Abdominal Weight Loss Helps More than Your Appearance

Both women and men admire the appearance of strong, flat abdominal muscles, yet the abdominal area is one of the hardest parts of the body to train and reduce. While abdominal weight loss will help you look fantastic in a swimsuit, losing your belly fat can also help you avoid many serious health problems that seem unrelated to how big your gut is.

Health care providers are now emphasizing that abdominal weight loss could help you have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, gallbladder problems, colorectal cancer, high blood pressure, memory problems, and other age-related degeneration. Abdominal weight loss is important to your overall health because abdominal fat (also called visceral fat) typically surrounds vital organs like the liver, kidneys, and lungs. Abdominal fat crowds and squeezes these vital organs, preventing them from doing their job and leading to serious diseases.

Several studies have shown that abdominal weight loss is best achieved through moderate intensity to high intensity exercise. Researchers found that people who walk or jog 12 miles per week were successful in not putting on abdominal fat, while those who jog about 20 miles per week actually achieved abdominal weight loss and weight loss in other areas of their bodies. The same studies found that abdominal weight loss was not achieved through diet alone, nor was it achieved through spot exercising like sit-ups.