Flatten Your Belly Workout

Get a tight stomach in just six weeks without doing a single crunch. This may be the easiest workout ever...

This workout combines fat-burning cardio with moves that target your entire core rather than individual muscles, so you'll burn more fat while toning up.

Directions
Do these workout moves three nonconsecutive days a week. Start with the Basic Workout (moves 1-4 at right) to prime your muscles. After three weeks, you'll be ready to graduate to the Advanced Workout (moves 5-8). For maximum fat burning, perform the exercises as a circuit: Do one set of each move in the order shown, resting for 30 seconds between exercises. Then rest for a minute and repeat the circuit from the beginning.

Melt Your Middle
Follow this interval-training program three times a week after your core workout. It'll fire up your metabolism and burn off the fat that's hiding your abs. Intervals are short bursts of maximum-intensity effort—you're doing it right if you can't carry on a conversation—separated by periods of easy-pace recovery. In an Australian study, women who cranked out high-intensity interval training three days a week for 15 weeks dropped significantly more weight than those who exercised for the same period of time at a lower intensity.

For this interval workout, remember to include an easy 3- to 5-minute warm-up and cool-down. You can run, bike, or use the cardio machine of your choice.

Max Effort Easy Pace Reps
Week 1 1 minute 2 minutes 5
Week 2 1 minute 90 seconds 6
Week 3 1 minute 1 minute 8
Week 4 1 minute 1 minute 10
Week 5 75 secs 1 minute 10
Week 6 90 secs 1 minute 10