Learn how to get rid of a muffin top fast with these seven easy exercises. Strengthen your core and create a toned stomach in no time!
Muffin top, love handles, spare tire, or bulging belly. No matter what you call it, excess fat around your waist is extremely frustrating. It seems that no matter what your diet or how much exercise you do, that pesky muffin top just won’t budge.
How to lose belly fat is one of the first questions I receive as a personal trainer.
I get why: It’s very difficult to sift through the conflicting information out there about detoxes, fad diets, and sit-ups that promise to leave you with a flat stomach by Sunday.
Fortunately, there are some specific exercises that target your muffin top and can help you start getting rid of belly fat for good.
These exercises will strengthen the obliques (the muscles on either side of the waist), the rectus abdominis (the vertical muscle), and the transverse abdominis (the deepest layer of the abdominal muscles). Perform this exercise routine 3-4 times a week to start seeing results.
Give yourself at least three months of consistency. There is no magic when it comes to losing belly fat.
In this article, I’ll also help you conquer those myths about belly fat by exploring the real reasons why you have a ‘muffin top’ in the first place.
Next, I’ll give you a comprehensive, realistic plan to get rid of your muffin topper, including a workout that will eliminate belly fat using HIIT topper exercises. Let us start!
What is a muffin topper?
Muffin tops, what exactly are they? Well, I’m not talking about something you can get at a bakery.
Muffin top is a general term that refers to a roll of fat that hangs down the sides of a narrow waistband and mimics a muffin top. Honestly, it can be very difficult to get rid of.
It is also a precursor to cardiovascular disease, so it should not be ignored.
What causes greasy muffin tops?
Excess belly fat can be caused by a variety of factors and poses a serious health risk. The most obvious reason for muffin bottoms is simply carrying excess fat everywhere.
But there are four other factors that can contribute to excess belly fat, too.
Genetics
If you carry a little extra fat everywhere, it makes sense to carry some of it around your waistline. Genetics play a role, but don’t use your genes as an excuse to feel defeated.
If you have stubborn excess belly fat, you can start losing excess body fat as a whole while tightening your abdominal muscles.
Bad feed
Eating too much processed food is the biggest problem. You will gain weight if you eat more calories than you expend.
And if you consume a lot of processed white flour, sugar and other ingredients, science shows that excess fat settles in your midsection.
In addition, consuming too many sugary soft drinks, salty foods, and artificial ingredients will naturally cause flatulence in different people. Try a sugar detox and see how much better you feel!
Besides the fact that you may not like the way your piece of cake looks or feels, there are more concerns. This excess portion of cake can lead to health problems such as insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances, and metabolic syndrome.
The saying goes “You can’t outrun a bad diet” so adapting some healthy eating habits and adjusting your calories is the first place to start!
Pressure
Chronic stress contributes to the storage of excess visceral fat (fat stored within the abdominal cavity). It also naturally makes you reach for more salty and sugary snacks as a coping mechanism that can lead to those love handles.
Additionally, stress raises your cortisol levels.
This stress hormone is known to contribute to excess belly fat. Reducing your stress levels will help reduce the surface of your cakes.
Everything goes together. When you make healthy lifestyle changes, hopefully you’ll feel less stressed.
Hormones
If you’re about to enter perimenopause or menopause and find that you have more fat around your middle, it could be a hormonal change. If you control estrogen, you can store more belly fat than you want.
How to get rid of muffin tops: 4 proven solutions
Now that you know some of the main causes of excess belly fat, we’ll cover 4 proven ways to reduce belly fat and get rid of the muffin topper, plus we’ll share the muffin topper exercise with you:
Clean up your diet
The best donut workout isn’t an exercise at all, it’s about the food.
I said it above that abs are made in the kitchen. In an editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers say excess sugar and processed carbohydrates (not physical inactivity) are the main causes of the growing obesity epidemic.
Excess calories, especially those in the form of sugar and unhealthy fats, eventually end up as body fat, including belly fat.
The goal is to expend more calories than you eat to lose weight by creating a calorie deficit. One way to do this is to eat clean.
Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to get rid of all the things you love! This is a healthy diet of real food.
The key is to choose mostly whole foods and eat small portions regularly. Processed foods are often full of calories and foreign non-food ingredients.
The best foods to get rid of muffin top fat are whole foods. This means vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and healthy fats full of fiber. Take a walk around your local grocery store or visit a farmers market just to see your options.
It will take some time and education to start eating better, but your health is worth it.
And if you’re looking for inspiration, try high-protein, low-calorie breakfasts that stimulate your metabolism and prevent overeating later in the day.
HIIT exercises
If there’s any form of exercise that will help you lose your muffin top fast, it’s HIIT.
High-intensity interval training is a form of cardiovascular and strength training that forces you to work as hard as possible for short periods of time with short periods of rest in between.
HIIT training is challenging because you are working to increase your heart rate and if you are a beginner you should start slow. But as your heart becomes stronger, you will be able to do more.
HIIT exercises are more efficient at burning calories and keeping your metabolism high long after you finish exercising. Therefore, calories will continue to be burned even as you progress through the next part of the day.
The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week.
This includes a combination of cardio, high-intensity interval training, and strength training.
Get enough sleep
You may not be able to make the connection between sleep and weight right away, but research can prove it: Study participants who followed a sleep-deprived diet saw a 55% reduction in fat loss compared to their well-rested counterparts.
Lack of sleep can alter fat cells by changing the body’s ability to use insulin properly. Excess insulin can cause your body to store fat in unwanted places, such as the waist, which can lead to weight gain, belly fat, and even diabetes.
Adults should regularly get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep to stay healthy, regulate their moods, and help them achieve their weight loss goals.
I recommend trying some of these science-backed tips to get better sleep.
You’ll focus on core strengthening exercises with some cardiovascular movements. I suggest learning how to activate the transverse abdominis (“TVA”). This is the muscle located deep and low in the abdomen.
By taking the time to properly strengthen this muscle, you’ll create a built-in corset that will tighten your tummy, protect your lower back, and promote better posture — which will make you look slimmer, too.
Exercise methods such as Pilates are excellent for learning how to strengthen this muscle. Once you can use TVA, you will be able to perform all of these exercises with confidence.
Start eating healthy first. Next, try this exercise at home or at the gym to start fighting belly fat.
This beginner’s HIIT-style top workout combines high-intensity cardio with real cardio to shed body fat, strengthen and tone your core, and burn calories.
Instructions for the 16-Minute Muffin Workout:
Do each movement for 20 seconds. 10 seconds rest in between.
Repeat each exercise three times for 16 minutes!
Skaters
View the skater exercise as part of the muffin top exercise
How to make sliders:
Start with your legs slightly wider than shoulder width and your arms at your sides.
Bring one leg back at a slight angle to perform a reverse lunge. The front knee will form a 90 degree angle.
Swing your arms in front of your bent knee and jump your back leg forward to switch sides in a skating motion. The arms alternate while changing sides like a speed skater.
Sweeping scissors
How to make sweeping scissors:
Start by lying on the mat with your arms above your head and your legs extended.
Move your arms out to your sides and lift your head, neck and shoulders off the mat, extend your arms and lift one leg toward your chest. Extend the arms forward to either side of the leg. Return to the mat by lowering your leg and repeat on the other side.
Side mix
How to perform a side shuffle:
Start by standing with your feet hip-width apart and your knees deeply bent. Place both hands in front of your chest in a guard position.
Start on your right foot by moving your right foot and then your left foot. Move to the right for four steps from right to left and then move to the left for four steps from left to right.
Continue switching from right to left for the required amount of time.
Raising and lowering the side panel
Side plank raises and dips effectively work your abdominal muscles.
How to raise and lower the board on its side:
Start by lying on your right side with your forearm under your shoulder, body elevated, legs lengthwise and feet stacked. Keep your body straight, your abdominal muscles tight, and place your left hand on your hip.
Dip your hips toward the mat and lift them up using your obliques and core muscles.
Split jumps
Split jumps
How to do split jumps:
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart. The hands are in front of the chest with the hand clenched into a fist. Take a big step forward with one foot and lower your body toward the floor. Both legs should be bent at a 90 degree angle at the bottom of the lunge.
Lower your back knee slightly and jump to switch feet. While in the air, the front foot comes back and the back foot moves forward. Land into a lunge position with your knees bent. Repeats.
Bend, extend and curl the abdominal muscles
Fold extension ab fold
How to do abdominal flexion and extension:
Start by sitting on the mat with your arms behind you, hands on the mat, and fingers toward your butt. Sit on your hands and lift your feet off the mat, keeping your knees bent.
Keeping your abdominal muscles tight, press your legs outward and lower your back slightly. You should feel your lower abs working, then push yourself up and pull your
knees in to return to the starting position.
Burping
Try burpees for a full-body workout that burns fat.
How to do burpees:
Start in a plank with your arms and legs long and your hands shoulder-width apart.
Walk or hop with both feet between your hands and squat down. Jump as high as you can, then land and return to your plank position.
Inside outside the plank
inside inside outside outside plank
How to make the painting from inside to outside:
Start in a forearm position, with your body in a straight line and your abdominal muscles contracted.
Take a step with your left foot to the left.
Take a step with your right foot to the right.
Step with your left foot toward the center.
Take a step with
Right foot toward the center.
Now you’re equipped with the tips you need to get off the muffin top: eat well, combine strength training with cardio, get enough sleep, and use movements specifically designed to target your heart.
Get ready now to burn belly fat and work on being healthier!
