The #1 Exercise To Lose Belly Fat (FOR GOOD!)

Summary

This script discusses the challenge of losing belly fat, emphasizing that genetics play a significant role in where fat is lost first. It debunks the myth of spot reduction and highlights walking as an underutilized yet effective exercise for consistent fat loss. The script encourages integrating walking into daily routines and emphasizes the importance of combining it with a calorie deficit diet for optimal results.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Belly fat is genetically predisposed to be the last area where fat is lost, according to Dr. Bouchard's 1997 study.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Spot reduction of belly fat is not possible, and overall fat loss is achieved through a calorie deficit.
• 🔥 High-intensity cardio exercises like running and HIIT burn calories quickly but may not be sustainable for long-term fat loss.
• 🚶 Walking is an underutilized yet effective form of cardio for long-term fat loss due to its sustainability.
• 📊 A 2021 meta-analysis showed that low-intensity cardio like walking can be as effective for fat loss as high-intensity cardio.
• ⏱ The number of calories burned in a walking session can add up significantly over time, contributing to meaningful fat loss.
• 📈 A simple increase in daily steps can lead to a substantial increase in calorie expenditure and fat loss.
• 📝 Tracking daily steps with health apps can help identify baseline activity levels and set achievable step count goals.
• 🛣️ Incorporating walking into daily life through small lifestyle changes, like taking the stairs or longer routes, can boost step count.
• 🍞 Diet remains the primary method for creating a calorie deficit, with walking serving as a supplementary strategy to accelerate fat loss.
• 🔗 For comprehensive results, combine a consistent walking routine with a well-structured nutrition plan.
• 🌐 For personalized workout and nutrition plans, consider taking an analysis quiz on buildwithscience.com to find the best program.

Q & A

Why is belly fat considered hard to lose?

Belly fat is hard to lose due to genetics, which often prioritizes fat storage in the abdominal area, as first noted by Dr. Bouchard in 1997.

Is there a method to spot reduce fat from the belly?

No, there is currently no proven method to spot reduce fat from the belly, except for surgical procedures.

What is the role of genetics in fat loss from different body parts?

Genetics largely determine the order in which different body parts lose fat, with some individuals being less inclined to store fat around their abdomen.

How can one ensure fat loss from all areas of the body, including the belly?

By creating a calorie deficit and burning more calories than consumed daily, one can ensure fat loss from all areas of the body over time.

What is the significance of a calorie deficit in fat loss?

A calorie deficit is crucial for fat loss as it ensures that more calories are burned than are consumed, leading to a reduction in overall body fat.

Why might traditional cardio exercises like running or HIIT not be sustainable for some people?

Traditional cardio exercises can be brutal, requiring a lot of willpower and often leading to soreness and fatigue, making them difficult to maintain long-term.

What alternative form of exercise is suggested in the script for losing belly fat?

Walking is suggested as an alternative form of exercise for losing belly fat due to its low-stress, versatile nature, and the ability to be maintained consistently.

What did the 2021 meta-analysis titled 'Slow and steady or hard and fast' reveal about cardio and fat loss?

The meta-analysis showed that intense forms of cardio like HIIT or running did not provide a superior fat loss effect compared to less intense forms such as walking.

How can walking contribute to significant fat loss over time?

Walking can contribute to significant fat loss over time by burning a consistent number of calories daily, which, when added up, can lead to meaningful fat loss.

What are some practical tips mentioned in the script to increase daily step count?

Some tips include choosing a far parking spot, taking the longest route to common destinations, doing 10-minute walks after meals, taking stairs instead of elevators, and listening to podcasts while walking.

How does the script suggest integrating walking into a busy office worker's routine?

The script suggests adding five minutes of walking per hour into the office day, which can accumulate to significant fat loss over the course of a year.

What is the importance of combining walking with a proper diet for effective fat loss?

Combining walking with a proper diet is essential for effective fat loss because the calories burned through exercise can be quickly consumed, so a calorie deficit created by diet is the primary driver of fat loss.

Outlines

00:00

🏃‍♂️ The Challenge of Losing Belly Fat

This paragraph discusses the difficulty of shedding belly fat, which is often influenced by genetics and can be resistant to traditional exercises and diets. It explains that while spot reduction is a myth, creating a calorie deficit through consistent calorie burning is key to overall fat loss. The paragraph also highlights the importance of incorporating additional exercise to speed up the process and counteract a slowing metabolism. Traditional cardio exercises like running, rowing, and cycling are mentioned as effective but potentially unsustainable due to their intensity and the high dropout rates associated with them.

05:02

🚶‍♀️ The Power of Walking for Fat Loss

The second paragraph emphasizes the effectiveness of walking as a low-impact, sustainable form of cardio for fat loss. It cites a 2021 meta-analysis comparing different cardio exercises and concludes that less intense, longer-duration activities like walking can be just as effective for fat loss as more intense exercises. The summary provides calculations to demonstrate how the calories burned through walking can add up to significant fat loss over time. It also discusses the importance of consistency and offers practical tips for incorporating more walking into daily life, such as taking longer routes, using stairs, and setting achievable step goals. The paragraph concludes by stressing the necessity of combining walking with a calorie-deficit diet for optimal fat loss results and mentions a resource for a comprehensive workout and nutrition plan.

Keywords

💡Belly Fat

Belly fat refers to the excess adipose tissue around the abdominal region. In the video, it is highlighted as notoriously difficult to lose due to genetic predispositions. The script emphasizes that despite the challenge, creating a calorie deficit through diet and exercise is key to reducing belly fat.

💡Spot Reduction

Spot reduction is the idea of losing fat from a specific area of the body by targeting that area with exercise. The video clarifies that, except for surgery, there is no proven method for spot reduction, emphasizing the importance of overall calorie deficit rather than localized fat loss.

💡Calorie Deficit

A calorie deficit occurs when an individual consumes fewer calories than they burn. The video explains that maintaining a calorie deficit is essential for overall fat loss, including belly fat, regardless of one's genetic tendencies.

💡Genetics

Genetics play a significant role in determining where an individual is more likely to store fat, as mentioned by Dr. Bouchard's research in 1997. The video script uses genetics to explain why some people find it harder to lose belly fat and why a universal approach to fat loss is necessary.

💡Cardio

Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, is any physical activity that raises heart rate and helps burn calories. The video discusses various forms of cardio, such as running, rowing, and cycling, and their effectiveness in burning calories and fat, including belly fat.

💡High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT is a form of cardio that involves short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief recovery periods. The video mentions HIIT as an effective but potentially unsustainable method for some individuals looking to lose belly fat due to its high-intensity nature.

💡Metabolism

Metabolism refers to the chemical processes that occur within a body to maintain life. The script discusses how metabolism can slow down over time, affecting the rate at which calories are burned, and the importance of exercise in maintaining a calorie deficit despite this.

💡Walking

Walking is presented in the video as an underutilized yet effective form of low-intensity cardio for fat loss. The script argues that walking can be a sustainable and low-stress way to create a calorie deficit and lose belly fat over time.

💡Consistency

Consistency is the ability to maintain an exercise routine or behavior over a long period. The video emphasizes the importance of consistency in exercise, particularly walking, as a key factor in achieving long-term fat loss goals.

💡Step Count

Step count refers to the total number of steps taken in a day, often tracked by fitness devices or apps. The video suggests increasing one's daily step count as a practical way to incorporate more walking into daily life and boost calorie expenditure.

💡Nutrition Plan

A nutrition plan is a structured approach to eating that aligns with health or fitness goals. The video script highlights the importance of a nutrition plan in conjunction with walking to create a calorie deficit and achieve fat loss, including the reduction of belly fat.

Highlights

Belly fat is difficult to lose due to genetics prioritizing abdominal fat storage.

Creating a calorie deficit is essential for losing fat, including belly fat.

Exercise alone is not enough; a calorie deficit through diet is the primary method for fat loss.

High-intensity cardio can burn calories quickly but may not be sustainable for long-term fat loss.

A 170-pound individual can burn approximately 12 calories per minute running at 6 mph.

Traditional cardio has high dropout rates due to its demanding nature.

Walking is an underutilized but effective form of cardio for long-term fat loss.

A 2021 meta-analysis suggests that walking can be as effective as intense cardio for fat loss.

Walking at 3 mph can burn 3.4 calories per minute, which adds up over time.

Incorporate walking into daily life for consistent calorie burning and fat loss.

Setting realistic step count goals can help increase daily activity and contribute to fat loss.

A study found that adding 5 minutes of walking per hour at work can lead to significant fat loss over a year.

Walking is a low-stress, versatile form of cardio that can be easily maintained for life.

Diet is crucial for creating a calorie deficit, and walking can supplement this for faster fat loss.

For a comprehensive approach to fat loss, consider a science-based workout and nutrition plan.

The video offers tips on how to structure a nutrition plan to speed up the fat loss process.

Walking is the number one exercise recommended for losing belly fat due to its sustainability.

Transcripts

belly fat is really easy to gain and

notoriously hard to lose it can seem as

though no matter what exercises you try

and no matter how well you eat the belly

fat just won't budge and unfortunately

with exception to surgery there is

currently no proven method of being able

to spot reduce fat from the belly there

is an exercise however that is

incredibly underutilized yet powerfully

effective when it comes to losing belly

fat today i'll share what that is and

how you can start using it right away

first off let's talk about why belly fat

is so hard to lose in the first place

this was first brought to attention in

literature back in 1997 by dr bouchard

where he discovered that certain areas

of your body are easier to lose fat than

others and is largely determined by

genetics they found that although some

individuals seem to be less inclined to

store fat around their abdomen most

people's genetics prioritize abdominal

fat loss last now having your genetics

stacked against you may seem problematic

if you're looking to develop a slim or

lean looking abdomen but there is a

solution as long as you create a calorie

deficit and continue to burn more

calories than you consume every day you

will continue to lose fat eventually if

maintained long enough you will lose

excess fat from all areas of your body

even if your genetics put your belly fat

at the back of the lime and although

your diet should be your main way of

creating a calorie deficit adding

additional exercise can help speed it up

and ensure that you're continuing to

lose fat even as your metabolism slows

down now you guys are smart and you're

probably already aware of this and may

have attempted to burn more calories and

shred belly fat faster by incorporating

things like running rowing cycling or

even hit workouts these forms of cardio

tend to burn calories very quickly

making them seem like a great way to

burn off belly fat over time for example

based on what's known as a compendium of

physical activities a regularly updated

database that outlines the calorie burn

for various exercises a 170 pound

individual compared to if they were

digested around can expect to burn

roughly an additional 12 calories per

minute when running at a moderate pace

of 6 miles per hour so 30 minute running

session would lead to a net total of

about 360 calories burned do that three

times a week for a year and that would

lead to an additional 56

and 160 calories burned and given that

back in 1958 researcher wishnovsky

discovered that losing one pound of fat

requires burning 3 500 calories more

than you consume then this routine would

amount to about 16 pounds of additional

fat loss per year now while this does

sound great on paper the truth is the

overwhelming majority of people can't

actually stick with traditional cardio

long enough for fat loss to reach

stubborn areas in fact even in studies

where subjects are assigned to cardio

sessions to do

dropout rates tend to be on average

almost 20 percent it's not that these

methods don't work because they do i've

personally used running and hit

regularly in the past to get me down to

very lean levels in fact i used to

believe that these intense cardio

sessions were the key to burn off

stubborn fat but they were brutal they

required a lot of willpower i got sore

from them and really impacted my energy

and i just dreaded doing them most of

the time and although i stuck it through

and eventually did get the six pack it

was after simply because i was burning a

lot of calories i just couldn't get

myself to continue these brewing

sessions especially outside of summer

time and eventually i had lost a lot of

the progress i've made now don't get me

wrong these forms of cardio they do

definitely have their place and some

people have no problem sticking to them

in fact i still do these intense

sessions once or twice a week for

conditioning but i no longer rely on

them as my main form of cardio to lose

fat and nor should most people because

if you want to lose your belly fat and

more importantly keep it off once it's

gone then you need something that you

can stick to for life what's the

solution

it's the easiest to maintain the lowest

stress lowest fatigue most versatile

form of cardio walk in

now i know what you're thinking walking

doesn't burn many calories and there is

no way i can walk my way to a six-pack

years back i would have said the exact

same thing but a 2021 meta-analysis

titled slow and steady or hard and fast

helps shed some light on the matter the

researchers analyzed a total of 54

studies to determine the effect that

different types of cardio had on fat

loss what they found is that intense

forms of cardio like hit or running

while time efficient didn't provide any

superior fat loss effect when compared

to longer yet less intense forms of

cardio such as walking which makes sense

it's simply a numbers game your body

doesn't care whether the calories you

burned were from some crazy intense

fasted cardio session or from plain old

walk-in what matters most is what you

can do consistently over time and if you

quench the numbers you'll actually find

that the calories burned from simply

walking can very quickly add up to a

meaningful amount for example using the

same exercise database we used earlier a

170 pound individual walking at a casual

three miles per hour can expect to burn

an additional 3.4 calories per minute

and roughly 200 calories per hour if for

three days per week you add in an extra

hour of walking that would amount to 600

additional calories burned per week over

the course of the year that's an

additional 31 200 calories burned which

would amount to about nine pounds of fat

loss and the math checks out in the

literature as well with one of the few

studies out there analyzing watkins

effect on fat loss finding that subjects

who simply added in two and a half hours

of brisk walking per week experienced an

additional 3.5 pounds of fat loss over

the course of 12 weeks now although

hours of walking may sound like a lot it

doesn't have to be all at once later in

this video i'm going to show you how to

incorporate this into your life

effortlessly but first just compare the

walk-in routine to the running routine

that i gave earlier yes the running

routine will burn more calories in less

time but be honest with yourself how

likely would you be to keep that up for

a whole year if you're like most people

and you go all out for two months but

then become inconsistent and give up

after that that's 16 pounds of

additional fat loss we calculated

becomes just a couple pounds nowhere

near enough fat for most people to even

come close to burning through their

excess belly fat this is why walking is

the number one exercise to lose belly

fat and is why it's now my main form of

cardio to get lean and stalin it's easy

to stick to

so now that i've hopefully convinced you

of the power of walking let's dive into

how you can easily start applying it to

lose fat

the first step is to determine an

average of how many steps you're

currently taking you can use a health

app on your iphone or use google fit if

you're on android after week see what

your daily average comes up to if you

already know this great i'd like to know

as well so do me a favor and comment

below how many steps you're currently

taking and if you have any tips that

helped you increase it or what obstacles

may be holding you back some of you

however might be surprised with how few

steps you're taking but this is a good

thing as it means that you have a big

opportunity to bump that up for example

here's one of our built with science

program members devin who recently hit a

plateau and simply bumped up his step

count up from 3 000 steps to around 8

000 to 10 000 per day and is back to

losing fat every single week especially

in his stubborn areas it's simple but it

works for most people though i wouldn't

recommend trying to jump all the way up

to something like 10 000 steps right

away instead set a realistic goal and

for example first aim to do an extra 2

000 steps a day given that the average

individual takes about 1200 steps during

10 minutes of walking all you have to do

is throw in two 10 minute walks into

your day to accomplish that once you're

consistent with that try bumping it up

by another 2000 steps and continue doing

this with the goal of consistently

getting at least 8 000 steps or even up

to 15 000 steps per day which seems to

be the range that provides the greatest

fat loss and health benefits the key

though is to make this fit your

lifestyle some tips i personally use are

to always choose a bar parking spot

take the longest way to the washroom do

10 minutes of incline wall kit after

each workout take 10 minute walks after

each meal

take the stairs instead of the elevator

whenever possible listen to podcasts

while walking and more and for those who

are busy in the office all day a study

that had subjects add just five minutes

of walking per hour into their office

day found that over the course of the

year it would amount to over nine pounds

of additional fat loss in this case you

can also try to aim for a higher step

count on the weekends to boost your

weekly average but trust me these little

things add up apply these tips and

you'll be surprised with just how much

they can increase your step count and

even more surprise once you notice the

fat slowly coming off

that said guys i want to emphasize that

walking or any form of cardio is only

effective for fat loss if it's used in

combination with the diet think about it

the calories you burn from a whole hour

of walking or 30 minute run is

equivalent to the calories in three

pieces of toast which you can consume in

literally a matter of seconds so use

your diet as a primary way to create a

calorie deficit and supplement it with

walk-in to help speed up the process and

if you need help with putting this all

together into an easy to follow

science-based workout and nutrition plan

that you can trust will work to help you

burn off stubborn fat and build lean

muscle then head on over to build with

science.com and take our analysis quiz

to find the best program for you i'd

also highly recommend that you give this

video a watch next which is going to

cover some tips on how to structure your

nutrition plan to help further speed up

the fat loss process thank you so much

for watching don't forget to subscribe

and see you next time