Does Walking Burn Belly Fat?

Is walking really the most effective way to burn excess belly fat? If you ask many people, they will tell you that a brisk walk will help you melt the fat away. This may be true, but is it true enough? Does walking really burn belly fat as well? As stated before, any cardio exercise is better than none at all when burning belly fat.

When it comes to burning calories, your resting heart rate and your metabolic rate play a huge role. So, when you do a series of cardio exercises, you are increasing your resting heart rate. This increases your metabolism. So, when you are walking, you are also increasing your metabolic rate. This in turn burns calories, even while you are at rest.

Now, does walking really burn fat per week? It is a solid fact that you will lose weight when you walk more. Any exercise that you perform more than five times per week will help you lose weight. So, if you were to perform three one-hour walking sessions per week, you would burn an incredible 710 calories. Can you see how that adds up over time?

Now, if you add a cardio exercise to your routine, such as walking, then you are burning calories even while you are not at rest. This leads to an accelerated fat burning process. You need to have a steady state of calorie deficit (taking in more calories than you burn). To obtain this, make sure you have a positive caloric deficit on a weekly basis. In other words, if you take in more calories than you expend, then you are in a positive calorie deficit per day.

Now that you know the answer to, "How does walking burn belly fat," you need to get ready to put the knowledge to use. There are many things you can do to lose that excess weight around your middle and lower abdomen. The key is to get ready to make some changes that will have long lasting benefits. You can start by walking briskly for one hour each day and keep the momentum going.

Many fitness experts recommend a strength training program to get prepared for a workout. By using free weights and compound exercises, you can build lean muscle mass. This results in burning more fat-burning calories during your workout. Combining strength training with cardio is also good for you. As your muscle mass increases, so does your resting metabolism.

Walking does burn a lot of calories but not all of it is created equal. One of the biggest factors that determine how much you burn during your workout is your calorie deficit and the intensity or the rate at which you exercise. A low calorie deficit (calories less than you expend) results in many calories being burned.

The intensity or the rate at which you exercise determines how many calories per day you burn. If you pace yourself, you can lose belly fat while maintaining your muscle mass. Your ability to lose weight will be greater if you incorporate a cardio workout and a strength training routine. When you incorporate both forms of exercise, your body can become a work of art. You will not only look great, you will feel great too.

To determine your personal calorie deficit, you need to understand how many calories you expend through activity everyday. Use a table that shows daily activity level for your height and gender. Multiply, this by 8 to get your total daily calorie intake. For an inactive individual, a daily calorie deficit would equate to walking about a mile per day or using a stair master at a moderate pace for one hour. For someone who is active, a smaller deficit will equal a brisk walk around the block for one hour or building up your fitness level by jogging for half an hour.

Once you have established your calorie deficit and your ideal heart rate for your target activity level, you can then figure out how long each walk should be. Obviously, the longer you take to walk the less fat you will burn. On average, a sixty minute walk will burn about seventy calories. If you are in good shape, you could go for a whole day without taking a break. If you are overweight or obese, it would be wiser to take shorter walks.

With these simple steps, you can now enjoy a leisurely walk around your block without worrying about a bulging belly. A few of my friends have tried using cardio exercise to lose their stomach fat and they swear by it. The best thing about working out with the help of a cardio workout program is that it gives you a chance to socialize with other people while boosting your self-esteem. Exercise is a great way to lose belly fat but it does not have to be boring and tedious like traditional gym workouts. You can now lose belly fat without ever leaving the comfort of your home.