The best exercise to lose belly fat works your abs and not only helps you lose weight but also helps you protect your spine and have better health overall.

The Bicycle exercise is the best move to target the ‘six pack’ and the waist, according to a study done by the American Council on Exercise. To do this exercise correctly:
1. Lie face up on the floor and lace your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck.
3. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.
4. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.
5. Continue alternating sides in a ‘pedaling’ motion for 12-16 reps.

The exercise ball is an excellent tool to strengthen the abs and for working the ‘six pack’.To do it right:
1. Lie face-up with the ball resting under your mid/lower back.
2. Cross your arms over the chest or place them behind your head.
3. Contract your abs to lift your torso off the ball, pulling the bottom of your ribcage down toward your hips.
4. As you curl up, keep the ball stable (i.e., you shouldn’t roll).
5. Lower back down, getting a stretch in the abs, and repeat for 12-16 reps.

The vertical leg crunch is another effective move to lose belly fat especially for the ‘six pack’ area and the obliques. To do it correctly:
1. Lie face up on the floor and extend the legs straight up with knees crossed.
2. Contract the abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor, as though reaching your chest towards your feet.
3. Keep the legs in a fixed position and imagine bringing your belly button towards your spine at the top of the movement.
4. Lower and repeat for 12-16 reps.

The plank exercise is a great way to build endurance in the abs and back, as well as stabilizer muscles. To do it right:
1. Lie face down on mat resting on the forearms, palms flat on the floor.
2. Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows.
3. Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels.
4. Tilt your pelvis and contract your abdominal to prevent your rear end from sticking up in the air.
5. Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 reps.

Some studies have found that breaking up cardiovascular exercise into 10 minute blocks instead of the more traditional 30 minutes, 45 minutes or even 1 hour can have more benefit. Utilizing 10 minute blocks of cardiovascular exercise at a moderate pace has shown to burn more fat than the same period of time within a 30 minute block of cardiovascular exercise. The key seems to be taking breaks between the periods of cardiovascular exercise. The minimum break between 10 minute blocks of cardiovascular exercise seems to be 20 minutes. One should still strive to get at least 30 minutes of total cardiovascular exercise in at a minimum on 3 or more days per week. It should be noted that the total amount of time spent in cardiovascular exercise seems to burn the same number of calories the difference seems to be in the amount of actual fat burned.

The best forms of cardiovascular exercise seem to be walking, jogging, running, biking both stationary and traditional, utilizing an elliptical machine, utilizing a rowing machine, utilizing a stair stepper machine, jumping rope, dancing both traditional and dance for exercise classes, and other forms of aerobic style classes. Basically cardiovascular exercise is anything that you can do for at least 10 minutes straight at a moderate pace that gets your heart rate up, the blood flowing, and cause you to break a sweat.