The quest for losing the unsightly belly fat brings about a copious amount of advice and theories. There are a lot of fad diets out there promising to be the holy grail, including exercise tips to help you blast your belly fat. While diet is probably one of the most important factors for losing visceral fat, an easy-to-do exercise, combined with healthy eating, could help one to lose the harmful belly fat. What is the exercise?

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According to leading health experts, walking is right up there with running on the list of cardiovascular exercises that can help one lose weight and burn fat, including blasting those extra pounds around a person’s midsection.

In fact, many doctors recommend walking for weight loss to patients who need to shed pounds.

Walking has many great benefits for one’s health including burning calories, strengthening the legs and getting the heart pumping.

It’s easier to lose visceral fat if a person combines walking with healthy eating.

Certified personal trainer at Gold’s Gym, Jackie Vick said: “Through a combination of exercise and diet, you can definitely work to reduce your overall body fat and that includes around the belly area.

“Walking is a great way to reduce body fat and build lean muscle.

“It burns calories and is one of the easiest forms of exercise to incorporate into your fitness regimen.

“To maximise your fat burn from walking, doing ‘fasted’ walking will help. This includes starting your walk on an empty stomach.

“The idea is that your body won’t have glycogen to burn so it will use fat stores instead.”

For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends moderate aerobic activity, such as brisk walking for at least 150 minutes a week or vigorous aerobic activity, such as running, for at least 75 minutes a week.

Having a step counter is highly recommended for anyone wanting to increase their daily walking.

Some studies indicate it might take 15,0000 steps a day to prevent the regain of weight after significant weight loss.

To lose excess fat and keep it from coming back, aim for slow and steady weight loss.

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What the studies say?

In a study with the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, the effect of walking on abdominal fat in obese women was analysed.

The study involved obese women who were assigned to an exercise group with one group participating in a walking exercise three days per week for a duration of 50-70 minutes.

It was concluded that those in the walking exercise group had a significant loss in abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissues.

The study noted: “The current findings suggest that walking exercise can provide a safe and effective lifestyle strategy against abdominal obesity and serum insulin resistance markers in obese women.”

What the experts say?

Chloe Twist, qualified PT from OriGym Centre of Excellence said: “When looking to lose visceral fat, the best place is with good nutrition, paired with high-intensity exercise.

“If you want to amp up your daily walks to aid with visceral fat loss, you should ensure that your pace is brisk.

“Try walking as fast as you can in short bursts of around 30-60 seconds and keeping up a good pace for two to three minutes otherwise.

“In terms of walking frequency, try to do three of these walks for around 20-25 minutes a day, as opposed to one long but slow-paced walk.”

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