Top Tips on Losing Core Fat

It’s an area of the body that nearly everyone is conscious of, their core. Whether it’s simply for appearance, athletic performance or anything in between, our core is something people worry about and it’s no wonder that there’s millions of pieces about weight loss and core strength across the internet. However, much of the focus of core fat is on either exercising or dieting, but the truth is that to really make an impact you need to have a good combination of both elements. So, in this blog we’re going to break down some of the best exercise and nutritional tips we have to help you reach your core goals.

Importance of a Healthy Core

Before delving into the depths of our advice it is important to note that trimming fat around the core area isn’t just good for your appearance, having a healthy core can lead to a host of benefits. Firstly, it’s good to know that there are a couple of types of fat that we have around our core area, subcutaneous fat, which is fat that’s stored just below your skin, and visceral fat which is behind your abdominal muscles surrounding vital organs. While reducing both goes hand in hand, reducing visceral fat has been proven to decrease your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and much more, not to mention the benefit a healthy core can have on your mental health too. All this means that while it’s great to have a strong core for appearance, having one should be a goal to increase your quality of life.

Nutritional Needs

Let’s kick off our top tips on the nutritional side, while there are plenty of positive things you can do with your diet for your core, here are our top four.

Eat Loads of Soluble Fibre

Up first on the nutritional side of things we’d encourage you have plenty of soluble fibre in your diet. Soluble fibre is food that absorb water and allow your body to slow down the passing of food through your digestive system, all while making you feel full. As you would suspect, when you feel full, you naturally eat less, and this can only be good for weight loss in your core area. Some of the best soluble fibres to introduce into your diet are vegetables, fruits, oats, legumes beans, and so on.

Ensure Your Diet is Rich in Protein

We always hear about protein when it comes to building fitness levels, whether that be through supplements or natural sources, but there’s a reason for that as it is vital in terms of managing our weight. Much like with our soluble fibres, protein intake increases the feeling of being full, while also speeding up your metabolic rate, which is a huge bonus for weight loss. Protein is one of the most important elements of building muscle too, and with more lean muscle mass comes less fat. For those who are vegetarian or vegan the number of natural sources of protein available are restricted, so it is crucial to maintain a high protein intake through the likes of protein supplements, while for others natural proteins such as meat, eggs, fish, beans, and dairy are best.

Reduce Sugar as Well as Alcohol in Your Diet

Sugar is a major problem in our bodies when eaten in large amounts and alcoholic beverages contain a lot of it as well as fats. Excess sugar in your diet can be very difficult for your body to get rid of which leads to weight gain especially around the core area. While not all alcohol contains loads of sugar, many do, and while it isn’t the number one problem with alcohol consumption, it can be a contributing factor as to why alcohol will increase core fat, as it can be easier to consume more then you think compared to when you’re eating. However, the main thing to avoid with regards to alcohol is binge drinking, as this has been proven to have severely negative effects on your body, especially around your core region, so while you don’t need to completely cut sugar or alcohol out of your life it is important to moderate your consumption of them.

Cut Down on the Refined Carbs

Carbohydrates are something we need in our diet to provide us with a source of energy both physically and mentally. However, once again, this is when eaten in moderation. Reducing your carb intake has been shown to be a great way to cut down on core fat, especially by bringing down the amount of refined carbs that you may be eating such as white bread, pastries, sugary drinks, and so on. Instead of completely removing carbs from your diet think of replacing some with healthier alternatives such as whole grain foods, vegetables, legumes, and beans which are all positive foods to have in your diet as well as being brilliant substitutes to encourage weight loss in your core.

Let’s Get Physical

Now that you’ve got the nutritional side of your core weight loss covered let’s move on to the top exercises that you should do in order to lose fat around your core and maintain its health.

Aerobic Exercises

When it comes to weight loss around the midsection, aerobic or cardiovascular exercises are right up there. Aerobic workouts include exercises that increase your heart and breathing rate, which in turn burns calories as well as fat, with these including the likes of swimming, running, cycling, etc. One thing to keep in mind is that there is no one exercise that targets core fat despite what people may say, as when you’re burning fat it is coming off your whole body, not just a single section, so while it may take time for their to be an effect on your core, any form of cardio will eventually lead to results. While for beginners you will need to take a more measured approach to aerobic exercises, as you progress by increasing your tempo, consistency, duration of workout and so on you will see further impact on your overall health including your core.

Weight or Strength Training

While cardio fitness is an ideal way to burn through some of your core fat, it isn’t for everyone and that’s why weight or strength training is an alternative. Our muscles burn more calories than our fat does, so by increasing the amount of muscle in our bodies we can not only tone up but burn more fat. The increase in lean muscle leads to a decrease in fat, which also boosts your metabolism. Some great examples of weight or strength training include weightlifting, swimming, exercises using body strength such as push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and much more, plus it’s key to note that strength or weight training doesn’t mean you’ll bulk up, it can simply be a method of building lean muscle.

HIIT Workouts

A good balance between cardio and strength or weight training can be High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT for short). HIIT routines involve exercise routines that use a number of short burst exercises along with little recovery time, for example, 30 seconds of burpees, before 30 seconds of rest, and 30 seconds of more burpees, etc. These routines are a fantastic way to work your entire body, including your core area, helping you burn fat as you go as you push yourself further. The best part about HIIT workouts is that you can combine any exercises you like into them to suit you and they are an amazing way to pack your workouts into a busy schedule, with the ability to increase the difficulty as your fitness levels improve.

Abdominal Work

While there is no specific way to target certain areas to lose fat, there are of course ways to work specific muscles such as your abdominals. Performing an ab workout might not be the answer to simply burning core fat, but as mentioned above any form of fat burning exercise is useful for your entire body and if you’re focussing on your core, you’re also strengthening your abdominals as well as generating more ab lean muscle. Exercises such as a plank, crunches, Russian twist, mountain climbers and more are excellent ways to improve your ab muscles, with an increase in tempo or intensity also burning fat. Although they may not be a solution to cutting that core fat by themselves, they can be perfect as part of an overall fitness routine to help with that goal.

Creating the Ideal Core Fat Burning Routine

So, there you have it our top nutritional and exercise tips on losing that unwanted fat around your core area. While some claim to have the secret to the all in one solution to losing this fat in one exercise or dietary change, the simple fact is that a combination of the above is the most effective way to lose the fat around your core. Balancing your diet and workout routine to fit your schedule is tough but is the best way to see results in terms of building lean muscle as well as trimming fat in your core. By making these subtle changes, and putting in the hard work, you can reach your goal of reducing core fat but also increasing fitness levels which will decrease your chances of picking up unwanted health issues.  

How Aura Leisure Can Help

At Aura Leisure, we pride ourselves on helping people reach their fitness goals no matter their experience in the gym or pool. Our Fit for Life personalised fitness programme is ideal for beginners, while our Lean3 fitness programme is perfect for those more advanced, with both being great for losing core fat. If you’re stuck for time or ideas on how to lose those unwanted kilos then our fitness classes could be exactly what you need with the likes of Aura Spin, Aura HIIT Strength, Aura Core and more being ideal for you. Even better still our members get access to all our gym, fitness programmes, swimming pools, and fitness classes have to offer at no extra cost as well as much more.