How to Destroy Belly Fat: Dos and Don’ts for Dudes, Part Two
You’ve been waiting forever for part two, and the worst part is that you haven’t even picked up a barbell yet. If you’ve been sticking to your guns and eating right though, you’ve probably seen a pound or two come off the scale. Maybe you’ve even noticed that your favorite skinny jeans don’t require quite as much grease to get on anymore. Good for you!
If you really want to destroy belly fat, you’re going to need to break a sweat. For some guys, that’s the easy part, but when you’ve got to eat right at the same time, it can be harder than you think.
After eating right and getting your workouts in, you’ll need some mental toughness. We’ll get too that. Don’t count on any BS pep-talks though. Find a trainer or meathead buddy for that stuff.
Do More Cardio
Finally, some fucking exercise! We can hear your collective gasps of relief now that you can stop thinking about what you put into your body and break a sweat. Whatever, man.
When you want to burn belly fat, cardio is your best friend. In fact, cardio is your best friend when you want to burn any kind of fat, including that double chin you inherited from grandma or the big fat butt your whole family seems to display.
What kind of cardio should you do? It depends on your level of fitness. If you’re starting from scratch, take up a fast walk and quickly turn it into a jog. If you can already jog, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be a killer way to get in shape.
Hate running? Okay dude, try something else instead. Swimming is awesome if you know how and have a place to do it. Tennis, basketball and even touch football are ideal if you’ve got buddies to play with or don’t mind a pick-up game.
Whatever cardiovascular exercise you choose, just make sure you get out there and do it regularly. You’re looking for at least an hour or so three times a week or more to make any major improvements in how you look and feel.
Don’t Give Up Strength Training
Lifting weights rules! I used to bench Buicks in high school! We can hear your chants all the way from the back of the bar. Problem is that most guys just aren’t doing their strength training properly to destroy belly fat.
You can still lift weights and work on your guns. In fact, adding some lean muscle to your biceps can make you look better even if the number on the scale isn’t plummeting. Olympic lifts aren’t going to give you a six-pack though.
When you do strength training, you need to think of it as a way to boost your metabolism and make it stronger so you can burn more fat. Remember – it takes more calories to support muscle than fat, so the more you pack on, the more you can eat without looking like shit. Well, at least that’s the very simple explanation.
Core training should also be part of your workout, but don’t expect 10,000 sit-ups to make you look like you’re ready for a hard-body competition. Targeted exercises don’t work if you’ve got fat that’s covering those otherwise shredded muscles.
So what’s the best way to do your strength training? In moderation, targeting your full body and with more reps of lighter weights. That’s the best way to jumpstart fat burning and help you look lean.
Do Work Hard
Eating right and getting enough exercise isn’t easy. In fact, it’s probably one of the hardest fucking things you’re going to do in your life, especially if you’ve got more than 20 pounds to lose.
We told you that we weren’t going to go all self-help motivational guru on you, but planning on some serious hard work is the only way to really get your body how you want it to look and feel. Just like with a tough job, you need to set out with a goal in mind and stick with it, reminding yourself where you want to get to regularly.
Don’t complain to your buddies and don’t think about the finish line. Take it day by day, week by week. Set goals for yourself, like running a 5k. Sure, it might be boring as shit, but at least it’s an accomplishment.
Stack enough of those accomplishments together and you’ve got a healthy guy that doesn’t send women running when he takes his shirt off at the pool.
Don’t Kill Yourself
Eating like you’re a yoga-loving health food guru, working out like a pro athlete and doing it all seven days per week is going to get you excellent results. In fact, you’ll start dropping fat faster than a parolee drops singles at a strip club. The problem is that you won’t be able to keep it up for any real length of time.
Without getting too touchy-feely, you need to cut yourself some slack once in a while. If you just can’t stand a full workout because you put in 12 hours at the office, do half your workout. Don’t go home and beat yourself up.
Even worse, don’t fall of the diet and exercise wagon. Just because you didn’t work out or you had an extra beer at a party doesn’t mean you should end your day in a shame spiral that involves Oreo cookies or something.
Get back on the horse, keep a steady hand, play through the pain, walk it off…or whatever your favorite coach or old man used to tell you. One mistake isn’t going to kill you, even if it was a big one.
