Make These 3 Changes to Your Strength-Training Routine and Start Losing Belly Fat

While doing calorie-burning cardio is essential for losing weight, if you want to lose weight faster and reveal that six-pack under your pudgy pooch, you must incorporate strength training. Using weights instead of straight-up bodyweight moves will get you results in less time, especially if you follow these three tips.

To burn more fat, go for heavier weights. Don't worry — you won't bulk up unless you lift superheavy weights and train for hours a day. What will happen is you'll burn more calories, which will help you burn more overall body fat, which means bye-bye belly fat. Use heavy dumbbells like 15- or 20-pounders, or use a barbell with plates. Lifting heavy weight with fewer reps is one way to slim your tummy quicker.

If you've always been a dumbbell user or a bodyweight moves kind of person, it's time to embrace kettlebells, medicine balls, and battle ropes. Using these types of equipment allows you to combine cardio with strength training, so you're burning an amazing number of calories while building calorie-burning muscles. Kettlebell swings, dynamic ball slams, and wall balls are three basic yet effective moves that will not only leave your muscles burning, but will also get your heart rate racing as fast as if you were doing high-intensity intervals.

Why just work one part of your body? Get more out of your gym time by doing multitasking strength-training moves. Squat or lunge while holding weights, hold your body in plank while doing rows, or do the burpee variation with weights called man makers. These are harder, which means you'll probably want to do fewer reps, but man, they work!