Losing belly fat is one of the most common fitness goals, but the vast majority of people go about it the wrong way. Doing just situps to exhaustion is not going to flatten out your belly, and flailing back and forth between diets is not going to do you any favors, either.

How to lose belly fat and get rid of love handles
The first important thing to understand is that you can’t spot reduce fat on the body. You can tone and build size in specific muscle groups but you can’t lose fat from any one particular area. You have to lose fat allover, and that takes a combination of things; cardio, total body strength training, and healthy eating.

The emphasis on the strength training component of fat loss is “total”, meaning upper body, lower body, and core – no matter where you are trying to lose fat from, you need a well developed, balanced body structure that is without strength inconsistencies and therefore less vulnerable to injury. As an added benefit, if you focus on this comprehensive strength you will also have a body that burns calories at a higher rate than one that is predominately fat or just skin and bones.

For that reason, this abs and cardio workout will be a great routine to pair with one of our longer strength training or toning workout videos. Doing so will increase your workout session’s total caloric expenditure, and help you build metabolism boosting lean muscle (which will help you burn calories at an elevated rate even while resting).

Diet is a whole other story, and we could write a few novels worth of words on just that subject. In a nutshell, a lean belly diet is one that is “clean”, or having as few processed, altered foods as possible. Fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, lean meats, and fish should make up the bulk of your meals. Avoid fake sweeteners, all “diet” products, packaged “health” foods (i.e. energy bars, frozen meals, drinks that are jam packed with preservatives, additives, sodium, and who knows what else), and basically be leery of anything that comes in a package. Make sure you are not taking in more calories than you are burning in order to keep your weight in check.

About this Cardio, Abs, & Obliques Workout
This is a short but effective cardio and core blend that is great for getting your heart rate up in a hurry; you wont need any equipment for this routine. You have 2/3 of the criteria for losing fat and getting rid of love handles in this video; cardio and a bit of toning – as we mentioned above, you will get far better results if you use this routine in conjunction with a combo of our upper & lower strength routines, 2-3x/week each.

Workout Structure:
1 Minute Core Exercise
1 Minute Cardio Interval
1 Round
9 minutes

Printable Workout:
Static Squat Torso Twist
Jumping Oblique Twist
Side Hip Raises (30 seconds on each side)
Jumping Oblique Twist
Russian Twist
Jumping Oblique Twist
Reclined Oblique Twist (30 seconds on each side)
Jumping Oblique Twist

How many calories does this routine burn?
We estimate that you can burn roughly 5-9 calories a minute doing this routine.