The Muffin Top Body Crisis 

Your life is hectic, you’ve slacked a bit on your diet and exercise, and someone says it looks like you’re developing a muffin top body. Not knowing what they’re talking about, you head to your favorite search engine and type, what is a muffin top body? When you get your answer, you’re mortified…”am I really starting to look like that?” It’s like the Seinfield episode where they only sell the muffin tops because they’re the softest, biggest, and most round; except, on your body it’s not desirable at all. No one wants to walk around looking like a human pastry, soft, jiggly, with an epic potbelly. So how did we get here and how do we fix it? Let’s explore what a muffin top body is, and what steps we can take to get rid of those fluffy roll of pudges hanging over your waistband.

 

How Did Your Muffin Top Body Develop?

There are many contributing factors to you looking like your upper body said, “Let’s party” but your lower body wasn’t’ invited. One of the first culprits is simple, too many calories in and not enough being burned. When you’re consuming refined carbs like white breads and pasta, sugary snacks and drinks, and high-fat processed foods, you’ll inevitably start to see that jiggly butt, epic potbelly hanging, and those inner thigh fat pockets.

A second major factor to those love handles, in step with that poor diet, is maintaining a sedentary lifestyle. When you sit too much, and move too little, it leads to fat accumulating around the waist and lower back.  Furthermore, when you workout less, it also tends to lead to poor sleep because you’re not pushing your body to be tired. Lack of sleep throws off the hormones in your body (ghrelin and leptin) that regulate appetite, which means you have more cravings and snack more often.

We’ve established your diet isn’t great, you’re not working out, and you’re losing sleep, what’s next? If these things are happening, you’re probably experiencing more stress which increases cortisol and increases abdominal fat storage. You know what else we do when we’re stressed out? We look for something to take off the edge, something to ease the burden, and for many adults, that’s alcohol. Alcohol adds empty calories and really disrupts fat metabolism. It’s why beer drinkers get what we call Beer Belly.

Don’t worry though, there are solutions to fighting your pudges. As you’ve read above, the contributing factors are correctable, and it doesn’t mean you have to give up carbs and joy forever!

 

Muffin Top Battle Plan: From Pudges to Tight Waistline

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one, and we’re here to help you create a plan. A weekly combination of the workouts below will have the muffin top shrinking in no time.

 

Cardio

Want to see your body jiggle less? First, you’re going to have to jiggle more. It’s time to get that body moving! While everyone dreads cardio, the beauty of it is that there’s so many variations you can do where nothing will ever get boring or mundane. You can even do cardio in front of screen if you’re worried about missing your favorite TV show or sporting event. There are limitless in-home options like a stationary bike, treadmill, Peloton, reformer, etc. Our advice though, is to get out of the house and get away from the excuses that got us here to start. There are so many free, easy options around your home.  Go find a big staircase or hill(s) in your neighborhood and start doing some butt-burning sprints.  If you don’t have the self-discipline, or need a push, there are many gyms that offer HIIT classes or other cardio options that give you someone to hold you accountable.

 

Example Cardio Workout:

3 Rounds of HIIT Training with No Equipment Needed. Each exercise 40 seconds, 20 second break, and only 1 minute in between each of the 3 rounds.

 

Round 1: Full Body Burn

1. Jumping Jacks
2. High Knees
3. Bodyweight Squats
4. Mountain Climbers
5. Plank Shoulder Taps

Round 2: Core

1. Bicycle Crunches
2. Russian Twists (No weight)
3. Flutter Kicks
4. Leg Raises
5. Forearm Plank

 

Round 3: Fat Furnace for those Belly Pudges

1. 1.Burpees
2. 2.Skater Lunges
3. 3.Jump Squats
4. 4.Cross-body mountain climbers
5. In-place sprints

 

While this may seem daunting, if you keep to the time schedule, that will only take you 18 minutes

 

Strength Training

Say bye bye to your inner thing fat pockets and epic potbelly! Squats, lunges, and deadlifts are the holy trinity of lifting that fat ass and melting your fat away. We’re not trying to embarrass you, but if you’ve let yourself go this far, a strong push is needed to get you out of the rut. Lifting weights is one of the best ways to burn fat. When you add strength training to your workouts, the increased muscle mass means a higher metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat, even when you’re at rest.  Furthermore, you get what’s called the Afterburn Effect (EPOC: Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). When you lift weights, you’re essentially causing small muscle tears that your body must repair. During this recovery process, your body burns calories for up to 48hrs. Another huge benefit is that strength training helps your body process carbs more efficiently meaning you’re storing less fat, especially that belly fat.

Below is a sample workout for you to get started. Remember, pick weights you’re comfortable lifting without hurting yourself, this is about building up a routine and consistency

 

Lower Body Lifting (3 sets of each, 10-12 reps per set)

1. Goblin Squats
2. Romanian Deadlifts (dumbbells or Kettlebell)
3. Walking Lunges
4. Glute Bridges

 

We start with the lower body because it’s a large muscle group which means higher calorie burn and higher fat loss

 

Upper Body Burn (3 sets of each, 10-12 reps per set)

1. Push-ups/ Dumbbell Chest Press (depends on if you have weights or not)
2. Bent-over Rows
3. Overhead Should Press
4. Lat PullDown

 

Building lean muscle in your upper body will help keep your metabolism high and your posture strong

 

Abs Abs Abs

Will 1,000 crunches a day suddenly cure that muffin top body? Nope! Core workouts, however, will tighten the belly area, making it a lot harder for that epic potbelly to make appearances.

 

Core Exercises to rid yourself of the muffin top body:

1. Russian Twists
2. Leg Raises
3. Mountain Climbers
4. Plank Hold
5. Bicycle Crunches
6. Side Plank Hip dips

 

I like to go until exertion for each of these exercises, really trying to maximize the burn on your core.

 

Diet

You had to know this one was coming! Yes, it’s predictable but often still overlooked. Frankly put, you can’t crunch your way out of cookie and ice cream binge. You need to lower refined sugars, ultra-processed junk food, and salty snacks that bloat your pudges. Swap bagels and muffins for protein shakes. It’s also time to put down the beer and pick up the water. You’re consuming way too many calories in liquid form, not to mention the extra carbs, and it’s hurting all of the progress you made elsewhere. Now’s the time to make sure the caloric intake is less than the caloric burn you’re working so hard for.

I’m not going to give you a sample diet, find what works best for you, however, below are a few tips to live by.

 

A few Epic Potbelly Busting Tips:

1. Protein at every meal
2. Limit added sugar and refined carbs
3. Stay Hydrated
4. Avoid Alcohol and Soda
5. Stick to a calorie deficit

 

Love it, Laugh at it, or Light those Pudges on Fire

That muffin top body isn’t the end of the world, but it does say a lot about you and your choices. You can wear it like a badge of honor, showing everyone you enjoy life’s little joys like wine, pizza, and weekends where “gym” is a word that’s taboo. If you don’t like what you’re seeing though, you now have the tools to reclaim that waistline. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, combining sweat, discipline, and maybe some tears. We believe you can do it, do you believe in yourself? You weren’t meant to have a muffin top body, and you know it, so let’s put in the work to avoid being part of the joke. Time to stop being the muffin, become that healthy snack that everyone wants to enjoy.