The Best Exercise to Lose Belly Fat

If you’re reading this article right now to find out what the best exercise is to lose belly fat, then I’d like to congratulate you.

Why am I congratulating you?

Because you my friend have come across an unbiased, science-based source of information that will lead you in the right direction to reach your fitness goals.

None of this BS “lose 30 pounds of body fat in 30 days.”

Or “take this pill to have your fat magically melt away.”

The fitness industry is full of snake oil salesmen that sell quick fixes.

But I’m not a salesman. I’m an online fitness coach and personal trainer.

So my job is to help you get real results in a sustainable way.

See the difference?

Anyway, let’s get back to the point of why you’re even reading this article.

You want to know what exercises you should be doing to lose that unwanted belly fat.

So I’m going to tell you everything you need to know.

All I ask of you in return is that you read this entire article from start to finish.

No bouncing around, no skimming.

Because, by the end of this article, you’ll know exactly what you need to be implementing into your routine to lose belly fat, and more importantly, keep it off.

Deal? Alright, let’s get into it.

The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat: First Things First

Before we dive into the best exercise to lose belly fat, I’d be doing you a massive disservice if I didn’t first mention nutrition.

Why is that?

Because the only way to lose body fat is to be in a calorie deficit.

A calorie deficit is when you eat fewer calories than your body burns.

So, when we look at this topic from a 30,000 foot view, nutrition is the main driver of fat loss.

Sustainable weight loss should be achieved by hitting your target calorie intake, not by doing hours and hours of cardio hoping the belly fat will melt off.

And, when it comes to your specific calorie intake to aim for, that number is unique to you, your height, weight, activity level, etc.

And hitting that calorie goal is much easier when you eat a diet rich in whole, nutrient dense foods that fill you up more for fewer calories.

Nutrients like lean sources of protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats comprising roughly 80% of your diet.

While still including some of your favorite foods in moderation so that you stay mentally sane.

More Exercise Does Not Mean More Weight Loss

Have you ever heard the saying, “you can’t out-train a bad diet”?

Or maybe you’ve heard “you can’t outrun your fork”?

Well, here’s the thing.

For the average person, those sayings are actually pretty true.

The amount of time you’d need to spend doing cardio to create a calorie deficit via exercise is absurd.

It would likey be several hours a day of dedicated physical activity.

Which, let’s be honest, the average person doesn’t have nearly enough time for.

How are you going to balance your 9-5 job with 3 hours a day of cardio?

It ain’t gonna happen.

Unless you’re a professional athlete where training is literally a part of your job, creating a calorie deficit through exercise alone isn’t really feasible.

Did I Lie To You?

So, if nutrition is the main driver of fat loss, did I lie when I said that there’s an exercise that helps with losing belly fat?

No, not at all.

In a bit I am going to explain the best exercise to lose belly fat.

But, because I want to give you the most accurate, comprehensive run down of exactly how to lose belly fat, it’s important that I paint the whole picture.

In the grand scheme of things, exercise in and of itself actually plays a relatively small role in weight loss.

Calories Burned

So, we’ve already established that the only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit.

And there’s essentially two sides to the calorie deficit coin.

Eating fewer calories and burning more calories.

Now, I already said that nutrition is king for weight loss.

But, if that’s the case, where does exercise fall into the equation?

Well, when it comes to calories burned, there’s something called our TDEE.

That stands for total daily energy expenditure.

And that’s just a fancy way of saying the total number of calories you burn in a given day.

Which, by the way, is exactly what your metabolism is.

As in, the chart below shows the four pillars of your metabolism.

Total Daily Energy Expenditure

Here’s what that looks like visually and what actually makes up your TDEE:

Here’s a quick rundown of what each component means:

• BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate): This is essentially how many calories your body burns just to keep you alive. Things like breathing, blood circulation, organ function, nutrient absorption, etc.
• NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): This is all of the calories your body burns from movement and activity not associated with planned exercise. Things like twiddling your thumbs, brushing your teeth, walking from your bedroom to your bathroom, etc.
• TEF (Thermic Effect of Food): This one is simple. It’s the calories you burn through digesting food. Fun fact: protein has a higher thermic effect of food than carbs or fats.
• EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis): This is the calories you burn through exercise. This is the part that I want to dive deeper on.

Looking at that chart, you can see that exercise actually makes up the smallest portion of total calories burned in a day.

Shocking, right?

I mean, if you were to go up to a random person on the street and ask them how much they think exercises affects their metabolism, they’d probably guess that it has a major impact.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I’m not saying that exercise doesn’t have any impact on losing body fat.

And, even more specifically, getting rid of that belly fat that seems to never go away.

Exercise can have a noticeable impact on metabolism if approached the right way.

But maybe not the type of exercise that you’d think of.

Let me explain.

The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat

Okay, so let’s move on to the part of the article that you really care about.

The reason you started reading this in the first place.

What is the best exercise to lose belly fat?

Well, first let me tell you what is isn’t.

It’s not burpees (Thank God).

Or jumping jacks.

Or workout classes or HIIT bootcamps.

It’s actually something that you already do everyday.

It’s just walking.

Good News And Bad News

Now, you’re probably equally ecstatic and let down that the best exercise to lose belly fat is just walking.

On the one hand, you’re pumped because walking is super easy and very doable.

On the other hand, you were probably hoping that I was about to disclose some top secret exercise that just melts the belly fat away.

Sadly, no such thing exists.

But, if you’re reading this article, deep down you probably already knew that.

And, as a side note, there’s no “secret” to success for anything in fitness.

The more time you spend trying to find that “secret”, the longer you’ll be spinning your wheels without seeing any real results.

Your success will be the by-product of the hard work, consistency, and patience that you employ on a regular basis.

Just thought I’d throw that out there.

Workouts For Weight Loss

Before I explain exactly why walking is the best exercise to lose belly fat, I want to first look at exercise for weight loss from a bird’s-eye view.

Because once I explain the two major types of workouts for weight loss, you’ll understand just how powerful walking can be and why it helps so much with fat loss.

And, by the way, if you’d like an in depth guide on how to structure your workouts for weight loss, you can watch an entire video on that HERE.

Weight Lifting To Lose Belly Fat

I’d be remiss if I didn’t briefly touch on the importance of lifting weights for weight loss.

Here’s why.

When you say you want to lose weight, what you’re really saying is that you want to maximize fat loss while minimizing muscle loss.

Because if you want to achieve that toned and defined look, it will require you to have some lean muscle on your frame.

And the only way to build and retain that lean muscle is through incorporating at least some resistance training into your routine.

Here’s the reason for that.

Remember how I said that the only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit?

Well, if you put yourself in that deficit without lifting weights at least 2-3 days a week, there’s a decent chance that fat won’t be the only thing you’ll lose.

Your body will likely also tap into muscle tissue for energy.

Which trust me you don’t want. For many reasons.

But that’s a topic for another article.

For now just know that doing at least a little bit of weight lifting is an important pillar of exercise for weight loss.

It isn’t just for bodybuilders looking to get jacked.

The Role Cardio Plays In Losing Belly Fat

While I’m a firm believer that resistance training should be prioritized in a workout program for weight loss, cardio still plays a key role.

Aside from all of the amazing heart health and overall health benefits that cardio gives us, it can also be a tool in the toolbox to help you lose weight.

Essentially, incorporating some cardio into your routine on top of weight lifting can help you burn some additional calories.

This can make it easier to stay in a calorie deficit and/or make your calorie deficit slightly bigger if you’re already in one.

Why Walking Is The Best Form Of Cardio

But here’s why walking in particular is what I believe to be the best form of cardio.

First, and most importantly, it’s practical, doable, and easy to implement for most people.

You can’t really think of any other form of exercise that’s as accessible as just walking more.

Not to mention, it’s something you’re already doing everyday as it is.

It’s much easier to add on to an existing habit than trying to form an entirely new one from scratch.

Also, because walking is low intensity, it won’t lead to increased hunger like other forms of cardio tend to.

I’m by no means against HIIT workouts, because, quite frankly, I’d much rather you do those kinds of workouts than not move your body at all.

With that being said, I have found that higher intensity forms of cardio do tend to make people hungrier throughout the day.

Without getting into the sciency details, this concept is supported by something called the constrained energy theory.

Essentially, high intensity cardio may backfire for weight loss because even though you may burn more calories in that workout session, you often end up burning fewer calories later in the day through normal day to day activities.

Not to mention that hunger often goes up due to your body wanting to maintain equilibrium so that it can have a sufficient amount of energy to operate.

Long story short is this.

High intensity cardio is by no means bad.

However, it should not be your primary form of exercise in a fat loss phase.

Weight lifting and low intensity cardio should make up the lion’s share of your exercise.

The Best Exercise To Lose Belly Fat: Walking Is A Foundation

Okay, now that you know why walking is so important and why it should be a core pillar of your workout routine, I’d like to briefly explain how to implement it into your plan.

Is 10,000 Steps BS?

You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. We’ve all heard it.

Everybody and their mother in the fitness industry loves to throw out this number.

Is the hype there for a reason?

Do you actually need to be getting 10,000 steps a day?

Well, out of all the cliche talking points in the fitness industry, this is one of the few that actually has merit to it.

Now, let me make myself abundantly clear.

There’s nothing inherently special about getting exactly 10,000 steps a day.

The reason so many people use that number is because it’s a good target to aim for.

Here’s my recommendation to you.

Focus on getting more steps than you currently are.

For example, if you’ve been sedentary and only getting 4,000 steps a day, let’s bump that up to 5,000 and go from there.

If you’ve been hovering at around an average of 7,500 steps a day, let’s bring that up to 8,500 and continue progressing from there.

See what I’m getting to here?

It’s not about making drastic changes overnight.

It’s about making small improvements consistently, and, more importantly, sticking with those small improvements long enough for them to become habits.

Take A Look At My Weight Loss Coaching Client Joe

This is one of my badass weight loss coaching clients Joe!

Joe is seriously one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever met.

He’s a surgeon, so he works REALLY long hours.

Yet, despite that, he still made getting his steps in a priority.

It wasn’t easy, and there were times where he had to make some sacrifices to get them done, but he did them nonetheless.

And by getting at least 8,000-10,000 steps in each day, it made losing 20 pounds in 12 weeks much more doable for him.

I walked him through (no pun intended) why walking is truly the best exercise to lose belly fat, and he really took that to heart.

Between lifting weights three days a week and getting his steps in, he had a comprehensive workout plan to maximize his results.

Why Steps Need To Be Your Foundation

Often times when I get a new client, I’ll advise them on how many steps they should aim for and I’ll almost always get some variation of the same response:

“What else should I be doing for cardio on top of just walking?”

That’s a valid question and I understand why new clients ask it.

But I almost always tell those clients the same thing.

Aiming to get roughly 7,500-10,000 steps as a minimum target is the foundation of your cardio.

And, candidly, most people don’t need to be doing more than that.

But even if they did, I still think that getting more steps should be your baseline.

Maybe trying to get to 12,000, 14,000, 16,000 steps a day over time to really maximize heart health and longevity.

And, if you really want to do more than walking, you can always add more cardio on top of that (within reason).

You can always add say two to four 30-45 minute low intensity cardio sessions on top of that if need be (using the treadmill, elliptical, stair master, etc).

But, if you’re not already making a conscious effort to increase your step count, then that should be your number one priority at least in the short term.

Because, from a cardio perspective, walking really is the best exercise to lose belly fat.