The desire to get a sculpted abdominal area or just a flat stomach is the most common motivation for playing sports. This muscle area is a clear demonstration of training and physical fitness. However, just doing exercises to get a flat stomach is not enough. To achieve this goal, an integrated approach is required, taking into account an understanding of the basics of the training process and nutrition. This is the only way to achieve a thin waist and flat stomach and get into shape the most problematic area.
How to get a flat stomach
The stereotype that doing a series of exercises for a thin waist and flat stomach will help you get what you want is very harmful to athletes. This is why many athletes, especially beginners, quickly become frustrated and quit training if there is no progress. Moreover, the problem with the abdominal area began to worry not only girls, but also men. If a flat stomach in girls is more of an element of beauty and aesthetics of the figure, then for men the amount of fat on the press directly affects health (and testosterone levels).
In order to make your stomach flat, you should remember two basic rules . The outcome of your efforts depends on them:
- Abdominal training burns almost no fat. It is aimed at strengthening muscles, thickening muscle fibers and increasing endurance.
- You can only remove fat from the abdominal area by controlling your diet and cutting calories (creating a deficit). A diet for a flat stomach will directly determine the effectiveness of your efforts in the gym and in the kitchen.
You need to work in both directions, otherwise you won’t be able to achieve what you want. Nutrition for a flat stomach will ensure the loss of fat mass, and strong muscles will create an aesthetic appearance and fit. Trying to rely only on training or diet is the most common mistake that leads to a lack of pronounced results.
Get enough sleep
Sleep is essential for overall health, including maintaining a healthy weight. Research has shown that lack of sleep affects hormones that regulate a person's appetite and can make them feel hungry. The authors note that increasing sleep duration and improving sleep quality may help with weight loss. To improve your sleep quality, you need to:
- do not keep electronics in the bedroom;
- go to bed 30-60 minutes earlier than usual;
- perform relaxing stretches or meditation before bed;
- get enough sunlight during the day;
- exercise regularly;
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bed.
How to get a flat stomach and a thin waist
Another fitness myth that has significantly impacted women's (and sometimes men's) workout routines is the increase in waist size from exercise. As a result, in order to achieve a flat stomach and thin waist, many athletes exclude entire groups of exercises from their training regimen.
It is indeed possible to achieve an increase in waist size, but this will require years of training and focused work.
The main reasons why the myth about waist expansion appeared:
- Active training of the abdominal muscles tones them (rectus and obliques), they “push out” existing fat and the waist becomes a little larger. However, this is a temporary effect that depends on your body fat percentage rather than muscle training.
- Excessively frequent training of the oblique abdominal muscles with heavy weights.
- Frequently performing barbell squats (or deadlifts for men).
Powerful basic exercises significantly strengthen the core muscles, increasing the volume of the hips and waist. When added with careful ab work, this can lead to an increase in girth. Therefore, you should normalize the load and choose only effective exercises for a flat stomach (and also take into account the load from complex basic movements where the abs work).
In general, a flat stomach and thin waist are more of a genetic trait than a matter of training.
Every person can normalize muscles and remove fat, but their shape is determined genetically and it is impossible to influence it in any way. The only option to achieve a flat stomach without increasing the volume of your waist is to completely eliminate movements on the oblique muscles. However, this option will have a lot of negative consequences, from muscle imbalance and curvature of posture to an increased risk of injury.
Reduce stress
There is a connection between stress and health problems. These problems include weight gain, which can occur because some people tend to consume food when they are stressed. This effect is associated with the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that increases appetite.
Ways to relieve stress include:
- performing aerobic exercises;
- conversation with a loved one;
- setting priorities and important tasks;
- rest;
- avoiding too many events;
- hobby.
Nutrition principles for a flat stomach
There are no “secret tricks” to getting a flat stomach at home. The basis is nutrition, namely a number of key conditions:
- Creating a caloric deficit (consume less than you burn), without which fat is not able to be utilized.
- The optimal ratio of BJU, with an emphasis on protein foods and complex carbohydrates.
- Minimize frying, give preference to boiled, baked and steamed foods.
- Eliminate all sugar-containing and flour products from the diet (the use of sugar substitutes is allowed).
- 5 to 7 servings per day (eat small portions at 2-hour intervals).
- Minimum fatty meat, more fish and vegetables. You can eat any fruit, but only if it fits within your daily caloric intake.
Avoid high-calorie drinks
High-calorie drinks often lack nutrients, and drinking them adds extra calories. These are soft drinks and energy drinks. However, other popular drinks, including juices, milk-based coffee drinks and alcoholic beverages, have additional calories, often without additional nutritional value. To avoid consuming large amounts of calories in drinks, a person can:
- Replace juice with whole fruits that contain fiber;
- Limit or eliminate milk and sugar in coffee and tea.
How to Workout for a Flat Stomach and Small Waist
There are two ways to get the result:
- Make your stomach flat quickly, but with a significant increase in the amount of work (dedicate separate classes for this).
- Work out the abdominal area along with other muscles.
If you want quick results, in addition to training the main muscles (for example, with the classic version with three workouts per week), you will have to add at least 1-2 sessions. Also, for a waist and a flat stomach, the diet will have to be made as strict as possible , and not everyone will be able to withstand such a regime.
Therefore, it is much more effective to devote time to performing a set of exercises for a flat stomach during regular workouts (mainly at the end of classes). This scheme will provide pronounced results, but without excessive stress on the psyche. In addition to strength work, you need to do at least 2 hours of low-intensity cardio per week, as well as 30 minutes of high-intensity cardio.
If you don’t want to go to the gym, exercises for a flat stomach at home should be combined into small blocks and performed daily or every other day. You will not be tied to visiting a fitness club and will be able to work on your abs at any time.
Try intense interval training
High-intensity interval training is a quick way to burn more calories during exercise. It involves short bursts of intense movement with short periods of rest in between. This type of interval training can help a person burn more calories in a shorter time than some traditional exercise options. Exercise, especially running, can reduce both total fat and abdominal fat. Cycling may also be effective, but more research is needed to confirm this.
Best exercises
List of moves to get a flat stomach at home or in the gym:
- Crunches are one of the best upper abdominal exercises.
- Sit-ups – working out the abs with a lot of repetitions.
- Lifting your legs while lying down is an effective way to work out your lower abs.
- Hanging leg raises are another exercise for the lower part (only if you have a horizontal bar or exercise machine).
- Crunches with abduction to the side - training the oblique abdominal muscles.
- The hanging leg raise with abduction is another movement that targets the obliques, focusing on the lower abdomen.
- The Russian twist is a powerful exercise that will require perfect mastery of technique (otherwise it is better to limit yourself to the previous movements on the oblique muscles).
- The “book” exercise is a comprehensive workout for the lower and upper abs.
In addition to abdominal exercises, the secret to a flat stomach also lies in training your lower back and back. These muscles act as antagonists and work together. That is, without the simultaneous development of the back muscles, abdominal training will not be 100% effective.
Read more about back muscle exercises for girls and back training for men.
How to maintain results
As is the case with getting results, subsequent maintenance must be divided into two parts - training muscles and maintaining a low percentage of fat. Physical activity on the area must be provided 2-3 times a week, in no more than 2-4 exercises. Large amounts of work are not required.
But a diet for a flat stomach and thin waist will always be required, so to minimize fat gain you will have to avoid a strong calorie surplus in the diet. It is necessary to find the line in daily caloric intake (only through practical means and long-term observations, along with calculations) when you provide the norm or a minimum surplus. With an active lifestyle and regular training, excess calories will not form fat deposits, but will go into the “furnace” for energy.
Main conclusions
You can get rid of belly fat, tighten it, make it slimmer and ultimately flatter by doing home exercises. But before you get a flat stomach, you will need to try hard: establish a diet, a routine, and the right workouts.
Home workouts will allow you to develop your abdominal muscles, tighten your stomach, and form a muscle corset that helps keep it in the correct position. The presence of additional equipment will help diversify the procedure, but training is possible even in its complete absence.
