I get this question more often than not, does running burn belly fat? In this post, I am going to answer this question and explain how running can help you to burn belly fat.
What is belly fat?
Belly fat is also known as ” Visceral fat”. Visceral fat surrounds the organ in your abdomen, creating the rounded shape of the stomach and increasing your waist size.
Carrying excess belly fat is extremely bad for your health. Many studies show a connection between belly fat and an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and many other diseases.
Can you lose belly fat by running?
The simple answer is yes you can lose belly fat by running. If you are running four to vides times a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a moderate intensity you should be able to lose belly fat.
Running is one of the best ways to burn calories, according to the experts you need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound in weight. Running 1 mile will burn approximately 100 calories.
How running helps you lose belly fat
First, I need to be clear on one thing, spot reducing will not occur during the running ( you can not run just to target belly fat, the fat reduction will be from all parts of your body).
Belly fat is not just underneath your skin, it is also deep inside your body, around your vital organs. This is called visceral fat and the more you have of it, the higher your risk of developing serious diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and breathing issues.
The good news is that the studies show that moderate to high-intensity aerobic exercise such as running can help you to reduce belly fat, even without changing your diet.
However if do you want to get the result faster and effective way, I would recommend combining running with a healthy low-calorie diet, this method will help you with both weight loss and belly fat loss.
If what is you want is to lose belly fat, running can be more effective than a diet.
How to Get Started Running for belly fat
We know that running can help you to reduce belly fat, but you’re not a runner, so how do you get started? here is my recommendation.
Items
There are many items you need in order to start running, but if you’re a beginner you just need a few things to get started.
This includes good running shoes, a comfortable top, a water bottle, and running shorts, tights, or comfortable pants.
If you’re a woman I will recommend wearing a sports bra while running to reduce pain. Reflective gear is highly recommended as well if you are planning to run during early hours or late at night, this will prevent any accidents.
Basic running guidelines for beginners
Here are a few basics you should know before beginning a running workout:
- Frequency: To get started, aim for 3 to 4 days of running per week. This allows for enough recovery time between workouts.
- Warm-up: Before every running workout, it is important to warm up and stretch in order to prepare your body for the run. Start by stretching, followed by 5 minutes of walking at an easy pace. Then, slowly progress to a power walk.
- Cooldown: At the end of your run, make sure to cool down with 5 minutes of walking, gradually decreasing the speed as you go.
- Total time: Aim for around 30 minutes total. This includes 5 minutes for a warm-up, 5 minutes for a cool down, and 20 minutes of running/walking in between.
How to stay motivated when you start running to burn belly fat
In order to get the results you want (losing belly fat), you need to be consistent. This will help you to achieve long-term success with your goals.
Make your running fun
The trick to staying motivated is to keep your running fun so you will not be tempted to make any excuses to avoid going out and running.
You can keep your running interesting by changing your running route every few weeks or adding different types of runs like intervals, pace, etc.
Run with a friend
You can find an accountability partner ( someone who can run with you and keep you accountable), this can be a relative, friend, or someone you found in social media and has the same interest as you.
Prepare the running gear the night before.
If you find that it is difficult to motivate yourself to run in the morning, try preparing your running gear out the night before to save the effort in the morning.
Sign up for a marathon
If in your town there is a marathon or any other competition sign up, this will give you extra motivation on your running, now you’re preparing yourself for that marathon, even if you do not win it, you will reap the benefit.
Other health benefits of running
Apart from helping you to lose belly fat, running has a lot of other health benefits, here I am going to list some of them.
It can reduce the risk of heart disease
We know having a lot of belly fat increases the risk of having heart disease, the studies show that running at least five to ten minutes a day, even at low speed, reduces the heart disease risk up to 45%.
It can low blood sugar levels
Running can low blood sugar levels by making muscle cells more sensitive to insulin. This helps the sugar to move into muscle cells for storage.
It reduces the risk of falls
Running may reduce the risk of falling among the elderly. Research shows that elderly participants who run are less likely to fall because their leg muscles are more responsive.
Common questions about running for belly fat loss
Does the time of day matter?
There is a lot of debate about this issue, what time is the best for you to run and burn the most of your belly fat. According to research, your exercise benefits are maximized when your body temperature is at its highest.
For most people, that is between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., though some studies extend this time to 7 p.m.
However, the best time workout time for you depends on when you feel most motivated. Schedule your runs at a time when you know that you will complete them.
Many experts recommend morning runs because other activities are less likely to get in the way when you get out the door early.
However, morning workouts don’t work for everyone. If you’re not sure, try experimenting with different schedules to see which works best for you.
Should I eat after every run?
The food we eat is the fuel to our bodies. Refueling after a run is important because you lose a lot of energy during your run (although this is the goal of running in the first place), but the way that you refuel is key if your goal is bell fat loss.
The very act of exercise will increase your appetite as your body demands more calories to keep it running. If you are not careful and eat too many of the wrong foods, you may end up exceeding your energy demands.
What exercise burns the most belly fat?
Running burns the most calories per hour making it the best form of exercise to reduce belly fat.
Yet if you’re short of time High-Intensity Interval Training HIIT is a good option. The higher intensity will increase your calorie burn per minute and is an excellent metabolism booster.
How can I lose belly fat fast?
To lose belly fat you need to reduce your overall body fat percentage. Specifically targeting belly fat won’t work. Exercise and diet are the only solutions.
Running is the best exercise for burning calories and combined with controlling your calorie intake is the most effective way to lose belly fat.
Running but not losing belly fat, why?
If you are running but not losing belly fat check out your diet, it can be the one keeping you stagnant.
The truth is that you can not outrun your diet. Go for a 5-mile run and burn around 500 calories. If you then treat yourself to a latte and double chocolate brownie in Starbucks that’s 600 calories blown and you’re still gaining weight.
Remember the goal here is to create a calories deficit and shedding 500 calories and eating 600 of them is not helping, you are gaining more calories and hence your belly fat will keep increasing as so your weight.
Conclusion
Yes, running can burn belly fat. Running is an excellent form of exercise for burning belly fat.
Running also burns a lot of calories may help you continue to burn calories long after a workout, may help suppress appetite, and targets harmful belly fat.
What’s more, running has many other benefits for your health and is simple to begin.
Unlike many other types of exercise, running requires little equipment, can be done anywhere and there are many ways to keep things interesting.
If you find it difficult to motivate yourself to run, try finding a running partner or changing routines frequently to add variety to your workout.