How to Lose Abdominal Fat: 5 Exercises to Do At Gym

Losing abdominal fat is tough. If you're looking to shed the layer of belly fat that sits just under your skin, you will need to exercise regularly and follow a high-protein diet.

However, if you're ready to commit to shedding those stubborn pounds and getting in shape once and for all, read on to know how.

Exercises to Lose Abdominal Fat

Here's a look at five such exercises:

#1 Medicine Ball Crunch

To do a medicine ball crunch, you will need a medicine ball. This is a great, slightly advanced exercise for building a strong core.

Proceed as follows:

Place it on your chest, holding it with both hands.
Lie down, and bend your knees. Lift your torso off the floor so that it's perpendicular to the floor.
Roll backward about 45 degrees, and return to sitting upright as you exhale through pursed lips. Repeat 20 times.

If you can’t go through the full range of motion in the exercise — for example, if you feel pain in your neck or back — try doing some modified crunches instead by bending over more till there's no pain while keeping good form (i.e., not arching).

#2 V-up

V-ups are an intense core exercise that can make you break a sweat and build some serious abs.

Do it by following these steps:

Lie on your back with your hands under or behind your head.
Lift both legs off the floor, and raise them towards the ceiling, bringing the knees in towards your chest till you feel a stretch in your abdominal muscles.
With control, lower back down to the starting position, and repeat for the desired reps (usually three sets of 10-20 reps per set is sufficient).

#3 Hanging Leg Raise

Hanging leg raises are one of the most challenging, yet rewarding exercises on this list. While you need some built-up core strength for it, it's totally worth it.

These steps will guide you through the workout:

Suspend yourself in the hanging position on a pull-up bar, with your hands at about shoulder width.
Keeping your knees straight and relaxed, pull your legs up towards your chest as far as possible without locking or hyperextending them.
Pause for a moment, and lower slowly to starting position by bending at the knees till they touch the floor, if necessary.
Repeat the movement quickly 30 times continuously without rest between sets of repetitions (3–5 sets), so that you do not become fatigued before reaching 30 repetitions per set.

#4 Russian Twist

The Russian twist is a great exercise to help burn fat and strengthen the core. Here’s how to do it:

Sit on the floor with legs bent and feet flat on the floor.
Placing your hands behind you, interlace your fingers so that the palms are facing outwards. Lift your elbows off the floor by squeezing your shoulder blades together. That should raise the torso slightly off the ground; keep your abs tight, and don't arch your lower back.
Your arms should be extended at 90 degrees from your shoulders while holding onto something sturdy, if need be (e.g., a rack of weights). Make sure to raise your legs off the ground while doing so.
Twist your torso to the left side as far as possible without moving your hips or buttocks up from the ground. You want them at least parallel to the surface beneath them while keeping your arms straight and pointed towards the ceiling throughout the movement.
Pause for two seconds once you're done with rotation before returning to the starting position where the knees were crossed over each other earlier in the exercise (keeping hands interlaced behind your back with arms lifted above your head).
Repeat till a set number of repetitions has been completed (ideally 8–12 reps per set).

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#5 Burpee

Burpees are a great full body exercise, but you can get a stellar core workout out of them.

These steps are crucial when performing burpees:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms by your sides.
Squat down, and place your hands on the floor about one foot in front of you.
Kick both feet back so that you're in a push-up position, with knees on the floor and hands anchored under your shoulders.
Lower into a push-up till your chest is almost touching the ground (or as low as you can go).
Straighten both legs quickly so that they're extended behind you while simultaneously swinging your arms forward between your legs to perform one pushup
Reverse the direction by pulling yourself up so that both feet land under the hips again after ending the push-up with your chest above your hands.
Stand up straight again before repeating another burpee movement immediately after ending the last rep. Do that continuously for 20 seconds, at most.

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Takeaway

Losing fat around the abs isn't impossible. With the aforementioned exercises, a proper training schedule, and a good diet, you can get pretty far.