If you’re finding some extra pounds seem to be sitting around your waist and you're interested in shifting your belly fat through exercise, the gym is the perfect place to start. Before we give some examples of the best exercises to lose belly fat, there’s some things we think would be useful for you to know when it comes to achieving fat loss:

• Focus on your whole body: It can be very difficult to target specific areas of your body when it comes to weight loss, but by working out your whole body regularly, you should see a positive difference across the board.
• Make the most of compound movements: Make sure your workout includes compound movements such as squats, deadlifts and bench presses to work multiple muscle groups at one time. This will help to build overall strength and size as you focus on your belly.
• Go beyond cardio: While it may be tempting to stick to cardio to burn calories, you should consider including strength-focused sessions to build and retain muscle mass as you lose weight.
• Watch those calories: In order to lose any kind of weight or fat, your body needs to be in a calorie deficit. Look at your nutrition and diet as well as increasing your time at the gym.
• Consider total lifestyle improvements: Don’t forget other aspects of your life that can affect fat loss beyond exercise and diet. How much sleep you’re getting, how stressed you are, the time of year and so much more can affect your weight loss journey.

So now for the exercises themselves – here are five of our top recommendations for battling belly fat and burning calories.

1. STATIONARY CYCLING

There’s no single best form of cardio for weight loss. It’s generally best to stick to whatever types of exercise you enjoy and will stick to. But stationary cycling is an excellent, relatively low impact way to burn calories as part of a workout plan. Depending on your starting weight, you could expect to burn around 200 – 300 calories in half an hour. Plus you can try out different speeds, difficulty levels and even try for some HIIT cycling. You could even try a Pure Fitness spin class to burn calories in a fun environment.

2. DEADLIFTS

Perfect for working your whole lower body, deadlifts are ideal for targeting your core, back, abs and legs, helping to burn calories and build muscle. Just what you need to help shift belly fat.

Stand holding on to a barbell with weights loaded, or use dumbbells if you’d prefer, keeping your feet shoulder width apart and either your palms facing you (for dumbbells) or the bar in front of you (for a barbell). Hinge at the hips, bend your knees slightly and keep your back straight as you lower the weight to the floor, keeping it close to your body as your drop it towards the floor. Return slowly to starting position, squeezing your glutes as you go.

3. DUMBBELL OVERHEAD LUNGE

Double up the impact of your usual lunges by adding in some overhead dumbbell lifts. As a result, you’ll work all of the muscles in your torso as well as your back and your glutes, meaning you’ll be building strength and boosting your metabolic burn.

Press a pair of light-to-medium dumbbells overhead so the palms of your hands are facing each other. Step forward into a lunge, dropping your back knee until it’s nearly touching the floor. After a pause, bring your back foot in to meet the front and repeat on the other side.

4. MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

An impactful, full body workout that doesn’t rely on gym equipment – mountain climbers will get your pulse high, burning calories and building strength from your legs through your core, your back and shoulders to your arms.

You basically hold a push up position balanced on your hands and toes before bringing your knees up to your chest one by one, alternating as fast as you can. Your body weight builds strength while the movement counts towards your cardio.

5. COMBINATION EXERCISES

Build a workout using a variety of different exercises, with several repetitions to really see benefits. For example, burpees, combined with lunges and mountain climbers could give you a full body, strength building workout, that also burns calories.