The problem of excess weight is one of the most pressing problems of our time.The cult of beauty existed in the ancient world, and since then only its canons have changed, but not a person’s desire to look attractive.
Today, being slim is one of the mandatory aspects of external perfection.We are talking about both the figure as a whole and individual parts of the body.Many girls who want to have a thin waist complain about extra pounds on their stomach and sides.Moreover, excess fat is often deposited strictly in these places, leaving arms, legs, and even thighs slender.
You can get rid of the problem without resorting to drastic methods like liposuction, and you can get a toned stomach and beautiful abs at home by doing special exercises, watching your diet and leading an active lifestyle.We will talk about this in our article.
Causes of fat deposits in the waist area
There are people who believe that extra pounds are the result of a woman neglecting herself, but this is the exception rather than the rule.The reasons why fat begins to accumulate in the body are different, not always depending on the degree of care for the appearance.But in order to successfully get rid of these excess deposits, you should know where they came from.
Genetics.The tendency to be overweight may be due to genetic predisposition.Extra pounds on the stomach and sides usually bother people with an “apple” body type.This type in itself implies a small difference in volume between the hips and waist, so the latter may require attention even without the presence of fat deposits on it.Every extra kilogram moves your figure even further away from the cherished ideal proportions.It is impossible to fight genetics, which is natural, that is, but the “apple” figure can be successfully corrected with special exercises aimed at reducing waist size.
Poor metabolism.This problem most often worries the age category of people.Over the years, the body's metabolism slows down, and this leads to excess weight gain.It happens that in youth, an excellent metabolism allows you to eat any harmful foods and not gain an ounce, and a person gets used to this way of eating.But the older he gets, the more his metabolism slows down, and fat deposits appear.Dealing with this problem is somewhat easier than dealing with excess weight due to a genetic predisposition.Usually, with poor metabolism, correction of nutrition and strength training helps, because it is known that physical activity can speed up the metabolism in the body.
Sedentary lifestyle.If you lead an inactive lifestyle: work a lot at the computer or just sit, rarely take walks, do not engage in sports, fitness, or other physical exercises, then the risk of gaining excess weight increases greatly.The food we consume is a source of energy for the body, and if the number of calories received exceeds their consumption, then the appearance of excess fat is almost inevitable.Of course, you can reduce the caloric content of your diet, but a sedentary lifestyle is harmful not only because of problems with excess weight, so it is still recommended to include physical exercise in your daily routine.
Incorrect posture.The appearance of excess fat in the waist area is influenced by posture, no matter how surprising it may sound.The human spine is the basis of the skeleton, which is the support for the internal organs.To support the spine, which bears the main load during movement, the muscles must be in constant tone.Muscle weakness leads to the fact that the support function is partially transferred to adipose tissue.For this reason, the body is in no hurry to get rid of fat.Special exercises can help strengthen the back muscles, restore posture and allow you to get rid of extra pounds in the abdomen and sides.
Hormonal changes.With age, the amount of fat in a woman’s body begins to increase in direct proportion to body weight.The reason for such changes is hormonal changes.However, it's not just age that can affect hormones.Menopause, pregnancy, childbirth, taking oral contraceptives and certain medications - all this can change hormonal levels and cause excess weight gain.
Poor nutrition.A quick snack on the run, an excess of carbohydrates in your preferred dishes, consumption of fast food, and overeating contribute to the accumulation of fat in the body.Improper nutrition can cause slow metabolism, lead to an enlarged stomach, and poor absorption of food.All this usually leads to problems with excess weight, fat deposits on the stomach and sides.In such cases, figure correction begins with establishing the right diet and choosing healthy foods and is supported by physical exercise to accelerate the burning of fat reserves.
Excess of waste and toxins.Waste and toxins, often caused by bad habits such as smoking and alcoholism, clog the body.Their excess interferes with metabolism, affects the metabolic rate and, accordingly, the amount of fat deposits on the waist.Giving up bad habits, cleansing the body with proper nutrition, massage and exercise can help in the fight against extra centimeters.
Stress and illness.Nervous shocks and stress often lead to increased levels of cortisol, a steroid hormone.It affects the amount of fat in the body.An excess of the hormone can lead to the accumulation of extra pounds.A number of diseases also affect weight: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, arterial hypertension.If excess fat on the stomach and sides is associated with the reasons described, then weight loss should begin with a visit to the doctor, but not with physical training.
How to fight belly and flank fat
Losing weight is a long and labor-intensive process.You should not believe diets and trainers who promise an ideal figure in just a month of training.Moreover, once a result has been achieved, it must be maintained, otherwise all the work risks going to waste.In order to get rid of excess fat most effectively, it is recommended to choose an integrated approach rather than focusing on one specific method of losing weight.
Nutrition correction.As we discussed above, the number of calories you consume depends on what you eat and how often.Therefore, almost always getting rid of extra pounds is accompanied by a special diet.It is recommended to prepare the diet after consultation with a specialist, focusing on the state of health and individual characteristics of the body.
General tips that can help with weight loss:
- drink more water.It allows you to cleanse the body of waste and toxins, dull the feeling of hunger, and improve metabolism;
- remove fast carbohydrates from your diet.It is food rich in them that usually gives extra centimeters at the waist;
- try to eat a balanced diet;
- try to limit your salt intake.Salt retains water in the body, thereby interfering with normal metabolism and cleansing;
- eat in small portions.It is better to eat little and often than rarely, but several dishes at once.Fractional meals help prevent stretching of the stomach walls and ultimately affect the amount eaten.
Performing weight loss procedures.If possible, then wraps, massage and some other spa treatments can be an excellent help in the fight against excess weight.They are aimed at accelerating blood flow, removing waste and toxins, and improving metabolism.Of course, it is impossible to completely get rid of fat with their help, but reducing your waist by a couple of centimeters is quite possible.
Increase physical activity.Playing sports or fitness, visiting gyms or simply doing exercises at home allows you to actively and successfully get rid of fat deposits.Physical activity forces the body to burn fat, helps improve metabolism, maintain muscle tone, which makes the figure more toned.You can do exercises on the floor on a carpet, or exercise near your home on a sports ground, or just run in the mornings and evenings.There are many options, you just have to choose the most suitable one.
Exercises for weight loss
Physical activity is considered a popular and very effective way to combat extra pounds.Exercise not only allows you to actively burn fat reserves, but also helps strengthen muscle tissue and improve immunity.Below we give examples of some of the most effective exercises for losing weight in the abdomen and sides.
Twisting.This is a great workout for strengthening your abdominal muscles.Together with proper nutrition, it can give amazing results.To perform the exercise, you need to lie on your back, bend your knees, and clasp your hands behind your head.This is the starting position.Next, you need to take a deep breath and lift your upper body off the floor.Exhalation should occur on the rise.Perform the exercise in 2-3 sets of 10 times.
Reverse crunches.The workout is similar to the one we described above, but we work not with the upper, but with the lower body.The starting position is the same: we lie on the mat with our backs, bend our legs at the knees, feet on the floor, hands behind our heads.When performing the exercise, we raise our bent legs, and then lift our lower back off the floor so that our knees move towards our chest.Inhale when returning to the starting position, exhale when twisting.We repeat the exercise in 2-3 sets of 10 times.
Crunches with legs raised.To perform them, you need to lie on the mat on your back and raise your straight legs perpendicular to the floor.This is the starting position.Then you need to lift your upper body off the floor and reach your hands towards your toes.Inhale when returning to the starting position, exhale when performing a twist.It is recommended to repeat the exercise 10–15 times, 3 times in a row.
Oblique twists.During training, we lie with our backs on the mat, clasp our hands behind our heads, bend our legs at the knees and lift them into the air.This is the starting position.Next, lift your right shoulder off the floor and stretch your elbow toward your left knee.In this case, the left shoulder is on the floor, and the right leg is straightened, but does not touch it.We return to the starting position and repeat the exercise on the other side.We do 10–15 repetitions.
Side crunches.To perform the exercise, you need to lie on your back on the mat, clasp your hands behind your head, bend your legs at the knees, press them together and lay them on your side.This will ensure that your shoulder blades lie flat on the floor, and your hips touch it with your right or left side.This is the starting position.During the exercise, we lift our shoulders and shoulder blades off the floor and stretch forward.We inhale in the starting position, exhale as we rise.We repeat the exercise in 2-3 sets of 10 times.
Plank with turns.The plank is a popular exercise today.It is aimed at training several muscle groups at once.To take the desired position, we lie on the floor on our stomach, then rise on our elbows and lift our legs off the floor.Thus, it turns out that the entire body, except for the arms from the elbows to the palms and toes, is in the air.In this case, the neck, spine and legs should be in one straight line.In this position, the muscles of the abs, hips, and lower back are well tensed.We try to hold the plank for about 30 seconds, then turn the whole body to one side.The right elbow remains on the floor, the left arm is extended along the body, the back, neck and legs are still in one straight line.We also maintain the position for 30 seconds.
Plank with a turn.The exercise is similar to the previous one.However, in the starting position we rely not on our elbows, but on our palms and hold our body on straight arms.When performing a turn, we turn our body to the side and raise our free arm up perpendicular to the floor.Maintain each plank position for 30 seconds.
Side bends.Bending over is one of the mandatory exercises when doing morning exercises and warming up in many sports.We stand in the starting position: feet shoulder-width apart, hands on the waist.We tilt to the right: slightly turn the body, leaving the legs and hips motionless, stretch forward with the arms so that the back is parallel to the floor.We stay in this state for 15 seconds.We return to the starting position.We repeat the exercise on the other side.We make 15 passes on each side.
Lunges with twists.We stand straight, heels together, arms extended forward parallel to the floor.This is the starting position.We take a wide step forward with a squat - lunge.The second leg remains behind and is placed on the toe.The back should remain straight.We return to the starting position and repeat the exercise on the other leg.We do 15 repetitions.
Vacuum.This is a fun exercise that focuses on breathing.It helps strengthen the abdominal muscles.We stand up straight, the abs are relaxed.We take a deep breath and then exhale.As you exhale, we strain and strongly draw in our stomach.Hold the position for 15–30 seconds.We do 15 repetitions.The vacuum can be performed several times a day; this exercise does not require a special room or equipment.
Raising your legs on a chair.A simple workout that's great for your abs.We sit on a chair, keep our back straight, straighten our shoulders, lower our arms down to our sides and place our palms on the seat.We keep our legs together.We take a deep breath, then as we exhale we raise our legs and pull our knees as close to our chest as possible.At the same time, the back remains straight, the body does not lean forward.We hold the position for 10–15 seconds, then return to the starting position and repeat the exercise.We do 15 repetitions.
Walking.This is an excellent workout for those who cannot devote much time to exercises on the mat.Walking allows you to burn fat deposits.You need to do brisk walking for at least 30 minutes a day, preferably five times a week.If you walk less, the result will be practically zero.
Running.This is an alternative to walking.You can run either fast or jog.The first option is considered more effective in terms of burning excess calories, but it is only suitable for a prepared body.Otherwise, shortness of breath will quickly begin, and the unusual load on the body will bring more negative consequences than benefits.For beginners, jogging is suitable.In between runs, you can use brisk walking to catch your breath and relax.
Swimming.If possible, it is recommended to visit the pool at least a couple of times a week.Swimming provides excellent exercise for the body, allowing the body to get rid of excess fat.In addition to losing weight, the exercise is useful because it allows you to improve metabolism, blood circulation, endurance, and correct problems with posture.
Help in the fight against fat deposits
If you want to get rid of excess weight faster, you can not only switch to proper nutrition and exercise, but also turn to dietary supplements.In addition, you can diversify your diet with nutritional shakes, protein bars and refreshing drinks.This is a great way to recharge your batteries and speed up your weight loss process!