There are many exercises to help lose belly fat but you must do them regularly and combine them with a sensible weight loss plan for them to be effective. You don't need to join a gym and pay expensive membership fees in order to lose belly fat.

Many people join their local gym with good intentions especially just after the start of a new year. However after a few months or even weeks of great enthusiasm they start to find excuses not to attend and their membership fee is wasted.

Resistance training is one of the best form of exercise to help lose belly fat. It's great for increasing muscle mass, and the more muscle tissue you have the more calories you need to burn in order to maintain them. Your metabolism will increase and even when you are resting you will still burn calories.

If you are very overweight and haven't done any exercising for a long time you should consult your doctor before attempting to do any resistance training. You don't want to collapse in a heap and have to be carried out of your home on a stretcher!

Walking is a great form of cardio exercise, but in order for it to be effective at burning belly fat you must do very brisk or power walking. This is almost like jogging and gets the heart pumping.

Cycling is a good form of cardio exercise and if done regularly is another one of the best exercises to help lose belly fat. If you don't like the idea of cycling in all weathers and getting wet, then get yourself an exercise bike. You could set it up next to your television and watch your favourite soap while cycling several miles a day and burn off that belly fat!

Many people think of stomach crunches when they think of exercises to help lose belly fat. They don't strain the back as much as sit ups and most people should be able to do them. Lie on the floor and lift your upper body off the ground until you feel your stomach muscles starting to pull.

Don't raise yourself up so much that you strain your head and shoulders. You can get DVDs or videos to show you how to do stomach crunches and this will ensure that you are doing them correctly.

Any exercise you do to try and lose belly fat must be done consistently each day for it to work and you must be patient as it may take a while before you really start to see results. Set aside a time for yourself each day and mark it in your diary.

This will enforce the idea to yourself that you are serious about losing belly fat. Having a vague idea in your mind that you will do some exercises to help lose belly fat each day will soon fade unless you make a definite appointment with yourself.