Weight loss: ‘Extreme toning’ – how to burn 360 calories and lose belly fat this New Year

Diet plans may work for some people, but when it comes to losing weight, opting for a balanced, healthy diet comes widely recommended. Upping the amount of exercise you do can also help dieters to slim too – with getting your body moving often resulting in countless benefits. As 2019 gets underway, plenty of Britons are heading to their local gyms in order to kickstart their New Year’s Resolutions. So, what exercises should you be doing in order to get slim?

From pounding the treadmill to taking a plunge in the swimming pool, when it comes to exercise, there’s plenty of choice.

There’s no doubt that some activities will burn more calories and work different parts of your body in different ways.

But, when it comes to building your fitness routine, it comes down to what suits you – in terms of fitness and in taste.

Taking up a new skill in January is something many people look to do, too.

And, with Harvard Medical School stating that a 30 minute session of ballet can burn 180 calories, it seems that this style of dance could be a good choice.

What’s more, former professional ballet dancer, Kirsten McCarron, has told Express.co.uk why the sport is so beneficial.

The ballet teacher and co-founder of the brand My Ballet Box said: “The allegro section of class (jumps) offers an elegant HIIT style workout.”

According to Kirsten, it’s this “intense, aerobic” section of a ballet class which can aid weight loss.

But that’s not all, as another promising aspect of ballet is the “extreme toning” of the dancer’s entire body.

“The other main benefit of ballet is the extreme toning of the whole body that it offers due to the constant maintaining of posture and engaging of the core,” Kirsten said.

A ballet class will also work all of the big muscle groups at once during the class, and Kirsten explained that this offers a fat burning and toning effect too.

However, it’s important to remember that it’s not possible to choose where you lose the fat from first.

In order to speed up the change in your waistline and stomach, Kirsten recommends engaging your core muscles (which means pulling your belly button into your spine) after a standard exercise class has finished.

Kirsten added that as ballet targets the whole body simultaneously, your energy burn can be significantly increased – in comparison to other kinds of work outs.

With slimmers following a healthy diet as well, the expert insisted: “By doing ballet three times a week you will be sure to notice a change in your weight!”

READ MORE: Weight loss: The ‘cheap and easy’ food swap which could ‘revolutionise’ how you eat