You could be having the best outfit just for the fat in your midsection to ruin it. Well, besides just ruining your outfits, belly fat or rather deep abdominal fat is highly associated with health problems. These mainly include heart diseases type 2 diabetes.
Abdominal fats can be categorized into two. First, there is the subcutaneous which is just below the skin and quite similar to the fat that exists elsewhere in the body. Most people have a little bit of this in their mid-section and despite being healthy in small amounts, it can be harmful when accumulated.
The second kind, which is also more hazardousis visceral fats. This is normally imperceptible and could need deep medical scans to detect. These are also associated with the mentioned chronic illnesses.
From the above, belly fat is not something you’d want to have whatsoever, right? Because of this, we’ll be covering how you can use an elliptical to get rid of it.
How ellipticals help get rid of belly fat
As compared to the rest of the body, abdominal fat is quite difficult to shed since the cells here are more resistant to the fat-breakdown process.
Because of this, not only do you need to stick to a strict workout program but you should also check your diet. Belly fat is normally excess energy stored in our body when we take in more calories than the body needs.
As such, you should take in in a small number of carbs and sugars. These should then be replaced with protein and healthy veggies; you’ll hasten the fat-breakdown process.
Now let’s move on to how you can make use of an elliptical.
Get the posture right
The key to getting the most out of your elliptical is body positioning. Though quite simple to achieve, most people, unfortunately, get it wrong.
Simply square your feet in the middle of the pedal and ensure the inside of your foot is parallel with the inside of the pedal. Next, there are static and moving handlebars. The former should allow you to familiarize yourself with foot movement while the latter allows you to engage your upper body more.
The more intense the workouts, the better
Like any other workout, you won’t get the desired results if things are too easy. As such, one of the best ways you can increase the intensity is by sticking to interval training.
This normally involves switching between intense movements for some time then switching to less intense movements. By doing this, you get your heart rate high and burn more calories as compared to steady cardio on the elliptical.
Pay attention to the resistance
After using one for some time, you’ll start to feel comfortable on the machine. When this happens, you could either increase your pace or even better, increase the resistance to make workouts more challenging.
The trick here is getting your leg and arm muscles to work more and by doing so, you engage your core even more. Even after increasing the resistance, you could get used to a more intense workout after a few weeks. When this happens, go ahead and increase the resistance, speed or reduce the rest periods in interval training.
Besides the resistance, something else that will be highly beneficial is increasing the incline. When you increase the incline, what happens is that you’ll have to put in more effort with each stride
Ensure you engage your whole body
Though the elliptical’s motion mimics climbing stairs, it doesn’t mean that you’ll only be limited to leg-dominant workouts. By holding on to the handlebars while you pedal, you’ll engage your back muscles, arms, shoulders, and most importantly your core.
At the same time, ensure you maintain the correct posture. Still, on that note, it’s important to go for an elliptical who’s stride length is just enough for you. Too much or too little will compromise your comfort, posture, and results.
Here are some amazing ellipticals you could choose from
Complement the elliptical workouts with strength training
Though you could see some results after a few weeks, doing cardio alone won’t get you there. It’s important to incorporate some calisthenics or weightlifting for optimal results.
Another advantage of sticking to strength training is that you’ll avoid fat build-up in the future since your muscles will demand calories daily. This way, there won’t be an excess to be stored as belly fat.
Long term weight loss
Getting rid of belly fat is hard and unfortunately, gaining back the belly fat is easy. To keep in shape, I’d recommend you do maintain intense exercise routines for a few minutes in your elliptical workouts. At the same time, don’t push yourself too much to avoid an injury.
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