While many people believe intense HIIT sessions are the answer to belly fat loss, there may be easier ways to shed pounds without pushing the body to exhaustion.
Niamh Wortham recently took to TikTok to address a common challenge faced by dieters on their fitness journey: ‘What should I be doing if I want to lose body fat?’.
The fitness enthusiast believes Zone 2 steady state cardio is the secret to melting pounds. She wrote in the caption of her post: “If your main goal is fat loss, then you need to be implementing this into your weekly routine.
“A lot of people immediately believe that working to lose body fat, you need to be working out as intensively as you possibly can, doing things like HIIT workouts.
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The fitness enthusiast insists you don't need HIIT workouts to burn body fat
|TIKTOK / FITWITHNIAMH_
“Although that style of training is also amazing and helps improve our cardiovascular health, while being able to burn a lot of calories in a short period of time, it primarily uses carbohydrates for fuel due to short, intense bursts of activity followed by rest.
“It improves the ability to perform high-intensity efforts repeatedly.”
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She explained the workout is also ideal for building a strong aerobic foundation, which helps boost the metabolism long-term.
Niamh admitted she used to avoid cardio altogether and barely managed to hit a daily step count of 5,000, but has now completely transformed her routine.
“I currently do three 30-minute sessions of 30 minutes of steady cardio at the end of my sessions, along with 10k steps a day, which I found has improved my progress so much,” Niamh explained.
She went on to explain that in Zone 2 cardio, you exercise at 60 to 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate, pushing the body to primarily burn fat for fuel.
“It’s also sustainable and low-stress on the body, so it’s easier to recover from than high-intensity workouts, allowing for frequent training without over-training,” she added.
For optimal fat burn, Niamh repeat the workout between three to five times per week for 30 to 60 minutes.
Zone 2 steady-state cardio helped Niamh melt the pounds
|TIKTOK / FITWITHNIAMH_
Niamh is among many fitness enthusiasts who swear by cardio for weight loss. Recently, Johanna Sophia declared on her YouTube channel that "walking is one of the best ways to lose belly fat", after toning up her midsection post-partum.
Having lost 3st 8lb, Johanna explained: "Walking workouts can burn just as many calories as running workouts. It may just take a little longer, but it's just as effective."
She praised the workouts for requiring no equipment and being able to perform them consistently, even in limited spaces.
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