Does Running Distance in Track Help Flatten Your Stomach?

When you run across a track, you might feel the benefits of exercise primarily in your legs and hips. But running can play a key role in helping reduce fat throughout your body, and this can help you flatten your stomach eventually. Everyone is different, though, and the amount of running you'll need to do to lose weight depends upon your current weight and overall body fat.

  1. Body Fat Reduction

    • No matter how many crunches you do, you can't reduce fat at a single point on your body. Running burns calories to create energy, and if you burn enough calories, you'll begin shedding fat everywhere, including along your stomach. With the right workout routine or combination of workout and dietary modifications, you can generally expect to lose a pound or two of fat per week.

    Building Muscle

    • As you lose fat along your stomach, your stomach might not look much different if you're not also building muscle. To get a toned, six-pack look, you'll need to do strength training that targets your stomach. Try exercises such as crunches on an exercise ball, bicycle crunches, the captain's chair crunch and the reverse crunch. According to the American Council on Exercise, these are among the most effective abdominal workouts.

    Amount of Exercise

    • The longer you run and the more frequently you do so, the more weight you can lose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that, if you're doing intense exercise such as running, you'll generally need about 75 minutes of exercise per week. However, if you're trying to lose weight rather than just maintain health, MayoClinic.com recommends up to 300 minutes of exercise per week. Long-distance running can help you meet this goal because you'll spend more time running than if you were sprinting.

    Healthy Diet

    • Even if you do plenty of ab exercises and run every day, you might not notice a change in your abs if you're not also eating a healthy diet. To lose weight, you have to create a caloric deficit. This means burning more calories than you take in, and for every pound you want to lose, you'll need to burn 3,500 calories. Running requires caloric energy, though, so avoid crash dieting and starving yourself. Instead, cut out high-calorie snacks and sweetened drinks and aim to eat several small, healthy meals throughout the day.