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 1. Fitness
 2. Workouts
 3. Ab Exercises


THE BEST EXERCISE MACHINES TO LOSE BELLY FAT

By Lisa Maloney, CPT Updated May 28, 2019 Reviewed by Andra Picincu, CN, CPT

Our Editorial Process
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Elliptical trainers are great to help you lose fat.
Image Credit: nd3000/iStock/GettyImages

Gym exercise is almost always good for you — but it's not always easy. If you're
fighting the battle of the belly bulge and want to be sure you're getting the
most out of your gym time, take heart: Every exercise machine in the gym will
help you in your quest toward a slimmer midsection as long as you use it
faithfully and vigorously. However, there are a few machines that scientists
have found to be particularly useful.

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WHY YOUR GYM WORKOUT MATTERS

If you can pinch an inch — or two — of extra fat around your belly, you're far
from alone. But doing an impression of the Pillsbury Doughboy isn't the
healthiest way to live your life because having extra fat in the belly area is
associated with a greater risk of many health problems, including cardiovascular
disease, high cholesterol and insulin resistance.

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Visceral fat — which pads the space between your internal organs and often
manifests as an "apple" body type that is wider at the belly and narrower at the
shoulders and hips — is especially sneaky. This adipose tissue associated with
higher risk of chronic disease, although scientists don't understand the exact
cause.

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The good news is that you can lose excess fat from everywhere on your body,
including your belly. All you have to do is burn more calories than you take in
over time, either by increasing your physical activity or making healthy eating
choices.

According to the National Weight Control Registry, most people enrolled in the
registry lost weight and kept it off by using a combination of the two methods —
so putting in time with the right gym exercise machines can have a very real
impact on your weight and health.

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Read more: The 3 Secrets to Losing Belly Fat


TREADMILL AND ELLIPTICAL TRAINER

Walking or running are both fantastic exercises for losing belly fat — which
makes both the treadmill and elliptical trainer excellent tools you can
incorporate into your workout routine. If your elliptical trainer has moving
handlebars, that's even better because you can put your upper body to work,
pushing and pulling, to burn a few more calories.

While "more" and "faster" are almost always better for your calorie burn, even a
relatively small amount of walking can have a noteworthy impact on your belly
fat. In a small but compelling study published in a September 2014 issue of the
Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry, researchers found that, of their
20-woman subject pool, those who walked for 50 to 70 minutes three times a week
had a significant decrease in belly fat. The control group did not.


STATIONARY EXERCISE BIKES

Of all the exercise machines in the gym, Harvard Health Publishing places a
vigorous ride on a stationary bike near the top of its calorie burn estimates.
For example, if you weigh 185 pounds and bike vigorously for half an hour,
you'll burn more than 450 calories.

If you're not comfortable sitting on a normal bike seat for extended periods,
that's perfectly fine. The seat on a stationary bike is usually much wider and
better cushioned.

For extra comfort, you can switch to a recumbent bike, which has the widest seat
of all and some back support as well. You can also wear padded bike shorts —
just like you'd use for riding long distances on a real bike — to make your gym
workouts more comfortable.


A ROWING MACHINE

Rowing doesn't rank far behind stationary bikes for calorie burn — and that's
hardly a surprise, because a stationary rower puts your entire body to work,
from the powerful leg drive at the start of the stroke to your core and upper
body working to transfer the energy through your hips and torso to quick hands
on your imaginary oar — the machine's handle.

According to the same set of estimates from Harvard Health, if you weigh 185
pounds, 30 minutes of vigorous rowing on an indoor rower can burn more than 375
calories. Just make sure you use proper technique.

Read more: How to Lose Belly Fat With These 7 Cardio Workouts

TIP

Whichever exercise machine you use, consider incorporating sprint intervals into
your workout. They're a great way to do more work (code for burning more
calories) in less time. And, according to a meta-analysis published in February
2018 in the New Zealand journal Sports Medicine, high-intensity intervals were
found to be an effective means of reducing abdominal and visceral fat (along
with the rest of your body fat).


WEIGHT MACHINES AND FREE WEIGHTS

Every machine in the gym cardio area is useful in your quest to burn belly fat —
but don't forget to include some weight machines or free weights in your workout
routine, too. In a study published in a December 2014 issue of Obesity,
researchers followed 10,500 men for 12 years and found that, of their physical
activities, regular weight training had the greatest impact on waist
circumference.

Weight machines will do the job, but if you can maintain proper form, compound
exercises with free weights are even better. That's because they recruit more
muscles at once to lift and stabilize the weights, so you're squeezing more work
into a shorter time. Just a few of the exercises you can do to help burn belly
fat and build a strong body include leg presses or squats, deadlifts, bench
presses or chest presses and lat pulldowns or rows.


WHAT ABOUT YOUR DIET?

Exercise has a lot to do with losing extra fat around your belly or, really,
anywhere on your body. But if you're not careful, you can undo all that hard
work with the exercise machines by making poor eating choices.

With great power in the kitchen comes great eating responsibility, so make sure
you bolster your weight loss efforts by focusing on healthy eating habits,
including:

 * Skipping highly processed and refined foods
 * Eating lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains
 * Choosing high-quality proteins like fish, light meat poultry, nuts and seeds
 * Limiting your intake of sodium, added sugar, trans fats and unhealthy
   saturated fats

If you want a ballpark figure for how many calories you should be eating, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) offers a chart of estimated
calorie intakes according to age, gender and activity level. Those amounts are
for maintaining your current weight. The National Institutes of Health
recommends reducing your food intake by 500 to 750 calories per day to lose
approximately 1 to 1.5 pounds per week.

TIP

According to the National Institutes of Health, most women can safely lose
weight on a diet of 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day, and men on a diet of 1,500
to 1,800 calories per day. Don't eat less than that unless you're in the care of
a medical professional.

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references

 * National Weight Control Registry: "NWCR Facts"
 * Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry: "Effect of Walking Exercise
   on Abdominal Fat, Insulin Resistance and Serum Cytokines in Obese Women"
 * Harvard Health Publishing: "Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three
   Different Weights"
 * Sports Medicine: "Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Total,
   Abdominal and Visceral Fat Mass"
 * Obesity: "Weight Training, Aerobic Physical Activities and Long-Term Waist
   Circumference Change in Men"
 * Health.gov: "Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-2020: Appendix 2.
   Estimated Calorie Needs Per Day, by Age, Sex, and Physical Activity Level"
 * National Institutes of Health: "Healthy Eating Plan"
 * Harvard Health Publishing: "Abdominal Fat and What to Do About It"



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