Ways to get your belly beach ready

3 things you need to do: cardio, crunches and cutting calories

Admit it. Feeling self-conscious about the size of your stomach, you've been tempted to look into one of the countless products out there touting washboard abs in 30 seconds or less. But instead of buying into a quick fix this year, why not follow some of the experts' advice for kicking that spare tire for good?  Infomercials may tell you otherwise, but most research has shown it isn't possible to spot reduce. Exercises like crunches may tone your abdominal muscles, but that doesn't mean you will necessarily lose a lot of fat there.  Any exercise above and beyond doing none will help you burn fat and lose weight, but not from that one spot but from all over.

The good news

Fear not. You're probably already doing the kinds of exercises that will lead to great abs — just maybe not the right amounts. If you've got some weight to lose, like 5 kg or more, your primary focus should be aerobic exercise, such as running, biking and swimming, which will help lower your total body fat - aim for 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise three to five days a week. Twice a week incorporate anaerobic exercise, such as weight lifting, using eight to 10 different exercises targeting large muscles. Overall, your workout should be 75 percent aerobic and 25 percent anaerobic.  If your stomach is hanging over your belt, you're not going to firm that with abdominal exercises only, but you need to lose weight at the same time. 

Center of attention

Once you're ready to focus on ab exercises, you've got a wide range of choices.  But the best at-home abdominal exercises in terms of getting definite results are the bicycle maneuver, where you perform a crunch by touching your knees to your opposite elbows, and the exercise-ball crunch, in which you lie back on the ball, thighs and torso parallel with the floor, and raise your torso no more than 45 degrees as you exhale. Whatever exercises you choose, you should start out doing 8 to 12 repetitions each for one to three sets; or generally for those 50 and older, 10 to 15 reps at a lower resistance. Concentrate on your form to prevent back injuries, rather than speeding through them.

Food facts

When it comes to your diet, don't skip meals. It may make your stomach feel and look flat, but it will probably make you feel lousy and lead to your sitting on the couch in front of the TV instead of spending time on the elliptical machine.  Reduce your daily caloric intake, and limit your starches at night, when you need less fuel.  Cut back on sugar and soda. While there are lots of different diets to chose from today, from low carb to low fat, in the end which one you choose may be less important than whether you stick with it.

Healthy incentive

If having others see you in a bathing suit this summer isn't motivation enough, you should consider the impact of trimming your trunk can have on your health.  Most research show that larger waist sizes are associated with increased risks of heart attack, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. That's likely due to the presence of visceral fat, the fat that surrounds organs in the gut and can't easily be surgically removed. In other words, liposuction won't cut it!
As we age, our visceral fat tends to increase. Men start off with more visceral fat, but for women between the ages of 25 and 65 this type of fat triples, says Gary Hunter, professor in the department of human studies and nutrition science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. To avoid the age-related shift, prevent weight gain and maintain lean tissue, the answer is resistance and aerobic training. "The magic bullet really is exercise," Hunter says.