Does Running Burn Belly Fat?

Does running help you lose belly fat, or will you just run yourself endlessly without any results to show for it?

If you’re wondering if running is a great way to lose belly fat, then you’ll uncover the truth here and how to get fast results.

Running is one of the most popular ways to exercise and is a proven way to lose weight. But when it comes to targeting belly fat, other factors, like intensity and duration, can impact your results.

The wrong forms of running will lower your results and then there’s a good chance the excess belly fat doesn’t go away. It can feel defeating and frustrating to not see any progress with burning belly fat. But there could be something you’re missing with running.

You’ll lose belly fat fast with the right science-backed running strategy. You’ll burn calories, boost metabolism, and support overall fat loss, including stubborn belly fat. Here you’ll find the best strategy for getting rid of the abdominal fat with running.

Can Running Reduce Belly Fat? The Surprising Truth

Running burns belly fat because it burns calories and boosts your metabolism.

By putting your body into a calorie deficit, you lose weight and belly fat. Your body will start burning stored fat when you burn off more calories than you consume.¹

Running has a high metabolic demand since it requires a lot of energy. The faster, more intense, and longer you run, the more calories and belly fat you’ll burn. Just going on a 30-minute run can burn 300-600 calories.

Running will improve your energy utilization by training your body to burn fat and calories more efficiently. Your metabolism will improve and increase with running, making your body better at using fat stores as a fuel source.

Hormones like adrenaline and growth hormone are released after running.²

Adrenaline helps to break down belly fat so your body can use it as fuel.³ Growth hormone boosts your metabolism, resulting in your body burning more calories and fat after you’ve finished running.⁴

You Can Out-Run a Bad Diet

All the running in the world will barely get results if the following also aren’t considered.

The following will not only help you flatten your stomach but improve your overall health. Deep visceral belly fat is dangerous for your health and could lead to serious diseases like cancer and heart disease.⁵

Balanced Diet

While running will definitely help you lose belly fat, you’ll still have to improve your diet. Running will burn calories and belly fat, but you won’t see any results if you’re consuming too many calories.

Many women get the best weight loss results by following a 1200-1500 daily calorie intake.⁶ Men usually lose weight following a daily 1500-1800 daily calorie intake. But this can depend on your metabolic rate as well as your exercise and activity levels.

Try to reduce refined carbohydrates, sugars, and starches in your diet. These foods spike insulin, which puts your body into a fat-storing mode.⁷ It’ll be very difficult to burn belly fat with insulin levels high all the time.

Build Muscle

Your body composition (fat-to-muscle ratio) will also impact your results in reducing belly fat. Without enough muscle mass, you could end up making the belly fat appear worse. This is due to the “skinny fat” effect, aka thin-fat obesity, when you appear thinner but still have flabby belly fat.⁸

Combining running with a strength training program is the best way to burn belly fat.⁹ You’ll not only put your body into a calorie deficit, but you’ll also increase muscle mass, improve body composition, and flatten your stomach.

These are the best exercises to lose belly fat. Combine them with your running or cardio workouts to flatten your stomach and love handles.

High Protein Diet

Consume a high-protein diet to maximize your muscle gains.¹⁰ Protein is needed to build muscle, but it also increases your metabolism, curbs hunger, and helps you feel fuller for longer.¹¹

Click here to get my “cheat sheet” list of the best protein foods.

Studies have found consuming 0.7-0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily is best.¹² If you have trouble reaching this amount, then consider having a low-carb protein shake daily.

Sleep and Stress

Improving your sleep quality and duration can help to lose belly fat faster. Studies have found those not getting enough sleep have higher levels of belly fat.¹³

Sleep deprivation causes you to eat more and crave junk foods.¹⁴ You also have less self control making it easier to skip runs and eat worse.¹⁵ Sleep deprivation also increases the “stress hormone” cortisol (which promotes belly fat).¹⁶

If you’re drinking alcohol at night and not seeing any results, then try cutting it out. Your body has to first burn alcohol calories so anything you’ve eaten will likely be stored as fat.

Alcohol also makes it harder for you to reach a “deep sleep” that’s optimal for recovery.¹⁶

How Long You Should Run to Lose Stomach Fat

What’s a good distance to run to lose weight? The longer you run then the more stomach fat you’ll lose.

• A 30-minute run is a great starting point for beginners. As you build endurance, you can gradually increase the duration of your runs.

• The average person will run about 2-3 miles after 30 minutes. This is an effective distance to burn a big enough number of calories for weight loss yet short enough not to cause “wear and tear” on the body.

• Aim for 3-4 running sessions per week. This running frequency will usually create a big enough calorie deficit to reduce abdominal fat.

• Try to have a consistent running schedule. Consistency is the key to getting results, and the more consistent you run then the more effective it’ll be with weight loss and losing belly fat.

• Consistency can be improved by setting goals to build up to a specific distance. These small wins will keep you motivated. Create a schedule picking consistent days and times, treating your runs like appointments.

Tracking your progress with an app or journal can be motivating to see your improvement.

What happens if you run for 30 minutes 3 times a week for a month?

Each 30-minute running session burns about 200-400 calories, depending on your weight and pace. 3 runs a week for 4 weeks equals 12 total sessions. So your total calorie burn will be around 2,400-4,800 calories.

If you made no changes to your diet, then you could only expect to lose 1-2 pounds in a month. You’ll probably only lose 1/2 inch or so off your belly for every pound of fat loss. So you’ll likely lose 1-2″ off your belly this month, running 30 minutes 3 times a week.

Now I’ll show you how to get better results than this with your runs…

How Fast You Should Run to Lose Stomach Fat

Faster running wins hands down when it comes to slow running vs fast running for weight loss.

High-intensity running creates the Afterburn Effect, also known as EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption), increasing your metabolic rate so you keep burning calories hours after finishing your workout.¹⁷

In a very popular study, an endurance-based training group trained for 20 weeks and was compared with an interval training group that trained for 15 weeks. At the end of the report, they found that those in the interval group lost 9x times as much body fat as the endurance group.¹⁸

So in this study, the interval training group lost 900% more fat than the endurance group in LESS time.

If you compare the physiques of sprinters and marathon runners, you’ll see sprinters are a lot leaner. Sprinting builds fast-twitch muscle fibers (giving you a more muscular, lean look), but marathon runners build slow-twitch muscle fibers.

Running is better than walking for weight loss and losing belly fat.

You’ll simply burn more calories by running than you would walking. But walking can be good too especially if you can’t physically run. Consider walking up hills for a higher intensity so you’ll get better results.

How to Do High-Intensity Running

A simple way to use HIIT in your runs is to find hills in your neighborhood and run up them quickly, then walk back down before repeating.

You can also set the treadmill to a higher incline, sprint, and then place your feet on the sides of the treadmill while you rest.

You can burn the same amount (or more calories) in a 20-minute high-intensity run in a 60-minute steady-state longer run. So, high-intensity running is better if you’re limited with the time you can run.

High-intensity running can also reduce your appetite by suppressing hunger hormones, making it easier to create a calorie deficit. Intense running lowers “the hunger hormone” ghrelin and improves leptin (“the satiety hormone”), making you feel fuller for longer.¹⁹

But if you prefer longer runs, you can still burn a lot of calories overall. High-intensity running can be harder on the body and temporarily increase stress levels.²⁰

For longer runs, aim for 30-60 minutes of running at least 3-4 times per week. Aim to run in the fat-burning zone, which is 60-70% of your maximum heart rate.

Use a heart rate monitor or Apple Watch to measure your heart rate continually to maximize your running performance.

Many prefer to mix things up and add variety to their runs. You can combine high-intensity running and longer runs to get the best of both worlds and keep things fresh.

A good mix is 3 high-intensity runs and 2 longer runs per week.

Best Time to Run to Lose Belly Fat

In the morning after fasting, your body will have lower glycogen (stored carbs and sugars in your muscle). Glycogen is preferred as an energy source over your body fat. But your body is forced to start burning fat stores for energy without any incoming calories and glycogen stored depleted.

You’ll get the best results by fasting for at least 10-12 hours before running.

Try to eat a lower-carbohydrate meal for dinner the night before. This makes it easier for your body to deplete glycogen stores, and you’ll have an easier time tapping into burning fat stores for energy.

Insulin levels will also be lower in the morning after overnight fasting. When insulin levels are low, your body has an easier time burning fat stores for energy.

Low insulin “unlocks” your fat stores, allowing your body to start burning them for fuel.

Your body makes ketones from your fat stores as a backup fuel source. In the morning before running, drink coffee with C8-MCTs to kickstart this ketogenic fat-burning process. Your liver quickly converts C8-MCTs into ketones, helping flip the switch to start burning fat stores as fuel.²¹

Summary

• Running Burns Belly Fat: Running boosts metabolism, burns calories, and promotes fat loss by triggering hormones like adrenaline and growth hormone. High-intensity runs burn more calories in less time and increase the “Afterburn Effect.”
• Pair Running with a Balanced Diet: Combine running with a high-protein, low-refined-carb diet to lower insulin levels, build muscle, and enhance fat burning. Diet is critical—excess calorie intake can negate running results.
• Fasted Morning Runs for Maximum Fat Loss: Running in a fasted state after 10-12 hours without food takes advantage of low insulin and glycogen levels, forcing the body to burn stored fat for energy.
• Consistency and Variety are Key: Aim for 3-4 running sessions per week, mixing HIIT and longer steady runs to optimize fat burning and stay motivated. Tracking progress and setting goals can keep you on track.