Leading an active life while working to meet deadlines and maintaining a social life can be a daunting task. Finding the time to invest in physical activity is an additional challenge – especially when it comes to burning belly fat. Lucky for you, an 8 minute workout is the perfect solution. This routine is swift and effective, allowing you to reap the benefits of exercise without having to sacrifice too much of your precious time. As a result, you’ll be able to fit this into your already jam-packed schedule without much trouble. Regular exercise ensures that the calories you consume don’t get stored as fat in your belly area, so even a quick workout can go a long way towards achieving that flat stomach you desire.
Understanding HIIT for a Flat Stomach
Creating an effective ab workout should be a priority, as this engages your core and improves your endurance and strength. Your core consists of your lower back, oblique muscles, and your abs and impacts every move you make – particularly important if you spend long periods of time in a seated position. For this reason, HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training may be beneficial.
This involves performing simple exercises, such as crunches, bicycle crunches, standing twists, etc., quickly in bursts of 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. This type of workout can easily be done in the comfort of your own home, allowing you to reap the rewards of a great ab workout.
Exercises to Try
For each exercise, complete two sets of 20 seconds each with a 10 second rest in between sets. Do this consecutively to complete a full 8 minute workout with the aim of achieving a flat stomach.
Heel Touches
Lie down with your back flat on the floor, draw your knees up so your feet are still resting on the ground, and raise your shoulders off the mat. Try reaching your heels with your hands without lifting them from the floor.
Toe Taps
Lie on your back with your arms resting by your sides. Bend your knees, keeping your lower back pressed into the floor, and raise your upper body. Take your right knee and bring it above your hip. Tap the floor with your left foot – close to you, slightly in front and then as far as you can without pushing your back off the ground. Repeat for the other leg and that’s one repetition complete.
Mountain Climbers
Begin in the plank position, arms straight and hands directly beneath the shoulders. Alternately bring each knee towards the middle of the body, returning to the starting position. Keep the hips level throughout and aim to complete as many repetitions as possible over the course of 90 seconds.
Starfish Leg Raises
This might sound funny, but the starfish leg raise is actually an incredibly effective exercise for your mid-section! Lie on the ground, stretching out your arms and legs like a starfish. Then, alternate sides and tap your right shin with your left hand, and your left shin with your right hand. This one rep is all you need for amazing impacts on the area surrounding your belly!
Mountain Climbers
Start by getting into a pushup position and bring one knee as close as you can to the elbow of the same side. Alternate between the two legs to mimic the motion of mountain climbing. Focus on maintaining a fast pace for the duration of the exercise. Try to keep your knees to elbows as quickly as you can for 20 seconds.
Walkout + Slow Mountain Climbers
Try this version of HIIT mountain climbing exercise. Begin by performing mountain climbers slowly, striving to get each knee as close to the opposite elbow as possible. Alternate legs for one complete rep. Then, slide your hands forward to the very end of the mat and use them to return to a pushup position before starting the next rep.
Crunch Variations
To get the most of your 8 minute workout, spice up your regular crunches by adding a twist. When lifting your upper body off the floor, alternate between sides with each crunch for one rep. Another great variation would be the scissor crunch. When lifting your shoulders off the ground, hold your legs straight and move one leg over the other in a scissor-like motion.
Start Training Today
If you’re looking for a quick and effective way to work your core, the 8-minute HIIT routine should do the trick. Choose from exercises like flutter kicks, bicycle crunches, knee raises, half-burpees, and side planks and do two sets of 7-8 repetitions each. Make sure you rest for 10 seconds between sets. This condensed routine will quickly leave you with a sore, but pleasantly tight stomach. With only 8 minutes of exercise per day, you can achieve those results you’ve been dreaming of.