barbell Hip Thrust

The gluteal area is a common site for fat storage, and as you lose weight, you may notice your glutes begin to lose size and volume as well. Hip thrusts are the key to help keep your backside shapely and strong throughout your fat loss process.

Lat Pulldowns

Building strength and size in your upper-back and lats can help give the illusion of a more trim mid-section. Lat pulldowns specifically target the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles, improving posture and creating a wider, more defined back.

Sled Pushes/Pulls

Load up your sled with weight plates to add strength, power, and conditioning work to your routine. Push the sled to one side of the room, engaging your legs, shoulders, chest, lower back, and abdominals. Then, pull the sled back to start with a rope, targeting your back, biceps, forearms, and grip. 

Cable Crunch

Progressive overload, adding resistance to the exercise as you get stronger, is the best way to improve your strength and muscle size. Cable crunches will help you build a strong core that can be revealed as you lose belly fat.

Abdominal Crunch Machine

The abdominal crunch machine targest your rectus abdominus with some minor assistance from your obliques and hip flexors. However, you can shift the focus to your obliques by sitting sideways, targeting one side then the other. Just be sure to tackle reps with a mind-muscle connection, making sure you feel each rep in your core.

Leg Raise Machine

The leg raise machine primarily targets your lower abdominals and hip flexors, as you work your legs up and down with control. A big tip for this move is to go through each rep slowly and with control. If you use momentum to swing your legs up, you'll be missing out on some of the benefits to your core.

Mountain Climbers

Grab a yoga mat or stability ball and take your workout down to the floor. Mountain climbers elevate your heart rate while also strengthening your core, legs, shoulders, chest, and triceps. This is an excellent exercise to toss into your routine when the gym equipment you're looking to use is taken. 

Equipment Recommendations

To tackle your belly fat loss goals, here's the equipment we recommend:

• Strive™ Curved Treadmill
• Strive™ Air Bike featuring VPR™
• Pull-Up Bands
• Medicine Balls
• Ab Support Mat
• Ab Roller
• QuickDraw™ Adjustable Dumbell
• ARES™ 2.0 Cable System

Cardio Workouts for Stomach Fat

Whether you're a beginner just starting out or a more advanced athlete, adding aerobics — steady activity that elevates your heart rate, features continuous mvoement, and can be performed over extended periods — can help you cut calories and burn fat. Here are some popular aerobic exercise ideas to get you going:

• Power walking on a treadmill while you watch TV
• Running or jogging
• Cycling to work
• Swimming laps
• HIIT workouts
• Cardio intervals
• Tackling 10,000 steps a day
• Taking a dance class
• Skating or skateboarding
• Jumping rope
• Using the stair climber at the gym
• Playing pickleball
• Gardening with FERVOR

Takeaway

If you're looking to lose belly fat, it's important to understand that you can't spot-reduce fat. Decades of research show that fat loss occurs systemically, meaning your body decides where fat is lost first based on genetics, hormones, and overall energy balance — not which muscles you train. Studies examining targeted abdominal exercise consistently find no targeted reduction in belly fat compared to fat loss elsewhere.

So, losing belly fat means losing overall body fat. To do this, focus on eating in a caloric deficit, prioritizing protein-rich whole foods, and including a combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise. Strength training helps maintain or build muscle mass, while cardio can increase overall calorie expenditure, making it easier to sustain a deficit.

And while losing fat can be a worthwhile goal for both health and aesthetics, it's equally important to appreciate what you body is capable of, not just how it looks. Improved strength, endurance, mobility, and energy are signs of progress that often appear long before visible fat loss. When your mindset revolves around performance, health, and consistency, aesthetic changes are sure to follow.

FAQs

Do ab exercises burn stomach fat?

You can tackle hundreds of sit-ups, v-ups, crunches, and planks, or even spend all of your time on ab machines, but unfortunately, fat loss can not be targeted to one specific area — and without dialed in nutrtiion, exercise alone is less effective at supporting fat loss goals. However, building strength and muscle size in your core can help you have visible muscle definition when you do loss belly fat. 

Does lifting weights burn fat?

Lifting weights helps to burn fat while you're working out but fat loss is dependent on being in a caloric deficit. Strength training also builds muscle, which can help burn slightly more calories throughout the day. The largest benefit of lifting while working on fat loss is that you'll help your body maintain muscle mass as you drop weight.

What is the visceral fat percentage range?

Visceral fat typically takes up about 10% of your total body fat.