Can I Flatten My Stomach in Two Weeks?

Keeping your tummy toned can be challenging, especially if you have an apple shape. Besides its less-than-appealing appearance, a protruding belly can be a warning sign of poor health. Abdominal fat is primarily visceral fat, which increases your risk of conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Dietary changes and exercise can flatten your stomach, but realistically, if you have excess abdominal fat, exercise can make your stomach flatter in two weeks, but not washboard flat.


Do More Cardio

It doesn’t matter how many crunches you do -- spot-training is no substitute for cardio or aerobic exercise when it comes to blasting fat from your belly. Aerobic exercise includes any movement that increases your heart rate for an extended period, such as walking, running, cycling, rollerblading or swimming. Choose a cardio activity you enjoy, and do it for 30 and 60 minutes five days a week. If you want quicker results, increase your exercise pace or duration. If you’re not used to exercising, it’s safer to increase your duration rather than pace -- walking briskly for 60 minutes instead of 30, rather than suddenly switching from 30 minutes of walking to running for the same amount of time.

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Strength Train Regularly

Resistance exercises, such as weightlifting or squats, also help to trim waistlines, even in older women who have a harder time keeping belly fat at bay. A 2003 study conducted by the University of Arizona's physiology department concluded that strength training can significantly impact intra-abdominal fat in postmenopausal women, even when there are no changes in body weight. Muscle burns more calories than body fat, so build muscles through strength training three to four days a week to help flatten your stomach in the next two weeks.

Do Yoga

Abdominal fat is closely linked to high levels of stress. As stress increases, the adrenal glands pump more cortisol into your body. Cortisol encourages your abdomen to store more fat than it normally would, according to Alka Kanaya, an internist at the University of California at San Francisco. By reducing stress, less fat gets stored in your body, giving you a better chance of diminishing fat from your belly within two weeks. Practice yoga for 15 to 20 minutes each day. If you’re not used to this mind-body therapy, sign up for a beginner class at your local YMCA or gym, or get a beginner's yoga DVD from your local library.

Crunches on an Exercise Ball

If you can do only one spot-training workout to tone your abdominal muscles in the next two weeks, make it a set of exercise ball crunches. These exercises ranked highest among abdominal exercises done on home exercise equipment in a 2001 study conducted by the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University and commissioned by the American Council on Exercise. They also came in third overall among gym and home abdominal exercises. Although exercise crunches generate less activity in the obliques and upper and lower abdominal muscles than the bicycle maneuver, which came in first overall in the study, they use less hip flexor action, which makes them even more effective. Do two to three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions every other day over the next two weeks.

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