When many people think of losing weight, one of the first things that comes to mind is getting a totally toned and taut tummy. After all, who doesn't want to be able to slip into a pair of jeans without having to deal with a muffin top? Plus, losing belly fat is a surefire way to improve your health: Research links a larger waist size to heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers. That said, we hate to break it to you, but doing hundreds of crunches every day isn't the best way to lose belly fat. In fact, exercises that promote spot reduction just don't exist.

“Spot reduction isn’t a viable approach to losing belly fat," explains fitness trainer and nutrition expert Corey Phelps, creator of the Cultivate by Corey Fitness Program. "But there are some great core-focused exercises that will torch fat all over the body, resulting in a strong and more chiseled core.”

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Celebrity trainer and nutrition expert Jillian Michaels also says that doing a variety of exercises that combine cardio, strength, and core work will ultimately help you reduce body fat. “I'm a big fan of exercises that are core-focused, but work multiple muscle groups simultaneously with a HIIT component for added calorie burn,” she says check supplement

Here are the best exercises and workouts to lose belly fat, according to personal trainers. Need more workout inspiration? Pick up the Tone Up in 15 workout DVD, which is filled with 15-minute total-body workouts that you can do at home.

1

Burpees

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This exercise works your core, as well as your chest, shoulders, lats, triceps and quads, explains Michaels. Since burpees involve explosive plyometric movement, they'll get your heart pumping too.

How to do burpees: Stand with your feet shoulder-distance apart and send your hips back as you lower your body toward the ground in a low squat. Then, place your hands right outside of your feet and hop your feet back, allowing your chest to touch the floor. Push your hands against the floor to lift your body up into a plank and then jump your feet just outside of your hands. With your weight in your heels, jump explosively into the air with your arms overhead.

2

Mountain Climbers

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Like burpees, Michaels is a fan of this moving plank exercise because it works your core, in addition to a slew of other body muscles.

How to do mountain climbers: Get into a high-plank position with your wrists directly under your shoulders. Keep your core tight, drawing your belly button in toward your spine. Drive your right knee toward your chest and then bring it back to plank. Then, drive your left knee toward your chest and bring it back. Continue to alternate sides.

3

Turkish Get-Up

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The Turkish-getup is a 200-year-old total-body exercise that involves using a kettlebell, and it's a favorite of celebrity trainer Ramona Braganza. While it is slightly complicated, she says that the total-body conditioning move is seriously effective for blasting belly fat.

How to do a Turkish get-up: Holding one kettlebell by the handle with both hands, lie on your side in a fetal position. Roll onto your back and press the kettlebell up toward the ceiling with both hands until the weight is stable on one loaded side. Release your free arm and free leg to a 45-degree angle with your palm facing down. Slide the heel of the loaded side closer to your butt to firmly grip the floor.

Pushing through the foot on the floor, punch the kettlebell up with the loaded arm and roll onto your free forearm. Don't shrug your shoulder toward your ear with the supporting side. Be sure to keep your chest wide open. Straighten the elbow on the ground and lift yourself up to a seated position. Weave your front leg through to the back. To protect your knees, your shin on the back leg should be perpendicular to your shin on the front leg.

Perfectly align your arms: wrist over elbow, shoulder over elbow over wrist. Raise your torso to make your upper body erect. Swivel your back knee so that your back shin is parallel with your front shin. Get a grip on the floor with your back toes, then take a deep breath, and stand up.

4

Medicine Ball Burpees

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Phelps suggests adding a medicine ball to your burpee to increase the intensity of the exercise and boost your metabolism—all while building a sleek set of six-pack abs.

How to do medicine ball burpees: Standing with your feet shoulder-distance apart, hold a medicine ball with both hands. Extend the ball up overhead, then slam the ball down on the ground as hard as you can, hinging over and sitting your butt back as you slam. As you hinge over, bend your knees. Place your hands on the ground outside of your feet and jump back into a high-plank position. Keep your body in a straight line. Then, jump your feet back towards the outsides of your hands so that you are squatting. Pick up the ball and press it overhead, extending your body and standing tall.

5

Sprawls

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The sprawl is basically a burpee on steroids—a full body exercise that works as many muscles as possible and burns calories while shaping and toning upper- and lower-body, especially your abs. “It takes the traditional burpee to the next level by having you touch your chest to the ground, then push-up to plank as you continue the move,” explains Braganza.

How to do a sprawl: Standing with your feet shoulder-distance apart, squat down and place your hands on the ground. Jump your feet back to a plank and lower your body to touch the ground. Push yourself up to a plank and then jump your feet outside of your hands into a squat. Stand back up. That’s one rep. “If you want to burn even more calories, add a jump between each sprawl,” Braganza adds.

6

Side-to-Side Medicine Ball Slams

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“Medicine ball slams are a dynamic, explosive, and highly metabolic exercise that does not simply target one muscle group,” explains Chris DiVecchio, trainer and founder of Premier Body & Mind. On the surface, the obliques, hamstrings, quads, biceps, and shoulders are the primary movers of this exercise. “But as time goes on and fatigue sets in, nearly every other muscle in the body, in one way or another, may become involved as a secondary mover which makes this a total gut blaster,” he adds. Doing side-to-side ball slams versus overhead slams incorporates more oblique ab work.

How to do lateral medicine ball slams: Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart with the medicine ball on one side. Pick up the ball and simply rotate your body as you slam the ball a few inches away from your pinky toe. Make sure to pivot your feet and bend the back knee as you come into a split squat position to catch the ball on one bounce. Alternate sides. Make sure you tighten your core as you bring the ball overhead and to the side.