"Aerobic exercise such as running, swimming or rowing raises metabolism during and after the activity, making it less likely that calories will be stored around the abdominal area, or anywhere else, as fat," Sutton says.
However, the good news is that running is one of the best forms of exercise to lose belly fat, and there are even a few small tweaks you can make to your regular running schedule to deliver a sustained fat burning boost.
"It would take a month to start seeing good results, and 12 weeks to achieve a full body transformation," White informs us. "The bottom line is it has to become a lifestyle, or the weight and body fat will eventually come back if you stop exercising.
Interval running helps with belly fat because running at different speeds at a high intensity increases the flow of oxygen to the muscles, which assists in boosting your metabolism and burning more calories. While you will lose fat by running regularly, not all fat will be belly fat.
The most effective way of flattening your stomach is a combination of strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel).
Studies have found that moderate-to-high aerobic exercise like running can reduce belly fat, even without changing your diet ( 12 , 13 , 14 ). An analysis of 15 studies and 852 participants found that aerobic exercise reduced belly fat without any change in diet.
Doing too much increases our levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which leads to tummy fat. "When you're purely running, you're not creating lovely lean muscle fat, so people end up having that 'skinny fat' look, where there is no real muscle tone because they haven't done any resistance work.
Then you go running and this also creates high levels of cortisol levels in the body, explained NASM-certified trainer Ondrea Lynn. "They go back into their life after their run and repeat the stress cycle." Increased cortisol levels can cause your body to hang on to fat on your tummy more than on other places.
With so many benefits of running 2 miles a day, like losing weight and belly fat and helping to tone your body, it's a great fitness routine to start today.
Aerobic or Cardio Exercise
Your first step in burning off visceral fat is including at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise or cardio into your daily routine. Studies show that aerobic exercises for belly fat help to reduce belly fat and liver fat.
Will running reduce face fat? No, running will not specifically reduce face fat, but it can help to burn overall body fat, which may in turn reduce face fat. To lose face fat, you need to focus on losing overall body fat through a combination of diet and exercise.
Running is a great way to get in shape and lose weight. But it's a high-impact exercise. High-impact workouts can be harder on your body than low-impact exercises like walking.
Runners sometimes gain weight because they change their diets along with their mileage, or because other factors, such as hormonal fluctuations, come into play. And, occasionally, extra pounds are actually a sign things are going right.
1. Crunches: The most effective exercise to burn stomach fat is crunches. Crunches rank top when we talk of fat-burning exercises.
So, why the rumor that running causes your face to change? “People are simply confusing causation with correlation,” Movassaghi says. “What we call 'runner's face' does indeed often correlate with a runner's body type and lifestyle, but running does not specifically cause one to have a gaunt face.”
What is runner's stomach? Runner's stomach refers to the gastrointestinal (GI) distress that occurs during a run or bouts of exercise—resulting in cramping, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and pain. Runner's trots and runner's belly are other common names for these symptoms.
Why? Well, you may feel bloated after a workout if you've been breathing hard or gulping too much water, which may cause you to swallow air. You may experience abdominal dissension if you overhydrate or drink too little, and physical exertion can cause bloating in and of itself.
The Skinny Fat Look
This happens when runners have a lot of fat deposits along the waistline (love handles, muffin tops, gut) yet skinny legs, arms, and chest. This skinny fat look stems from a combination of low amounts of muscle, a lot of aerobic training, and a high carb diet.
Within two to three weeks of running three to four times a week, strength training three times a week, and leaving days for recovery, you will notice changes in how you look. The scale may not be the best judge as building muscle can actually cause weight gain, so be sure to take weekly progress photos.
Running won't selectively lead to slim arms — just like sit-ups won't lead to flat abs. As explained by the American Council on Exercise, spot reduction of fat is a myth. But if you're looking for slimmer arms, running is one way to burn extra calories and reduce overall body fat.
As your muscles budget less energy for maintaining mass, the fast-twitch fibers in your endurance-trained muscles begin to shrink; at the same time, your slow-twitch fibers do get bigger, but not enough to offset the loss of fast-twitch size.