Can Walking Reduce Belly Fat? Let's Find Out

Blogs26 Aug 2024

Walking is one of the simplest and most accessible forms of exercise and has multiple health benefits. Regular walking can help reduce the risk of strokes, mental illness and cardiovascular conditions. Walking is associated with many benefits such as better sleep, memory, high productivity, fighting stress, improved concentration, and increased creativity. But many wonder if walking can reduce the stubborn fat that hangs around the belly.

In this article, we’ll try to answer the question: can walking reduce belly fat? We’ll also dive into the science behind fat loss, why belly fat can be hard to get rid of and more. So let’s get started!

Understanding Belly Fat: Why It's Important to Lose It

Before we understand whether it’s possible to simply walk to burn belly fat, let’s first understand what belly fat is and why an excess of it could be an issue.

A normal level of body fat is important to protect our internal organs from the external world. However, when you have an excess amount of fat, the health problems begin to crop up. Belly fat is a common enemy of millions of people in the world. But it’s more than just a concern related to appearance. Having a high amount of belly fat can be harmful to health. There are two main types of belly fat that you should know about

1. Subcutaneous fat: This fat lies just under the skin.
2. Visceral fat: The fat which surrounds internal organs like the stomach, liver and intestines. It is present behind our abdominal muscles and generally, a growing belly in the shape of a pear or an apple can mean that you have high visceral fat.

Health Risks Associated with Belly Fat

Abdominal obesity, or visceral obesity is linked to several health conditions such as impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, insulin resistance, and increased risk of infections. Visceral fat accumulation increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular conditions like hypertension and stroke.

Why Losing Belly Fat Can Be Challenging After 40

As we grow older, our bodies go through some major changes like hormonal changes, slower metabolism and decreased muscle mass. These may make it harder to lose weight with age. Older women find it harder to lose weight due to menopause as well. Even psychological factors like stress can play a role in making it harder to lose weight.

The Science Behind Fat Loss

Now let’s discuss how our body burns fat to lose weight. Our body requires energy to function well. Any activity, like lifting your leg, walking and having your heart pumping requires energy. We know that food is a source of energy and when we eat excess, we store excess calories in our fat cells as energy reserves. Now imagine if you eat fewer calories from a balanced. Then your body makes up for this deficit in energy by using the energy reserves in fat cells to function. This is simplest way to understand how our body burns fat.

This deficit created by eating fewer calories is known as the calorie deficit and it is key for weight loss and fat burning. While exercising along with a diet rich in protein helps build muscle mass, the most effective way of reducing fat is by following a calorie deficit balanced diet and pairing it with resistance and cardio exercises.

Can Walking Reduce Belly Fat?

Walking is a low-impact, accessible form of cardio exercise that can contribute to overall weight management, however, it will not be as impactful as other intense exercises like strength training and aerobic exercises. Hence, it needs to be a part of your fitness regimen. Solely relying on walking might not give you the desired results.

Even with walking, you must have 7-8 hours of sleep daily, and stick to a healthy diet to burn fat consistently and effectively. If you aim to lose fat by walking, follow these additional habits and try walking on slightly inclined routes as they can result in you burning more calories.

Furthermore, if you take the strength training or aerobic route, you should still ensure that you are brisk walking regularly. Studies have found that those who briskly walked for close to an hour daily were more likely to preserve lean muscle mass than those who did not.

Conclusion

Walking is a simple, free and effective way of exercising to maintain health and aid in weight management. However, if your goal is to burn belly fat, you must do strength training or aerobic exercises, follow a healthy diet, sleep better and hydrate daily to see a difference. Walking, alone, may not help you get rid of the stubborn fat around your belly! However, walking can be a great start to build stamina and slowly more intense form of exercises like strength and endurance training can be added to your daily regime coupled with a nutritious and balance diet plan that suits your goals Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new exercise or diet plan.

For weight loss-related meal plans that suit your preferences, age and health goals, try Right Shift. We have a free meal plan creator that can help you get started on eating healthy to lose weight. Additionally, you can also try our free health score calculator to understand your current health status and make changes accordingly. Lastly, you can also follow Right Shift’s blog as we come up with new informational articles on health, nutrition and ageing regularly. Reading these can help you increase your knowledge on these topics and keep you motivated to stay committed to your health and fitness. So, make the right shift today!