Should You Do Cardio Or Weights To Lose Belly Fat?

The age old question that is always debated hotly on the internet.

Should I do more cardio or more weights to lose belly fat?

Let’s compare the effects of cardio or weights on belly fat.

High levels of stomach fat are associated with many of the detrimental effects of obesity.

Diet is the main intervention for weight loss but what are the effects of different types of exercise on subcutaneous belly fat deposits.

Note: Subcutaneous fat is the fat just under the skin. The bit you can pinch. See the difference in the second image.

The Study:

A meta analysis (massive study of many studies) published in 2020, looked at the effects of aerobic exercise, weight training and combined aerobic and weight training on belly fat surface areas.

The Results.

All of the exercise interventions had a significant effect on subcutaneous belly fat.

The aerobic exercise had a weighted mean difference of -13.1 cm2 compared to non exercise participants.

The weight training had a mean difference of -5.39 cm2.

Combined aerobic and weight training had the best effects resulting in a mean difference fat loss of -28.82 cm2 in subcutaneous belly fat.

Moral of the story. Cardio and weights combined produce fantastic results for losing subcutaneous belly fat.

If you want to pinch less around your abs, it’s a great idea to combine both training modes into your weekly program.

Which option do you prefer doing more of? 

​https://academic.oup.com/advances/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/advances/nmaa090/5893536