How to Walk Off Belly Flab

Walking is an effective way to strengthen and tone your muscles without the strain of a high-impact workout. Your body will feel noticeably more fit after only six weeks of walking at least four times each week. Although walking alone produces results, tweaking your workout to include movements such as bounding, hopping, and jumping, increased speed, interval training and hill climbs will drastically boost the potency of your daily walk, allowing you to reach new levels of fitness and stamina. Adults should get a minimum of two and a half hours of aerobic exercise every week for at least ten minutes at a time.

Instructions

  1. Plyometrics (bounding, skipping and jumping to develop muscle)

    • 1

      Walk for 15 minutes, working up to a comfortable pace.

    • 2

      Add moves to your walk such as jumping, skipping, high-knee steps and traveling squats. Work the plyometrics into your walk in 30-60 second intervals, tightening your abdomen for a strong core and returning to a walk for only as long as necessary between the intervals.

    • 3

      Increase your workout each week, lengthening the plyometric intervals to 1-2 minutes and walking less frequently. Continuing to include bursts of high-intensity exercise in your workout will cause you to burn more calories and reduce your body fat percentage.

    Increased speed

    • 4

      Walk at a speed that is about 75 percent of your maximum ability. Depending on your fitness level, this could be anywhere from three to four and a half miles per hour.

    • 5

      Increase your walking speed slightly each week, never allowing yourself to drop below three miles per hour. Studies have shown that the faster you walk the more abdominal fat you burn; while you may burn the same number of calories as someone who walks slower, walking at an increased speed will decrease your belly fat more significantly.

    • 6

      Be aware of your posture while you walk. Tighten your abdominal muscles, stand up tall, and relax your shoulders. This will help you increase speed and get the most out of your workout.

    Interval training

    • 7

      Alternate rigorous activity with mild activity.

    • 8

      Incorporate intervals of brisk walking into your daily walk or, depending on your fitness level, short bouts of jogging. Not only will interval training help you burn more calories, you will finish your workout in less time.

    • 9

      Increase the length of your intense activity intervals every week. Adding high intensity intermittently into your exercise targets stomach fat first and burns general body fat more quickly than longer, less rigorous workouts.

    Hill climbs

    • 10

      Add hills to your daily walk. Walking uphill will increase the amount of calories you burn and escalate your cardiovascular workout.

    • 11

      Tighten your abdomen and walk as briskly as you are able. Though the hill-climb workout focuses on sculpting your legs and butt, you can make your stomach a part of the workout by tightening your stomach muscles, lengthening your spine and walking with lighter steps.

    • 12

      Increase the gradient of the hills you walk up each week. The steeper the hills, the more intense your workout will be.