December 1, 2025

More Answers to the most googled fitness questions

Lessons from a Fit life.

Welcome back for another round of ‘A Trainer answers the most googled fitness questions.’ No standing around. Let’s answer straightaway.

Google: What’s the best exercise to burn belly fat?

There are two as a matter of fact: Not drinking alcohol and not eating junk food.

It ain’t sexy, but it’s the truth. The belief that you can target where your body burns fat is called spot reduction. Spot reduction is not, all things considered, how the body works. Despite an intense desire to find one, no such exercise exists.

If you work your abs you’re not burning belly fat.

If I could invent an exercise that specifically burned belly fat I would charge $100,000 an hour and I would have no shortage of clients. Don’t trust anyone who claims to have this information and charges less.

Google: What are the ten best exercises?

They’re all good. Except hip dips on the TRX. Those suck. Everyone gets hurt doing them.

So if all exercises are good, which ones should you do? There are 7 foundational movements. If you practice these movements you’re training effectively.

The seven foundational movements are: Squat, Hinge, Lunge, Push, Pull, Rotate, Gait. A good fitness program touches all of these bases.

Need help programming?

Click HERE. I know someone who can help.

Google: Does fitness help with mental health?

Yes. Working out improves sleep, mood, organ health, and kills depression and anxiety. Your body was made to move, not sit here and read.

We’re wasting time! Get moving!

Related: Most Googled Fitness Questions, Answered

About the author

Stephen Allison

Stephen Allison founded Fit, a private personal training studio in Boston’s South End, after more than 20 years of coaching clients one-on-one. He trains runners, lifters and everyday athletes.

Want a coach in your corner? Train one-on-one with Stephen or another Fit trainer. Your first 45-minute session is free.

Keep reading

This phrase (Doc Levine’s) made us reevaluate sitting. According to Kelly Starret we should set our chairs at a height where “you can really use your legs to scoot powerfully back and forth” if you’re in an adjustable. Additionally we should sit upright, not leaning back “so you can turn on more musculature and build greater stability.”
It’s hot. Damn Hot. Real Hot. 4th of July weekend was THE HOTTEST weekend recorded. Ever. What can we do to beat the heat? We have AC, Central Air, wicking clothing and we’re still dropping like flies. Western Europe saw some 20,000 deaths in a recent unrelenting heat wave. It could happen here. And the heat will wreak havoc on your workouts too.
Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki “found that subjects who’d ridden bikes for an hour had markedly better scores on tests of their prefrontal cortex function than those who’d spent the hour watching an episode of 24 instead.” (That just seems like a needless dig at 24 (decent show). Imagine they force fed ‘The Kardashians’ instead…).

Subscribe to our blog

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Book a trial 
session today

Meet with us for a complimentary consultation where we learn about your goals, your schedule, and what motivates you. No pressure, no sales pitch—just a chance to talk about what you want from your training experience.