It is a common misconception that a thousand sit-ups a day will get you washboard abs.

In fact, building the muscle for those ripped abdominals isn’t even the biggest hurdle toward getting your dream stomach. The real challenge for most people is getting rid of that layer of fat that hides your chiseled muscles.

We’ve put together a cardio routine for you that has been shown to target the fat that is stored in your belly region, so that you can be that much closer to getting your perfect abs:

Treadmill

Whether you run on a machine or you prefer the open road, this will work for you if you have a way of gauging your speed.

Warm up on the treadmill for about five minutes at a pace of 6 mph. Then boost your speed up to 7 mph for 30 minutes. For a cool down, jog lightly at 3.5 mph for five minutes.

Although this will only be about 4.3 miles, the rising and lowering of intensity will allow your body to pull from different energy stores.

Not only are warm ups good for your muscles so that you don’t strain them, but they have proven to be vitally important in teaching your body how to burn fat.

By varying your workout with low intensity and high intensity training, you’ll be able to do both aerobic and anaerobic workouts.

If you don’t have a treadmill, one way you can estimate whether or not you’re performing an anaerobic or an aerobic workout is the talk test. If you’re able to carry on a conversation without much difficulty then you’re probably working aerobically. If speaking is hard and makes you slow down, then you’re probably going at a pace that is anaerobic.

Make sure to incorporate both anaerobic and aerobic exercises into your workouts so that you can burn more fat as well as build muscle.