Does your muffin top make you feel embarrassed to expose your mid section? You know, that fatty flesh that spills over the waistband of our favorite jeans. Not a desirable look by anyone’s standards. Although many people have it, but for me it really started to show after I had my son. Even though I lost lots of weight, that area seems to be more stubborn than others, it’s as if the excess skin (and fat) doesn’t know where else to go.
Muffin top is just body fat, and the best way to get rid of it is by doing cardio intervals, combined with some whole body exercises. Forget spot reducing exercises. The best method is to engage the big muscles of your whole body – that way the fat loss will be the fastest.
Also, running, power walking, cycling, aerobics, swimming – anything that pumps your heart rate up and revs up your metabolism – will burn fat. Women tap into fat stores for energy much more slowly than men, usually after 40 minutes of exercising, so aim for at least this, but ideally building up to an hour, three times a week.
The Muffin-top Workout
“The fastest way to get rid of it is by doing cardio intervals,” says Los Angeles trainer Valerie Waters, who works with celebs, including the notably “bloop”-less Jennifer Garner. By mixing intense bursts with slower periods, intervals torch calories faster than exercising at a steady pace. (Even better, a study found that after two weeks of interval training, women burned 36 percent more fat during moderate exercise.) Do Waters’ interval plan and sculpting moves, below, three times a week to make long T-shirts an option, not a necessity.
Muffin top exercises: Get rid of the muffin top fast
The muffin-busting plan
These intervals work with any cardio exercise you like—such as walking, biking or jogging.
Start off with a five-minute warm-up at a low-to-moderate intensity to get your blood flowing.
Pick up the pace for one minute; the effort required should be about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10—1 being effortless and 10 being extremely tough. Speed isn’t the only way to boost intensity; try increasing the treadmill incline, running stairs or hopping onto a tough cardio machine like a stair-stepper.
Recover for one to two minutes at an easier pace—about a 5 on your toughness scale.
Repeat those hard and easy intervals for a total of 20 minutes. Once you get the interval rhythm down, throw in some spurts in which you’re working at an 8 or 9 on your intensity scale to challenge your body and burn even more fat.
Cool down for five minutes at a light pace.
Banish Your Muffin Top Workout For Busy Moms
The Muffin-top Exercises
The Back Extension
This exercise focuses on your lower back and glutes (butt), so it’s great for tightening up that fleshy area at the back of your hips.
Start by lying on your front on a comfortable surface (use an exercise mat if you have one) with your arms by your sides; palms up to the ceiling, and your feet together; toes pointed straight behind you.
Take a deep breath in, then, as you slowly release it, raise your upper chest and lower legs off the floor.
Keep your stomach and glutes tight and stretch forwards and up through the top of your head, and backwards and up through your fingertips and toes.
Hold this position as you inhale; concentrating on keeping your muscles tight, then exhale and slowly lower yourself back to the start position.
Repeat this exercise until you can feel your muscles tiring and keep a note of how many repetitions you managed (you can build on this number in the future).
Oblique Crunches
Oblique crunches work the muscles which run down the sides of your stomach (the obliques).
Concentrating on this area gives your body stability and creates definition around your waist.
Start by lying flat on your back with your arms by your sides and knees bent and together, but over to your left hand side. In this position your shoulder blades should be flat on the floor but your waist will be twisted slightly as your left leg rests flat on the floor at a right angle to your torso and your right leg rests on top of the left.
Cross your arms across your chest to avoid using them to pull yourself up.
Take a deep breath in, then slowly exhale and raise your head and shoulders off the ground slightly and back down in a steady, controlled movement.
Repeat the exercise as many times as you can on each side and make a note of the number of repetitions.
This is essentially a sit up movement, but by turning your legs to one side you allow the body to utilize the oblique muscles rather than the abdominals.
It’s a pretty tough workout, but it is more important to feel your muscles working than to do loads of reps – work at the right pace for you.
The Bridge
The bridge is pretty much the ultimate muffin top exercise – it works on your stomach, lower back and glutes all in one go!
To do this exercise start by lying on your back, arms by your sides and knees bent.
Stabilise (or anchor) your body on the floor by bringing your shoulder blades back and down and firmly placing your palms and feet flat against the ground (your feet should be about hip width apart).
Inhale deeply then release this breath as you slowly roll your spine, one vertebra at a time, away from the floor, starting at your tailbone.
When you reach the bridge position only your head, shoulder blades, arms and feet should be anchored to the ground, while your abs and glutes should be nice and tight; holding your hips suspended in the air.
Hold this position for another deep inhale, then slowly exhale and roll your spine back onto the mat, starting from the top.
This is another tough one so really try to feel your muscles tightening as you go through the exercise.
As with the others, repeat to fatigue and note down the number of reps you managed.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4240883
Get Rid of Muffin Tops / Hip Fat
Popular search terms:
- muffin top exercises
- how to get rid of muffin top fat in one week
- how to get rid of a muffin top fast
- exercises for muffin top
- how to get rid of muffin top after baby
- exercises to get rid of muffin top fast
- muffin top
- get rid of muffin top fast
- muffin tops exercise
- 4240883
My wife has said that the muffin top is one of the toughest problems for women. She struggled with toning that area for a long time, ultimately she found that pilates was the exercise type that toned that area with the most efficiency. She does a pilates class three times a week and it really helped her tone and increased her energy, too.