How Many Squats A Day To Lose Belly Fat

Staying fit and healthy is so important, and it’s clear that most people know that in the modern world. Gyms are incredibly popular, healthy eating is more practiced now and people are generally understanding the value of calories on the labels. 

The problem is, with many of us working in offices or at home - we can often lead a sedentary lifestyle. Without a physically demanding job, it can be quite difficult to keep your calorie deficit in check. 

Moreover, after you’ve finished a long and hard day's work, wherever that may be - it can be difficult to get the energy you need to motivate yourself to the gym. 

But for those who want to lose weight, they will often search for the best way to lose belly fat - it’s unsightly and can be off-putting for you and others - giving you a negative self-image and leading to possible depression. 

One of the best ways to lose weight is squats. You can do squats anywhere, but how many would you need to do a day if you want to lose belly fat?

Wait - Is It True You Can Lose Belly Fat?

This is a very important question. It is impossible to target a particular place to lose fat from. The best thing you can do is lose weight, which eventually will come off your belly. 

The body will look to body fat for energy when it is being worked, but it’s not possible to “train” or “teach” your body to have belly fat before it has fat from somewhere else. 

What you can do, however, is mix losing weight with targeting muscle areas. For example, if you’re doing a lot of cardio to lose weight and then doing crunches, chances are you are going to be toning your abdominal muscles. This will, over time, look better. 

As with any sort of weight loss program though, the important aspect of it along with the workouts is to control your diet. We gain weight through a poor calorie ratio. If you’re intaking more calories than you’re burning off, you’ll store the energy as fat. 

In reverse, if you are burning more calories a day than you’re taking in, you’ll lose weight through the energy being taken from stored fats. 

This is the reason why so many people that work in offices or from home gain weight. Not only are they close to any comfort foods they want and can snack whenever - but they’re not burning any of these calories off. 

Whereas, somebody who works with a physically demanding job such as a builder, personal trainer, military, etc - will continue burning calories throughout the day. However, if their diet isn’t right - they will also gain weight, regardless of how much they’re working. 

Squatting To Burn Calories 

So, with this information - we can discuss the way that squats can work to burn calories. 

Squats exert a lot of energy, as it takes a lot of work to do. The more you squat, the longer you squat and whether or not you’re using additional weights will all play a role in the amount of calories you’re burning. 

The heavier you are, the more energy you will use to complete squats as you’re effectively lifting your entire body weight from the floor using your leg muscles among others. 

The training method you’re employing will certainly play a part. Think of it this way, the more money you save a day - the more money you’ll have overall. If you put more money away a day than the day before, you’ll have even more. 

Calories work in this way. The more work you put in, the more calories you’ll burn off. This is the most important factor in weight loss and therefore in fat burning. 

So, to answer “how many squats a day” would not be a number as such, but rather the more you do with the right diet connected to it, the more calories you’ll burn. 

Squatting - The Bodyweight Exercise 

Squatting is very popular as an exercise for burning calories. For someone who weighs 150lbs and does 10 minutes of normal squatting, they can burn about 52kcal. Of course, this will differ depending on your weight. 

Bodyweight exercises generally are better for weight loss as they work so many muscles in your body and keep you burning calories, even after you’ve finished your workout. This is because the muscles are “repairing” themselves. 

The longer the muscles are working, the more calories you’ll burn for longer. You’re burning calories anyway as the day goes on, so put this together with your calorie burning from the workout, AND the additional calories burned post-workout. Woah!

What bodyweight exercises will do too is make you sweat and breathe heavily. This is where you’ll be losing weight. At its most basic - your weight will come off through carbon dioxide exhaling and loss of water through sweat. 

Tips For Squatting 

If you are a beginner looking to use squats as a way to lose weight, you should always start slow. Don’t go overboard! Learn the technique and then stick with it until you’ve got it right.

It’s a good idea to mix squats into other workouts including cardio and other weight training exercises, if you want the best results of weight loss. 

As you move on, introduce dumbbells into your squatting, moving your arms in and out as you squat. You could also try using a bar and really get the workout advanced. 

Summary 

There is no fixed number of squats you can do to lose belly fat, nor is it possible to target belly fat. The best way to lose belly fat is to lose weight and stick to a healthy diet.

Using squats is a great way to get your exercising in. Adding some yoga for belly fat in your routine can also help you lose fat in that area and tone your body. 

It’s always a good idea to speak with your doctor about any extreme planned change to your exercise or diet routine.