Methods for strengthening abdominal muscles and eliminating belly fat, and the principles of low-intensity, long-duration exercise.

How to exercise abdominal muscles and get rid of "belly fat"?

Many women have had this experience: the little belly fat they worked so hard to get rid of just grows back without them noticing.

Women often only realize their bellies are not up to standard when it's time to wear skirts and swimsuits. Once the season is over, they let their guard down, and the belly grows back to its original size over the winter.

Here, we introduce a method to exercise abdominal muscles and eliminate belly fat. As long as you persist in practicing, you will definitely see results.

(1) Section 1

①Preparation: Lie on your back with your body straight, legs together, and arms extended to your sides with palms down.

② Raise both legs about 20-30 centimeters, keeping your knees straight. When you first start practicing, you can hold the position for 20 seconds, and then gradually increase the time. The longer you hold the position, the better the effect.

When you first start practicing, you may feel soreness in your abdominal wall, but this phenomenon will basically disappear after a week.

This exercise can be repeated each time, and the number of repetitions should be based on the individual's comfort level. Generally, it can be repeated 5-10 times.

③ Extend both legs straight up, forming a 90-degree angle with your body. Then, alternately push your legs upwards, as if pedaling a bicycle on flat ground. This set of movements should be slow rather than fast, like pedaling a bicycle on a slope. You should pedal slowly and forcefully. Do 15-20 repetitions each time.

④ Straighten your body, raise both hands behind your head, then keep your legs and feet still, bend your upper body to sit up, repeat 20-30 times, and you can increase the number of times after you get used to it.

If you find this movement difficult, beginners can dangle their knees over the edge of the bed in a sitting position, then put their hands behind their head, lie flat on the bed, bend and sit up, repeating this several times. If you find this easy to do, repeat the full-body lying-flat movement.

Some people find supine sit-ups too easy and suggest sitting or lying on the floor with your feet on the edge of the bed or a chair, hands behind your head, and bending your upper body to sit up, which is more challenging.

(2) Section 2

Preparation: Stand upright with your fingers interlaced and toes pointing forward, about 10 centimeters (or a fist's width) apart. Raise your hands to the sky and then stretch them toward the ground, trying to get as close to the ground as possible, ideally with both palms touching the ground. Repeat this movement 5-10 times.

Beginners can start with their feet shoulder-width apart and practice the above movements after they get used to it.

This movement should also be performed slowly.

Why use low-intensity, long-duration exercise for weight loss?

The most effective way to lose weight is through physical exercise, and low-intensity, long-duration exercise is best for weight loss.

The reason is that low-intensity exercise mainly uses aerobic metabolism for energy, so the amount of lactic acid produced by the muscles will not be too high (too high a level will inhibit muscle contraction), and it can be sustained for a longer period of time.

For example, jogging consumes about 837 kilojoules of energy per hour, and a few hours after exercise, it can also cause a significant increase in the body's metabolic rate.

In addition, endurance exercises such as swimming, cycling, and brisk walking for more than half an hour are all beneficial for burning fat.

Low-intensity exercise is defined as exercising at 60% of one's maximum heart rate during intense exercise.

At the beginning, your heart rate may be too high or too low. After exercising at a steady pace for five minutes, you can enter a steady heart rate.

To measure heart rate (pulse count equals heart rate), you must immediately after exercise by palpating the radial artery at the wrist, the carotid arteries on both sides of the neck, or by directly touching the left anterior chest wall to record the heartbeat.

Generally, you can record the pulse over 10 seconds and multiply it by 6.

Because the pulse is recovering after exercise, if measured after 1 minute, the pulse has already slowed down and cannot accurately reflect the exerciser's workload.

It is best to exercise once a day, or 3-4 times a week, for at least 20 minutes each time.

Taking running as an example, those with average physical condition can do timed runs, without restrictions on speed or distance; or they can set a time and distance, and as their endurance and physical strength improve, they can appropriately shorten the time and lengthen the distance.

Those with better physical fitness can use interval running, alternating between slow and medium-speed running.