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Learn How to Lose Belly Fat Fast by Building Muscle With Strength Training!

The only way you’ll ever get a sexy, six-pack abdominal is by getting rid of the layer of fat covering your ab muscles, and if anyone tells you otherwise. Like those infomercials, they’re lying to you!

I’ve already introduced you to two of the best, proven ways on how to lose belly fat:

Now, I’ll introduce to you the third piece of the puzzle on how to lose belly fat--strength training.

Strength training along with the proper nutrition will turn fat into muscle. But how does that assist you to lose stomach fat? Well to put it simply, it takes around 30 – 50 calories to help carry 1 pound of muscle. So, by building muscle, you burn off tummy fat faster because the more muscle you have. The more fat you’ll burn!

What is the Best way to Build Muscle in Order to Burn Off Tummy Fat Faster?

The best way to building muscle, and build it fast is by stimulating your body’s own hormones. When you hear hormones, the first thing comes to mind is sex. Then again, it’s probably on your mind already...

My point is when you hear the word “hormone” you wouldn’t immediately associate it with building muscle. But, there are thousands of different hormones with each one managing a different function of your body and one of it includes building muscle. So the more you know about this powerful connection between hormones and muscle building. The more you can turn fat into muscle, and lose stomach fat!

You don’t need a degree in endocrinology, which is the science of glands and hormones to know how to lose belly fat and build muscle. You just need to know what strength training techniques makes best use of your body’s hormones.

There are two important types of hormones in relation to building muscle: anabolic and catabolic. Anabolic hormones build muscle, while catabolic tears them down.

The most powerful anabolic hormone is testosterone followed by human growth hormone and insulin. Men, have more testosterone than women. So yes, men do have an advantage over women when it comes to building muscle and losing tummy fat. But, woman have an advantage in everything else!

Back to my point…

Catabolic hormones include cortisol and progesterone. Too much of these types of hormones cause your body to carry fat and muscle catabolism--which is when the body eats your own muscle. You don’t want this to happen.

What you do want is for your workouts to increase the anabolic/catabolic release ratio. So, you’ll build muscle and lose stomach fat, and not the other way around.

How do You Train to Let go More of Your Anabolic Hormones, and Less Catabolic?

One word: Intensity. To turn fat into muscle, and burn off tummy fat fast, the name of the game is intensity.

The higher the intensity you work at, the more you stimulate the endocrine system (where your hormones are produced and then released into the bloodstream) to clear your body’s anabolic hormones, as well as a host of other muscle building and fat burning hormones. Plus you’ll boost your metabolic rate to lose stomach fat even faster because you’ll burn additional calories for hours after your initial workout was over! See, how amazing your own body is at building muscle and burning tummy fat, if you know how to do it properly?

There are several ways to increase the intensity of your strength-training workout. Here are the best ways to do so:

Lift Heavy to Lose Stomach Fat Fast

The more muscle fibers you can recruit, the more muscle building and fat burning hormones you’ll release. Also, by overloading your muscles to its full potential, you build more muscle tissue resulting in a faster metabolism. Lifting heavier weights can only do this.

Lifting lighter weights with higher reps does not give you enough stimulation to get a response from the endocrine system. Lifting lighter weights also builds less muscle, and even worst can lose muscle. Which results in a slower metabolism.

But by lifting heavy, it doesn’t mean to do a lot of two repetition sets like many power-lifters. Instead, doing five to eight rep sets should be a staple of your strength training routines.

Focus on Compound Exercises to Burn Tummy Fat Quick

The majority of your workouts should be focusing on compound movements and not isolated movements. Compound movements are any exercises that work multiple muscle groups. Unlike isolated exercises which only target one muscle group.

This doesn’t mean single-isolated exercises have no place in your workouts. It just means don’t focus a big half of your workout on doing them.

Examples of compound exercises include:

Chest Exercises

  • Bench Press (Barbell or Dumbbell)
  • Incline Bench Press (Barbell or Dumbbell)
  • Decline Bench Press (Barbell or Dumbbell)
  • Dumbbell Flyes
  • Dips

Shoulder Exercises

  • Seated Shoulder Press
  • Standing Overhead Press
  • Military Press

Back Exercises

  • Upright Row
  • Pull-ups
  • Lat Pull-downs
  • Bent Over Barbell Row
  • One Arm Dumbbell Row
  • Seated Cable Rows
  • Romanian Deadlift

Leg Exercises

  • Squats
  • Lunges
  • Leg Press
  • Deadlift

The list can go and on, but these are a few examples of the best compound exercises for each of your major body parts.

Also, by focusing on compound exercises you are indirectly working your ab muscles, even though you are not specifically targeting them. Which makes compound exercises some of the best ab exercises--that are not even “abs exercises!”

So make compound exercises the foundation of your strength training workouts to turn fat into muscle, and lose stomach fat faster. As compound exercises engage the most muscle tissue to build more muscle than any other type of exercises.

To Turn Fat Into Muscle Even Faster, Work Your Largest Muscle Groups

Because your hormones flow all over the body, focus on using compound exercises to work your largest muscle groups--like your chest, back, and especially the leg muscles in your lower body. This will really stimulate the release of fat burning and muscle building hormones to turn fat into muscle and burn tummy fat.

Keep Your Rest Periods Short

To lose stomach fat, it requires intensity so keep rest periods short between each set. Keep it within a minute to ninety seconds, and two minutes at the max. Which means no taking five minutes or longer rest periods while you chat away with the entire gym! Stay focused!

Rest periods of one to two minutes between sets are more effective at maximizing hormone release than shorter or longer rests would. Anything shorter than a minute decreases your strength for later sets. While longer rest of two or more minutes doesn’t allow enough stimulation to get a response from the endocrine system.

Don’t Go Overboard

No strength-training workout should last more than an hour. By over doing it the release of cortisol--a catabolic hormone goes up, and will break down more muscle than you build. Which results in a slower metabolism, and fat gain. So again, you don’t want this to occur.

Bottom Line on How to Lose Belly Fat With Strength Training?

To lose stomach fat the key is intensity. The higher the intensity you work at, the faster you’ll turn fat into muscle, and the easier you'll burn tummy fat.

Because by working at a higher intensity during your strength training workout, you'll be getting cardio (to lose stomach fat) and building muscle (to lose even more tummy fat) while indirectly working your abs at the time.

To increase the intensity of your strength-training workout:

  • Lift heavy
  • Focus on compound exercises
  • Work your largest muscle groups with compound exercises
  • Keep rest periods short
  • Don’t over train

This will stimulate the endocrine system to release powerful muscle building and fat burning hormones in your body, and increase your metabolic rate to lose stomach fat quickly. Then combine this with the best abs nutrition plan and interval training, and you’ll burn tummy fat even faster! And, you’ll keep it off!

Great Resources to Help You Lose Stomach Fat by Building Muscle With Strength Training

Muscle & Strength.com (opens new window) - This site contains free weightlifting tips to help you turn fat into muscle and lose stomach fat with strength training. Includes routines and illustrations of weight training exercises to show you how to do them correctly.

Dumbbell-Exercise.com - Dumbbell Exercises & Workouts (opens new window) - Helping You Gain More Muscle, Lose Weight, or Just Get Yourself in Better Physical Shape.

BetterU, Inc. - Innovative and Powerful Fitness and Weight Training Information (opens new window) - For top-quality, free information on fitness, exercise, fat loss, nutrition, muscle building and more visit us today!

Bodybuilding.com -The largest and most complete bodybuilding site online! (opens new window)

There are many exercises to tone the abs, one of which is using a variety of exercise equipment. But, with so many out there, how do you know which one works best? Here's a great article written by John Cammidge of Fitness Superstore to help you better understand which exercise machine does best strengthen the abs. Click here to learn more.

Also, here's a great article on why doing aerobic exercises alone is not enough to burn tummy fat. Click here to learn why everyone needs to strength train (opens new window).

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