Whether your aim is to achieve overall fitness or get toned abs, you don't need to spend half of your in gym. There are plenty of ways through which you can exercise your core muscles and flatten your abs by making tweaks in your daily routine.
Remember that achieving wellness goals is not a two day task. It needs commitment, and hardwork to make your fitness dream come true.
#1. Do high-intensity training
High-intensity training is to perform intervals of very intense activity, such as sprinting, rowing or jumping, with short breaks in between. This way of exercising makes your body burn extra fat and increases your metabolic rate, even long after you've finished your workout. High-intensity training has been shown to have superior effects on fat burning, compared to other types of exercises, and is especially effective for slimming the waistline.
#2. Strengthen your core
Crunches and other abdominal exercises can benefit both your overall health and appearance. A strong core will also improve your posture and prop up your spine, allowing you to appear taller and more confident. Furthermore, core exercises help you strengthen the muscles that ultimately hold in your belly, making you appear leaner. Aim to do core exercises that engage all your core muscles, such as planks or Pilates roll-ups.
#3. Sneak extra activity into your day
You can easily sneak extra activity into your day by increasing the amount of non-exercise activity you do. This involves walking, standing, moving around and basically everything other than exercise training, sleeping, and eating. Make it your goal to walk around while talking on the phone, stand up regularly, work at a standing desk or take the stairs whenever possible.
#4. Reduce the consumption of carbs
Cut back on sugar and simple carbs like bread, noodles and other maida inclusive food like pasta, pastries. Heavily processed foods like chips, cakes, and junk foods are typically high in calories, carbs, fat and sodium.
#5. Size matters
Eating portion-controlled meals that include protein-rich foods and healthy fats throughout the day is the best way to eat for abs. Include whole grains in your diet like brown rice, barley, buck wheat, quinoa, overnight oats etc. to fetch good nutrition that'll help in burning belly fat. People who eat fiber-rich foods lose more abdominal fat than others.
#6. Say no to alcohol
Alcohol, wine & spirits contain calories that need to controlled if you want to achieve your six-abs goal. These liquor are loaded with empty calories, and they can put you way over your daily calorie intake. As a result, it reduces your fat burning capacity as your liver takes more time to deal with the alcohol.
#7. Calm down
Too much stress can contribute to a pot belly. Stress increases levels of cortisol, a hormone that seems to direct fat to our middle. To keep levels low, try this 5- to 10-minute stress reducer: Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Next, take several slow, deep breaths to help clear your mind. Continue breathing deeply and repeat the word "om" to yourself as you exhale. (If you get distracted, just bring your focus back to the word "om") Practice this for 5 to 10 minutes once or twice a day.
#8. As you commute, work on your core
While driving to work or in public transport, a few isomeric contractions would serve you good. Pull your abs in and without holding your breath, contract. Hold the position for a few seconds and relax.
To conclude
Don't forget to stay hydrated. It may not sound important but drinking plenty of water is vital because your body sheds sweat during workouts which needs to replaced by fluids or else you'll feel low on energy.
Try making these changes in your routine and see the difference in your abs!