Recent research shows that exercises to lose belly fat do not have to be as hard as you might think. The best exercise to lose weight takes half as much time as previously believed. Here is what the latest study says.
How Much Time is Necessary?
Aerobic exercise is probably the most effective of all the exercises to lose belly fat. However, although it may be the best exercise to lose weight, aerobic exercise has become controversial. This is probably because too much aerobic exercise is overly strenuous and causes inflammation.
What I’ve found that at least partly solves the problem is to exercise briskly, not strenuously. This could mean doing something as simple as a brisk walk. The key questions are, as always, how often and for how long?
Here is what you can expect from a brisk walk. During the first 15-20 minutes the stored sugar in muscle tissue, which is in the form of glycogen, is your main fuel. Beyond about 20 minutes, you begin to deplete circulating blood sugar (glucose) and free fatty acids. After about 40 minutes of brisk exercise, you start burning more of your stored liver glycogen and begin breaking down stored fats. A brisk walk of 60 minutes, therefore, puts you into a low level fat burning mode in the final 20 minutes. Brisk 1-hour fat burning walks are most effective for overall fat reduction when you do them at least 3-4 times per week.
Doing Half as Much Exercise
A just released study out of the University of Copenhagen shows the benefits of just 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes of aerobic exercise. Here is the detailed reference information from this article:
Rosenkilde M, Auerbach PL, Reichkendler MH, Ploug T, Stallknecht BM, Sjödin A. Body fat loss and compensatory mechanisms in response to different doses of aerobic exercise – a randomized controlled trial in overweight sedentary males. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2012 Aug 1. [Epub ahead of print]
Sixty-one participants were divided into three groups: 1) the control, those who stayed continuously sedentary; 2) those who exercised moderately (aerobic for 30 minutes per day, expending 300 kcal per session); and 3) those who exercised extensively (aerobic for 60 minutes per day, expending 600 kcal per session). Results were measured after 13 weeks.
The moderate exercise group lost an average of almost 7.4 pounds, compared with almost 6 pounds in the high exercise group. These differences were not statistically significant. Likewise, fat mass also decreased similarly in both treatment groups.
The bottom line is that the high exercise group expended twice as much energy as the moderate exercise group, without a compensatory change in weight loss or body fat mass. The nice conclusion for us all is that 30 minutes of exercise provided the same result as 60 minutes of exercise.
There you have it. Now go and get at least of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day. And do not worry about whether it is enough.
Making exercises to lose belly fat easier,
Dr. D
Until very recently, I was working out approximately 60 minutes, whether it was lifting weights, riding the life cycle or running and even doing Yoga. But after some experimentation with the new movement of workout routines – which last around 12 minutes and are high intensity mixtures of jump training, pushups of various kinds and abdominal routines – I have discovered that you can get in GREAT Shape working out just 12 minutes doing these routines.
Thank you for posting this I have been doing exercise for awhile now but just recently I have started doing brisk exercise and I have noticed a difference already. Thank you so much for the work that you have put into this I look forward to seeing your next post and what it will be about. You did a great job keep up the good work.
Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that brisk walks are effective in burning fat. Maybe that is why in my neighborhood, you see people taking walks early in the night after dinner. And since this is a mild form of low impact exercise, you can pretty much do it soon after dinner. You can’t do more high intensity workouts after eating a heavy meal.
A Mayo Clinic study, which was presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, suggests that people of average weight who have extra fat in their stomach have a higher risk of dying than obese people. If that doesn’t motivate the average person I don’t know what will. Maybe watching a workout video; Those can be quite inspirational. I know it is for me.
I guess even mild exercise if better than being completely inactive. It is just surprising to me that it does not take as much exercise as I once thought. I think the important thing is that no matter what your fitness routine is, you need to do it regularly. If you make it a lifestyle habit, then you’ll have balance in your life.
I remember not too long ago when the fitness craze took off in the 80’s and 90’s. Back then, the general consensus was that you had to spend 1 to 2 hours at the gym, 6 days a week in order to get in great shape. But now, there is a new movement happening that is proving that short workouts can produce great results.
Many in public health believe that a major culprit is our sedentary lifestyle. Faced with relatively few physical demands today, our bodies burn fewer calories than they evolved to consume and those unspent calories pile up over time as fat. It’s clear the root causes of obesity are a decrease in physical activity due to the sedentary nature of many forms of work and changing modes of transportation.
Ok now aren’t you the same people that has an article out that tells people they can’t lose fat just by exercising? Then you post this one about how losing belly fat exercises just got easier. What is the truth in this case, do you have to diet and exercise or can you just exercise? I am tired of the confusion because no one is on the same page.
By now, I’m sure we have all seen the news reports on fitness and that carrying extra weight around your midsection increases your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The good news? You can combat belly fat with exercise and a smart diet, improving your overall health and the shape of your waistline – as this and many other sites suggest. Some even give you the workout routines.