Five Essential Rules to Get a Flat Belly

If you want to get a flat belly, there are certain tips that you shouldn't overlook. In this article, we'll tell you everything that you need to know to achieve this longed-for goal.
Five Essential Rules to Get a Flat Belly

Last update: 10 September, 2019

Many people go to the gym because they want to lose weight. As you already know, this isn’t always easy. There are many factors that can compromise the achievement of this goal. In any case, in this article, we’ll go over some essential rules to get a flat belly. Find out what they are in the following paragraphs!

Achieving a flat belly is certainly possible, especially if you work out and follow a balanced diet. However, the truth is that if you want to get long term results, you’ll need to stick to a well-rounded plan and include some healthy habits in your daily life.

Effective workouts are essential, but daily activities such as getting enough rest or drinking a lot of water also play an important role in the number of calories that you burn each day. Getting all of this under control will help you achieve the flat belly you want.

As usual, you must accept your genetic particularities and understand that it may be harder for some people to achieve this goal. Therefore, you must establish reasonable expectations and base them on the biology of your body.

Five essential rules to get a flat belly

On top of what we mentioned previously, there are some essential rules that can help you get a flat belly. In the following list, we’ll tell you everything you need to know. Take notes!

1. Balanced diet

Eating a balanced diet is the first step to getting a flat belly. Among other things, there are certain diet changes you need to make, such as avoiding junk food and carbonated drinks and including more fruits and vegetables in your diet.

In the same way, don’t forget that breakfast is a vital element in any diet; you should never skip the first meal of the day. Eat breakfast as soon as you wake up and make sure it contains all the essential nutrients that your body needs.

On the contrary, the amount of food you eat at dinner should be as light as possible. This is because dinner takes place in the evening when your body doesn’t have enough time to digest your meals.

Avocado toast is an example of a healthy breakfast to get a flat belly

2. Exercise

As you can imagine, physical exercise is one of the keys to get a flat belly. Therefore, it’s recommendable to do cardiovascular exercises that help you sweat and make you move every muscle in your body.

For example, one of the most effective ways to lose weight is with high-intensity interval training. This type of training (also known as HIIT) will help you burn more calories throughout the day since it maximizes oxygen consumption after working out.

3. Weight lifting

Weight lifting is one of the best ways to lose weight. The reason behind this is it helps to build and shape the muscles of your body and improve the general effectiveness of your training sessions. It also allows you to maintain a healthy metabolism.

In the gym, focus on movements and exercises that’ll work on the bigger muscles groups. It’s also better if you try to target multiple muscles instead of doing isolation work. These exercises burn more calories, which help to burn more body fat to get a flat belly.

4. Drink a lot of water

On the other hand, you need to stay hydrated to feel active and full of energy during your training sessions. When you drink water, you’re helping your body to maintain the right balance of liquids which, in turn, help you to feel full. As a consequence, you’ll eat less. It’s recommended to avoid sports drinks that are very high in calories. Try to avoid other sugary drinks as well.

A woman drinking water after her workout to get a flat belly

5. Sleep more and rest well to get a flat belly

In the last instance, keep in mind that a lack of sleep and high levels of stress can increase your cortisol levels, a hormone that appears during stressful situations.

Sleeping too little can also affect your thyroid, a stimulating hormone that controls your metabolism, this will, in turn, cause you to gain weight. Therefore, the quality of your sleep should be higher if you want to get a flat belly. A good night’s sleep will also help to prevent the feeling of being bloated that’s associated with a lack of rest.

As you learned in this article, you need to follow some essential rules to get a flat belly. If your goal is to lose weight, we’re convinced that you’ll keep all of these tips in mind to achieve your goal. Ideally, you should try to incorporate all of these tips in your daily routine as much as possible. We’re sure you won’t regret it!


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


    • Williams, J. G. (1968). Nutrition in sport. Practitioner, 201(202), 324–329.
    • Fullagar, H. H. K., Duffield, R., Skorski, S., Coutts, A. J., Julian, R., & Meyer, T. (2015, November 1). Sleep and recovery in team sport: Current sleep-related issues facing professional team-sport athletes. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. Human Kinetics Publishers Inc. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2014-0565

This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.