There’s probably no body part women obsess over more than their midsections. Especially after giving birth, moms tend to store all their fat here and are continuously looking for ways to slim it down. However, this area can be one of the toughest to whip into shape. But incorporating healthy routines such as exercising daily and eating a nutritional diet can make a lot of difference. Here’s what we recommend.

1) Bicycle crunches

An excellent exercise to build core strength and tone the things, the bicycle crunch tops the list of best ab exercises. It targets the rectus abdominis and the obliques in one easy exercise. Remember, faster is not necessarily better here; go slowly to focus on your form and your breathing. Also, it is okay if you don’t touch your elbows to your knees. This could cause strain in your neck, so let it be. Ready now? Six-pack abs – here we come!

2) Russian twists

The Russian twists is one of the best ways to work your obliques. It will give your waist a strong, healthy shape and fight off the “love handles.”

3) Planks

Holding a plank position increases the challenge to your abs. It strengthens your core and also recruits your legs, glutes, back, shoulders, and arms to get in on the action. What does that mean? It can firm you up all over, sculpt your waistline and improve your posture.

4) Squats

While you may believe that squats primarily train the muscles of the thighs, traditional squats are an excellent exercise for working your abs too. Focusing on crunches and abdominal-specific workouts is great, but doing squats will help to strengthen the abs and in fact can do wonders to it.

5)  Knees to elbows

This is another great exercise to tighten up your entire midsection. Start on the floor in push-up position. Begin the exercise by bringing one of your knees up to your elbow on the same side of your body, and squeezing your stomach as you do so. Do a total of 10-20 repetitions.

6) Sit-ups

Doing sit ups strengthens your core and builds your abdominal muscles. This increase the amount of calories that your body burns, which will help you burn fat. Also, building your abdominal muscles will firm up your stomach, helping to create the sculpted look you want.

7) Circular crunch

These crunches work your abs from every direction, and the repeated motion forces you to hold your core tight, giving it that extra burn! The best part: They’re totally doable; with just a little bit of practice, you get a complete ab workout that works amazingly.

8) Downward-facing dog

The role of downward facing dog is vast. Done properly and consistently, the most noticeable benefits include: Stronger hands, wrists, low-back, hamstrings, calves and a sculpted waist! Work your way to a stronger core!

Incorporate these exercises into your workout routine or try this intense 8 minute ab workout by Fitness Blender.

Additional tips to tone that mum tum

Say bye-bye to jelly belly with these additional tips.

• Take fish oil

Fish oil can turn on your fat-burning hormones and switch off your fat storing ones. They’re excellent at targeting the fat around your midsection, which is where most mums tend to store it. 

• Avoid sugar

It has zero nutritional value and converts straight to fat in your body. Most often it is stored right around your stomach and waist. Additionally, avoid the other common culprits like biscuits, sweets, breakfast bars, low-fat yoghurts and soft drinks.

• Cut down on coffee

While it’s hard to eliminate coffee completely, cutting it down can give guaranteed results. Start by trying your best to stick to two cups a day. Excessive caffeine encourages cortisol to be released into your body which in turn leads to fat storage around your waist and stomach. So stick to two cups, at max, or ditch it completely and switch to green teas instead which is full of health-boosting antioxidants.

 
Try these tips and mix it up with loads of exercise everyday. You will soon be on your way to losing that stubborn belly-fat and feeling more confident.