Most people believe that if you want a flatter stomach, you need to log some serious hours on the treadmill or do hundreds of crunches to burn off the extra fat. New cutting-edge research indicates that you may want to consider weight training instead.
This new research from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed men and women who engaged in weight training for 30 minutes a session just 2-3 days a week had less age-related abdominal fat gain than men and women who engaged in cardio/aerobic activities.
Those who engaged in cardio/aerobic exercise did lose some weight, however, those that performed a combination of both cardio/aerobic activity and weight training demonstrated that it may be best for fat loss while maintaining and restoring lost muscle.
Now for the “sciency” stuff: Technically this occurs because there is a transcription factor known as Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1 alpha), which is involved in mitochondrial biogenesis. When you turn up PGC-1 alpha, you make more mitochondria. This increases your sympathetic muscle tone, which then turns on PGC-1 alpha. This increases muscle mass, which increases mitochondria, and this in turn is what improves insulin sensitivity and helps one burn body fat. WOW… I know, I know… you don’t really have to know how it works, just that it works!
Why Weight Training Is So Important for Burning Belly Fat
Less than 25 percent of Americans over the age of 45 engage in strength training exercises, which are actually among the most important exercises to stay fit and healthy, especially as you age. As Rania Mekary, Ph.D. of Harvard, the study’s lead author, told Endocrine Today:
“To combat sarcopenia [age-related muscle loss] that is inevitable with aging, older adults are recommended to engage in physical activities that achieve the most favorable changes in their body composition, such as loss of fat mass while preserving lean body mass…
Because long-term weight training leads to this concomitant fat loss and muscle gain, this has been shown to prevent and treat many chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.”
In addition, strength training is an excellent way to get rid of that stubborn, excess body fat, because working your muscles is the key to firing up your metabolism. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate.
Unlike traditional cardio/aerobic exercise, strength training causes you to continue burning more calories for up to 72 hours after the exercise is over through a process known as “afterburn”. Said study author Frank Hu MD, PhD:
“This study underscores the importance of weight training in reducing abdominal obesity, especially among the elderly… To maintain a healthy weight and waistline, it is critical to incorporate weight training with aerobic exercise.”
Weight Training Can Be an Aerobic Workout if You Slow It Down
You can actually turn your strength-training session into a high-intensity fat-busting workout simply by slowing down your movements.
Super-slow strength training allows your muscle, at the microscopic level, to access the maximum number of cross-bridges between the protein filaments that produce movement in the muscle.
High-intensity strength training, or super-slow weight training, also has profound effects on your insulin and leptin sensitivity and gives you an excellent boost in human growth hormone (HGH), otherwise known as the “fitness hormone.”
This is another reason why super-slow weight training may help you burn belly fat, as HGH plays an important role in maintaining health, fitness, and longevity, including promotion of muscle growth, and boosting fat loss by revving up your metabolism.
The fact that it helps build muscle while simultaneously promoting fat loss explains why HGH helps you lose weight without sacrificing muscle mass, and why this type of weight training can help you slim down quite quickly.
The key to really making the super-slow strength training session work for you is to make sure you reach muscle fatigue. Your goal, therefore, is to use enough weight that you cannot do more than about 2 minutes of continuous exercise.
To Really Burn Belly Fat, Be Sure To Address Your Diet
In another study where 24 adults did seven abdominal exercises, five days a week for six weeks, they did not lose any belly fat, or fat anywhere on their bodies, for that matter. This is because about 70 percent of your ability to reduce excess body fat is determined by what you eat, with the other 30 percent related to fat-burning exercise and other healthy lifestyle habits. If your diet is based on eating lots of sugar/fructose and processed junk food, your chances of getting rid of your “belly” in favor of a flat stomach are quite slim — even if you work out religiously.
You simply will not see a flatter stomach and defined abs unless you reduce your overall body fat, and a poor diet will cause your body to hold on to excess fat, despite all your exercise efforts.
By avoiding processed foods in general, and focusing instead on whole, preferably locally grown organic foods, cooked at home, you can circumvent one of the greatest dietary obstacles there is today. The good news is once you make the change, the cravings for the foods you have removed will fade away. For the “perfect diet” to go along with your super-slow weight training regimen, I suggest you consider enrolling in our Escape Your Slow Metabolism Book. It is a comprehensive and step-by-step program designed to help you make health-promoting, fat-busting food and lifestyle choices.
Rich Farina, M.S. is a Metabolic Health and Conditioning Specialist with over 30 years of experience helping thousands of individuals lose weight, rebuild their metabolisms, and improve their health in his Metabolic Testing & Weight Loss Centers.
He holds both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Exercise Physiology and Public Health respectively and is a passionate advocate of using proven, scientific principles in his approach to exercise and nutrition.
He is a contributing author, professional speaker, and advisor on topics that include weight loss, human performance, and medical fitness.
He continues his deep-seated passion to help people improve their health and longevity through his own line of premium, all-natural nutritional supplements called Truthentics™. The Truthentics™ brand of nutritional supplements is specifically designed to help people compensate for nutritional deficiencies and bring their bodies back into balance.
