Targeting Belly Fat Is... Possible?! (NEW Study), by Jeremy Ethier on YouTube. 24 min 4 s.
- Video length
- 24 min 4 s
- Time to do it
- 8 weeks
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Log everything you eat for a week with an app and a food scale. This gives you your current daily calorie number, which is your starting point.
Set a small daily deficit, roughly 300 to 500 calories below maintenance, and hold it steady for the full 8 weeks.
Build each meal around protein: lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy or beans. Protein helps you keep muscle while you lose fat.
Strength train 3 or 4 days a week. Beginners can run 3 full-body sessions; more experienced lifters can use a 4-day upper/lower split.
Drop the spot reduction routine. In the test, 25 minutes of cardio plus ab work every other day did not pull fat from the belly.
If you want bigger, more defined abs, add weighted crunches for the upper abs and reverse crunches for the lower abs every other day.
Check weight, waist measurement and photos once a week. Photos alone mislead because lighting and posing change how you look.
Reassess after 30 days. If weight and waist have not moved, trim another 100 to 200 calories or add daily steps.
Tips and common mistakes
Cardio is not the enemy, but it can leave you hungrier or less active later in the day, so watch your intake on cardio days.
Without direct ab work, trained abs can shrink back within weeks, so keep some ab training if ab size matters to you.
Losing weight fast without lifting and protein often costs muscle, so keep both in place.
Start light and add weight slowly to protect your joints and lower back.
Questions
Can crunches target belly fat?
No. In the 60-day MRI test, ab training plus cardio grew the abs but did not remove more belly fat than ordinary fat loss. Fat comes off all over your body.
How long until I see belly fat loss?
Give it 4 to 8 weeks of consistent calorie tracking and lifting. In the second phase of the experiment, belly fat dropped sharply over roughly 30 days.
Do I need cardio to lose belly fat?
Not necessarily. Diet and strength training drove the results in phase two. Cardio still helps your heart and general health, so add it if you enjoy it.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
