【Home Training】Direct tips from a personal trainer on conquering stubborn belly fat in 3 STEPS

When you think "I want to lose weight" or "I want to shape my body," it's a chance to change! We asked the trainers at a personal gym for methods to do strength training at home. How can we effectively tighten areas that are hard to lose weight?

Which body parts are hard to lose weight from?

What I was told came from Rikiya Ito, a trainer at the personal training gym "WAPLE" in Komae. According to Mr. Ito, who has seen many athletes and trainees throughout his experience, he feels that the areas where fat is hard to shed and lose weight are the "stomach," "butt," and "upper arms."

Ito: "Around the stomach, there are two types of fat – 'subcutaneous fat' that accumulates between the skin and muscles, and 'visceral fat' that accumulates around the organs, making it very difficult to tighten." <

"The butt is an area where fat is easily stored due to hormonal balance. Therefore, it takes time to lose it."

"The upper arms have limited joint movements of 'bending and extending,' so there is less daily activity to move them. The muscle mass can also decrease easily, and I feel that it's hard to reduce the fat in the upper arms."

This time, I learned about "effective methods to tighten the stomach area."

How to effectively tighten the abdomen?

The abdomen has various types of fat. In addition to the well-known "visceral fat" and "subcutaneous fat," there is also "ectopic fat (such as liver fat)" that accumulates in places where fat typically should not accumulate, such as the liver, pancreas, and muscles, as the fat tissue in the organs or under the skin becomes unable to hold more fat.

The order in which these fats are lost is said to be, "ectopic fat → visceral fat → subcutaneous fat." Therefore, the reality is that no matter how hard you try to reduce subcutaneous fat, it doesn’t decrease immediately.

So, how can you efficiently tighten your abdomen?
Mr. Ito taught me that the key points are the following three.

STEP1: Consume calories equivalent to your basal metabolic rate

Ito: "The first thing to be aware of is the guideline for daily calorie intake. It's a good idea to align your energy intake with your basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate refers to the amount of energy consumed even when you're not doing anything. If you consume below this level, your muscles will decrease and your metabolism will drop, making it harder to lose weight."

"For instance, if a person's basal metabolic rate is 1400 kcal, it would be good to aim for a daily intake of about 1400 kcal. Ideally, on top of that, you'd add calorie expenditure from strength training and aerobic exercise."

Excessive dietary restrictions can lead to fatigue and a decrease in physical strength. "Knowing your own basal metabolic rate and using it as a guideline" seems to be the first step toward losing fat healthily.

STEP2: Engage in aerobic exercise for 20 minutes to 1 hour

By ensuring you intake energy equivalent to your basal metabolic rate, and increasing calorie expenditure through aerobic exercise, you can burn fat while maintaining muscle mass.

Ito: "I recommend walking for about 20 to 60 minutes before breakfast. This makes it easier for the fat in your body to be used as energy. The intensity of the exercise should be at a level where you can have a pleasant conversation with someone nearby while walking briskly. In terms of heart rate, it's about 110 to 120."

"Generally, it is said that aerobic exercise lasting more than 20 minutes increases fat-burning effects. However, it’s not the case that you don't burn any fat at all until the 20-minute mark. For those who feel, ‘continuing for more than 20 minutes is a bit much,’ it’s okay to accumulate short episodes of exercise. It seems that as long as the total exceeds 20 minutes, it will contribute to fat burning."

He also mentioned that engaging in excessive long-duration aerobic exercise could lead to muscle loss, so it’s fine not to push yourself too hard.

STEP3: The ideal is to do abdominal exercises after squats

Strength training is essential for increasing your basal metabolism and creating a body that burns fat easily. According to Mr. Ito, there is a good exercise to do before abdominal exercises.

Ito: "I recommend doing squats before abdominal exercises. This boosts your overall metabolism and makes it easier to burn abdominal fat."

Furthermore, I was also taught the correct way to do abdominal exercises.

The correct way to do abdominal exercises

1. Lie on your back, bend your knees, and keep your feet hip-width apart. Interlace your hands behind your head.

Be careful not to let your lower back lift off the floor during this.

2. Take a deep breath and exhale. With your breath fully expelled, raise your upper body as if you are looking into your belly button. It's okay if you can raise it just enough for your shoulder blades to lift off the floor.

Doing sit-ups with your feet on the floor places relatively less strain on the lower abdomen, making it an easy method for beginners to tackle.

If you want to level up further, try using a chair (or a wall) and challenge yourself with your feet off the floor.

The method is the same; exhale fully and raise your upper body until your shoulder blades come off the ground. Be careful not to lift any more than that.

The season of many events has arrived; let's aim for a cool body.

In this upcoming season with many events, there may still be times to wear lighter clothing, so you want to enjoy your favorite outfits. Let's steadily continue our self-discipline and strive for the ideal cool body.

Personal Trainer Rikiya Ito

After graduating from a specialized sports school, worked at a major personal gym "24/7 Workout" for 7 years. Involved in the launch of new stores and achieved the number one customer retention rate in the country. After that, served as the general manager overseeing 5 stores, focusing on team development and operations, and currently the manager of WAPLE Komae store. 4th place in the 2021 Fitness Star Tokyo competition, 2nd place in the 2024 SSA Tokyo Sports Model competition.

Personal Training Gym "WAPLE" Komae Store
Location: 1-5-14 Higashiizumi, Komae City, Tokyo
Business Hours: 9:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Closed: None
https://waple.jp/

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