Walking Off that Belly Fat

We all know that walking is a good exercise. There's something you might want to do to give your waistline and other parts of your body a serious trimming. Adding these three road-tested ways to your ordinary walking can stroll off those pounds. Here's what you need to do.

Do Plyometrics: When you add bounding, jumping and skipping moves to your walking that is what you called plyometrics. When you do this you'll burn up to twice as many calories and more belly fat per minute than just walking at a moderate pace.

Make it work for you
1. Walk 15 minutes, building to a moderate pace.
2. Do 30 High-Knee Steps forward (alternating legs); skip for 30 seconds then walk at a moderate pace for 1 minute.
3. Do 15 Traveling Lateral Squats (turn and move sideways as you squat)in slow motion. Followed by 5 squat jumps (squat slightly, then swing arms up as you jump). If you got knee problems, do these instead. Rise up on your toes instead of jumping.
4. Walk at a moderate pace for 10 minutes.
5. Repeat step 2.
6. Walk for 5 minutes at a moderate pace, then 5 minutes at a slow pace to cool down.

Hills: Walking on hills can burn tons of calories and fat, so you'll work that stomach pooch off faster than you would on flat terrain. Uphill walks are great for strengthening and shaping your lower half. Plus you will feel stronger and go faster on level ground.

Make it work for you
Change your walking routine. Twice a week replace 25 percent of your flat route with short gradual hills. If you're new in walking, start with 20 minutes that include 5 minutes of hills. After two weeks seek out longer or steeper hills and add 10 percent more climbing each week. Your goal is to do between one-half and two-thirds of your workout on hills. If you are going to use a treadmill do this. After 10 minutes warm-up, gradually increase the inclined from 0 to 2 percent for 5 to 10 minutes. Then gradually decrease the incline in the same amount of time. Finishing to 5 to 10 minutes of flat walking. Each week or two, increase the incline by 1 percent.

Intervals: Alternating moderately paced walking with short, faster-paced intervals lets you amp up your walk without tiring yourself out. By peppering in a 30-minute walk with 10 1-minute speed bursts, for example, you can nearly double your calorie burn.

Make it work for you
Warm up at an easy pace, then walk at a moderate pace for 10 minutes. Increase speed for 1 minute. Do another 3 minutes at a moderate pace, repeat one or two times. Then do 10 moderately-paced minutes. AS you get stronger add more intervals. Aiming to alternate 1-minute speed bursts with 1 minute of moderate walking.