I’ve noticed my belly fat deposits becoming more persistent since I’ve turned 40: it just loves hanging on to me 🙂
Seriously, getting older brings changes to our bodies that are hard to beat. Not impossible to beat though, with an extra effort.
And if you have an elliptical machine you are one step closer to this goal! I’ll give you my suggestions, a few extra tips, and a 30-day workout plan to get rid of the belly fat!
Elliptical Workouts Bring So Much More Than Burning Calories: Health Benefits of Elliptical Workouts
First of all, you need to know that belly fat is not just an esthetics problem, it can be a cause of serious health issues as well. Harvard Health confirms that deep abdominal fat is related to serious health problems including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
My friend Najee, 61 years old, type 2 diabetic is a testament to it: it gave him high blood pressure issues and made him not able to exercise, something he solved by starting the HOLOFIT workout program. You can learn more about his success and road to health in How I Fixed My Health Issues with HOLOFIT article.
Get Started on Your Elliptical: Make Sure You Burn Fat Effectively
Your elliptical machine works both your upper and lower body; when more of your muscles are working at once, you’ll burn more calories.
And, if you have joint problems or you’re currently overweight, the non-impact nature of elliptical training will allow you to work out longer and harder without causing pain, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Correct body positioning is key to getting a good workout on an elliptical machine. Step on to the machine and place your feet on the pedals, right in the middle. Make sure your foot is always flat on the pedal, avoid being on heel or toes only as it might put unnecessary pressure on your knees.
Use the moving handlebars: this will increase the intensity of your workout when you push and pull them as you pedal.
Remember to keep an upright posture with your chest out and your shoulders pulled back and down.
The faster you pedal, the more calories you’ll burn to burn your belly fat. You can also increase the resistance to up the challenge. The harder your leg muscles have to work against resistance, again, the more calories you will burn ultimately resulting in fat burn.
Losing belly fat takes time, but it’s nowhere near impossible. Plan to get some sort of cardio workout — on the elliptical or another cross-training method — most days of the week for 15 to 30 minutes a session.
And to learn more about How to Lose Weight Efficiently with Elliptical Workouts just head to my other article here, I promise it will be a worthy reading!
Burning Belly Fat on Your Elliptical: Intensity Matters
One way to skyrocket your intensity is to do interval training. Contrary to steady-state cardio in which you maintain an almost constant heart rate throughout, interval training varies your heart rate. This gives a great during-the-workout and after-workout burn, meaning that your body continues to burn calories at a higher level even after you are done exercising!
Interval training also helps you burn more calories in less time. I am always tight with time, and very often skip working out altogether because I can’t find an empty 60-minute slot in my schedule.
This is why I created a quick, and super effective 15 minute HIIT training program for HOLOFIT. HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training, and you can squeeze those 15 minutes in at any time of the day.
Trim Fat Belly While I Watch my Telly: How to Find the Right Motivation for Your Elliptical Workouts
We know what the biggest enemy in getting to our fitness goals is: pain. It simply hurts to work out, mentally and physically. And especially if you are not already in ok shape; the first 5 minutes of every workout are super important, as you want to quit it over and over again. The last 5 minutes of every workout are also super important, because the seconds are so long, and it seems like the end will never come.
Finding the right motivation is the key, and you can always do that by giving yourself a short-term and a long-term goal to go for. Make sure you work on your mind as much as you do on your body, and you can always go for my tips on how to help yourself in my article on Transforming Your Mind to Transform Your Body.
Even with the right motivation, right goals, you’ll still feel the pain though. So you need something to distract you from it!
Did you know that VR Fitness helps minimize pain and extend your workout time? This is why we created HOLOFIT VR Fitness: help you find the right motivation, distract yourself from the negative of the workouts, and focus you on having fun with it. You can read on it in detail in my How HOLOFIT VR Fitness Helps with Fitness Motivation article.
Burning Belly Fat on Your Elliptical Machine: How to Maximize the Effects of Your Workout
Your diet is the key to your success: you must implement some changes that would help your body turn into a calorie-burning machine.
Those changes might be big or small, depending on your current diet habits, and your fat burn goals. I’ll give you a few tips that everyone should follow in order to get rid of belly fat, no matter how big or small it is.
Tip no. 1: introduce metabolism boosts through food and beverages. Before a workout, and never in the last 60 minutes prior to one, try having some of the following: coffee, berries, almonds, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, beans.
All of these will help your body increase the calorie burn, and will give you that extra power you need for an effective workout.
Tip no. 2: get enough protein! After a workout, 30-60 minutes after finishing, make sure you’ve fed your muscles enough protein. Get it from eggs, fish, meat or greek yogurt, and combine it with a good source of fat: avocado, olive or coconut oil. This way, you’ll restore your muscles and make sure your body burns the excess fat it accumulated.
Tip no. 3: drink enough water. How much is enough depends on a person, but a minimum of 1.5 liters per day is a must. I drink around 3 liters per day, but I also have high blood sugar so I very often feel thirsty.
Tip no. 4: bring your alcohol intake down to a minimum. I love my wine, and when I get too friendly with it too often, I start to resemble it: my body shape morphs into that of a wine glass 🙂
Whatever you like to enjoy, simply cut it out for a while. Alcohol always gets straight into your belly fat and you’ll get nowhere no matter how hard you work out, if you don’t minimize drinking.
Tip no. 5: eat fresh food only. Anything that is pre-packed, factory-made, and comes in a bag (unless it’s nuts) will have to be thrown out. Food additives are what keeps the pre-made food fresh, and what keeps your belly fat. So, don’t get any!
