Scrolling through YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, you’ll encounter numerous individuals engaging in intense, sometimes exaggerated workouts that claim to burn belly fat. Often, creators showcase their visible abs as “proof.” While defined abs are appealing, managing belly fat is crucial for everyone, not just for aesthetics. Excess belly fat, especially the visceral kind surrounding your organs, can pose health risks.
Fortunately, you don’t need to dive into extreme workout challenges to start shedding belly fat. Something as simple as walking can significantly impact your belly fat loss journey. However, before you lace up your shoes and head out, remember that a leisurely stroll for coffee might not suffice. Two common mistakes people make when walking for fat loss are walking too slowly and not walking long enough. To achieve results, you’ll need to increase your heart rate and maintain it for an extended period. This helps your body burn more calories and, ultimately, more fat.
Walk Faster and Longer to Lose Belly Fat
Health experts generally recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week to maintain overall health. This equates to about 30 minutes a day, five days a week. For some, this is feasible — or at least a good target if you haven’t been exercising regularly.
However, if your aim is to burn fat, particularly belly fat, you may need to increase that amount. A 2021 meta-analysis published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that the most effective exercise programs for weight loss and reducing visceral fat involved sessions of about 50 minutes, four times a week. Consistency is key, as these programs lasted an average of 22 weeks.
(Learn about what happens to your body when you forego exercise.)
So, how can you tell if your walking pace is moderate or vigorous? According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, moderate exercise leads to slight sweating and a noticeable increase in heart rate. While you don’t need a heart rate monitor, you should feel your heart beating faster than at rest. If you’re walking with a friend, moderate intensity allows for conversation but not singing.
To burn more calories, consider walking faster. Vigorous activity should be intense enough that you can’t complete a full sentence without pausing for breath. If maintaining that pace is challenging, try interval walking. Push yourself for 30 seconds at a brisk pace, then return to a moderate pace for a few minutes before speeding up again.
A Healthy Diet is Also Important in Losing Belly Fat
You might be tempted to adopt a crash diet for quick weight loss, but this isn’t the best approach if your goal is to reduce belly fat, according to a 2016 article in Obesity Reviews. While cutting calories can aid overall weight loss, exercise is more effective in targeting harmful belly fat. In fact, even if you don’t lose weight while following an exercise program, you may still lose about 6% of your visceral fat.
That said, you can’t eat indiscriminately while trying to slim your waistline. The Mediterranean diet is a flexible eating plan that doesn’t focus on calorie counting. Instead, it emphasizes getting most of your food from fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, while also highlighting healthy fats from olive oil and fatty fish.
A “green” version of the Mediterranean diet may be even more effective at reducing visceral fat, according to a 2022 study in BMC Medicine. This version includes more plant-based polyphenols from foods like walnuts and green tea while reducing red meat consumption. Over 18 months, participants in the study exercised and followed one of three eating plans: a generally healthy plan, the traditional Mediterranean diet, or the green Mediterranean diet. Those on the green Mediterranean diet lost twice as much visceral fat as those on the standard Mediterranean diet, thanks to the increased intake of polyphenols.
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