Belly Fat Troubles? Heres The Key To Burning It Off

​Hey there, this week went by so fast. I feel like yesterday was just Monday! Our baby boy just turned 2! So that was pretty heart breaking, I’m sure all you parents feel the same way every time your kids have birthdays. It’s crazy, I never imagined I would be THAT parent, you know the one that takes his son out for 3 different birthday diners and he’s not even old enough to appreciate them, but here I am making him a spoiled brat. Hope your week has been great if you had a birthday recently then happy birthday to you (shout out to Devon)! So back to The Peoples Blog, this week I left our topic open to YOU (the reader). This week’s topic brought to you by Sandy Ross is “what is the best for reducing belly fat?”

One of three birthday meals, I think my fiancé was happier about them then he was (she didn't have to cook all day).

​To begin our topic, we must understand that belly fat is also known as visceral fat; visceral fat is body fat that is stored near our internal organs and abdominal region. As we know the abdominal region is in our belly area, thus when reducing our belly fat, we are in turn reducing our visceral fat.
 
Our first study had 21 groups (a total of 582 subjects) perform aerobic activity in hopes of reducing visceral fat. The aerobic exercise was performed at 10 METs or more. MET is short for Metabolic Equivalent Task, in short it measures the amount of energy you expend per movement. MET is measured from 1.3 (Standing) – 16 (Running at a speed of 10 MPH). A measurement of 10 which the movements were performed at would be equivalent to running 6 MPH.  Out of the 21 groups, 17 of them showed a reduction of fat. The other 4 groups showed no correlation of aerobic exercise reducing visceral fat. After further testing they eliminated all the subjects with metabolic related disorders, what was left was 425 subjects. From those subjects, it was concluded that aerobic exercise at a rate of 10 METs is REQUIRED for visceral fat reduction in people without metabolic related disorders. In short running at a pace of 6 MPH will put you in the zone to burn this belly fat. Running is not required, any aerobic exercise performed at 10 METS  will reduce the fat, we just have to make sure we keep the correct pace.
 
For example, when exercising your heart rate and body should be at a level of intensity like that of running at a 6 MPH pace. This means the dilly dallying, gossiping, and extra-long water breaks must cease if you are serious about burning the belly fat. The goal then is to keep the intense pace for the duration of the workout or until your body says no more.
 
To test what methods of training was best for reducing belly fat scientists studied the effects of HIIE (high intensity intermittent exercise) and the effects of SSE (steady state exercise) and measured their effects of belly fat reduction. HIIE is commonly referred to as HIT or high intensity training, in short it is a form of interval training that focuses on short bursts of maximum effort followed by a brief rest most commonly consisting of a movement of lower intensity. The intensity of the training continues until one cannot perform any longer, often leading to fatigue faster than traditional training methods. SSE is a form of training were one stays in a constant continuous intensity as opposed to spiking effort and heart rate. The object is to work at a fairly intense pace for a longer duration of time. This study took a total of 15 weeks, after the duration of this study both groups showed a tremendous increase in cardio fitness, but only the HIIE group showed a significant reduction of total body mass, fat mass, and trunk fat (also known as belly fat). The study concludes with HIIE performed 3 times a week for a duration of 15 weeks will reduce body fat and trunk fat at a significantly greater rate than SSE training. In short, when choosing a type of program to perform you will get a lot more “bang for your buck” doing HIIE training to reduce belly fat.
 
For this example, I take the usual fitness goer (myself included) whom does body building type of workouts. Do a few sets here, move on, then a few more sets, while we are sweating we are not feeling at that peak intense level. We may feel at that level during our set but our break and dilly dally time is so long we just never get that “dying” and exhausted feeling. Now if your goal is to target the belly fat this type of training will not bring the results wanted as fast as HIT movements. Now “CrossFit” gets a bad rap due to their workouts being “deemed” extreme, in reality if you are serious about burning the belly fat your programming should be much more related to a “CrossFit” style program than a bodybuilding/powerlifting program. The intensity and minimal rest times (if any) used in CrossFit programming is essential in ridding the body of belly fat.
 
Two studies, both have proven results to reduce the visceral/trunk fat in the body with one thing in common, the intensity of the exercise performed. We can then conclude that reducing belly fat is directly related to the intensity you are working at. If we want to “shrink” down that belly, be prepared to work hard and push yourself at an intense pace. As always and it goes without saying, be sure you are receiving proper nourishment and are performing good eating habits. Until next time, stay safe and enjoy your weekend!

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