By Macaela McKenzie, prevention
But never fear: A recent study just found that one workout is particularly adept at burning off belly—aka visceral—fat.
Visceral fat
is not only a pain in the butt, it's also extra unhealthy, since it's
located in the abdominal cavity and surrounds several important organs.
So researchers looked into how certain types of training could slim this
particular area. (Got 10 minutes? Then you've got time to lose the
weight for good with Prevention's new 10-minute workouts and 10-minute meals. Get Fit in 10: Slim and Strong for Life now!)
In the study, which was published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness,
participants did four workouts a week, doing various types of exercise.
One group did four steady-state cardio and strength workouts, while
another group did two steady-state workouts and two high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts.
[post_ads]Turns out HIIT is queen: The HIIT group not only lost more weight
overall, they also lost more inches from their waistline, showing a
significant reduction in visceral fat, compared with the group that
stuck to the steady-state gym routine. As a bonus, the HIIT group saw an
increase in cardio-respiratory fitness, while the other group did not.
The researchers say the fact that HIIT workouts are short and
intense—allowing you to push your bod to the limit—may be why HIIT does
such a killer job at incinerating the most unshakable fat.
So, ready to HIIT it hard? Start with this 5-move HIIT workout. That six-pack will reveal itself before you know it.
