How Many Squats A Day To Lose Belly Fat?
Reading Time: 11 minutes If you’re worried you’ve left it too late to be ‘beach body ready’, just remember it’s never too late to start a new journey, especially if it will improve your health and fitness in the process.
We understand how frustrating it is to lose weight, and we also understand how great junk food sometimes tastes, and how much it sucks having to deal with hunger. If you are looking to burn fat and improve your physique and your health, you must be willing to make some sacrifices and clean up your diet.
Diet, however, is only part of the battle. To maximize weight loss, improve your health, and improve your body as well, you should also exercise.
Now, when it comes to belly fat, people think that cardio is the only way to train to lose weight. That is not the case. Another effective way of losing weight is through resistance exercise.
Squats are not only ideal for building muscle in your legs, but they’re also fantastic for people who are trying to lose weight. But what are the most effective ways to lose weight, which squat variations should you do, and how many squats a day to lose belly fat?
What Are Squats?
When people talk about squats, in a gym sense at least, people typically think of high bar barbell squats, performed in a squat rack with a barbell resting on the traps. While these are arguably the king of the squats, many other squat variants can be performed, and we’ll look at those later.
Assuming you are indeed referring to barbell squats, however, this exercise is a compound exercise performed with a barbell, that is designed to work all major lower body muscles.
Barbell squats will hit your hamstrings, your quads, your glutes, and even your calves.
Not only that, but many consider them to be the most functional exercise you could ever perform while working out.
Squats are great because not only do they build strength and muscle, but they also help assist with mobility, flexibility, and stabilization, while also burning fat in the process.
Can You Target Belly Fat Loss?
Okay, first and foremost, before you go any further, we need to clear something up. Yes, we are looking at how many squats per day to burn belly fat, but that title should not be taken too literally.
You see, it is not possible to do exercise, eat certain foods, or track your calories with the sole purpose of targeting belly fat.
It is not possible to spot-reduce belly fat, no matter how hard you try.
The fact of the matter is that wherever your body has stored excess body fat if you burn fat, that’s where you’ll lose it from.
It just so happens that the vast majority of people store excess body fat in their stomachs.
If you exercise and diet, you will lose weight and if there is fat around your belly, you’ll lose it from there.
You will also, however, lose it from other parts of your body, such as your face, your arms, your butt, and your thighs.
Anybody who tells you that a certain food, supplement, or exercise will target fat around your midsection is, quite frankly, talking out of their behinds because it is not biologically or scientifically possible to choose where on your body you lose weight from.
Does that mean that squats are ineffective when it comes to losing weight?
Not.
Squats are one of the best compound exercises for weight loss, and if you are looking to lose belly fat, squats will most certainly burn belly fat, as well as fat stored anywhere else on your body for that matter.
Tips On How To Lose Belly Fat
Having too much belly fat, also known as visceral belly fat, can leave you susceptible to all manner of health issues and ailments.
Visceral belly fat is fat that is stored in and around the belly. It just so happens that some of your major organs, including the liver, are also stored here. Having a layer of fat covering them puts them under a lot of strain.
Visceral belly fat is a very serious risk factor for issues such as:
- Type-2 diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Fatty liver disease
- Hypertension
- And more…
Carrying a lot of belly fat is dangerous, but the good news is that there are things you can do to lose fat, including squats. Here are some simple, yet effective tips.
Cardio
Even though squats can burn belly fat, cardio is a fantastic form of exercise for people looking to become slimmer.
Cardiovascular exercise such as running, walking 10 miles, swimming, dancing, or doing exercise bikes is ideal for anybody looking to burn those stubborn pounds.
Not only does it assist with fat loss, it also strengthens your heart and improves your stamina and endurance.
Eat More Lean Protein
Protein is a thermogenic macronutrient. This means that the body burns more calories and has to work harder while digesting it.
Not only that, but it also assists with muscle growth and repair, while also promoting feelings of satiety as it takes longer to break down.
Experts have found that those who follow diets consisting primarily of high amounts of lean protein tend to have lower belly fat levels than those who follow high-carb, high-fat diets.
Reduce Stress Levels
Stress, like hypertension, is known as a ‘silent killer’. It can lead to all kinds of health issues, some of which can be fatal.
When we experience stress, our adrenal glands produce cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is not conducive for anybody looking to lose weight.
Cortisol suppresses the metabolism, saps your energy, and increases the production of ghrelin, which is a hormone responsible for hunger. The more we produce, the hungrier we feel.
When we’re stressed we tend to crave junk food and feel hungrier. Not only do we emotionally eat, but we tend to eat more and take in more calories. Needless to say, the more calories we consume, the more fat we will gain.
While some stress is unavoidable, try to reduce and manage your stress levels as much as you can. This is not only important for losing weight, it’s also important for your health in general.
Calorie Deficit
When it comes to weight loss, you can use all of the technical terms and fancy supplements, programs, and routines that you’d like. Ultimately, however, it boils down to calories in versus calories out.
If you consume fewer calories than your body needs to maintain itself in its current form, as long as the deficit is not too large, you will lose weight.
To burn belly fat, and other body fat for that matter, work out your basal metabolic rate using one of many online calculators or formulas and then aim to consume around 300 – 400 calories below maintenance.
A deficit much larger will slow your metabolism down as your body will try to conserve energy so you’ll burn fewer calories.
Resistance Training
Resistance training with weights helps to build muscle mass and strength. We know that already, that’s nothing new. What people don’t realize, however, is that it can also help to burn fat.
Squats are probably the most difficult compound exercise in existence. Don’t believe us?
Just ask any lifter whether training chest or back is easier than training legs. Squats work multiple muscles at the same time which means that your body is working harder, and you will burn more calories in the process.
Not only that but squats also have been found to increase your metabolism and boost testosterone and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) production in the body.
This will help to increase muscle mass and boost your metabolism further. You will therefore burn more calories while squatting than you will with any other resistance-based exercise.
Different Types of Squats To Lose Belly Fat
Whether you’re using a barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells, or even your body weight, here are some different types of squats you could perform to build muscle and burn fat.
Barbell Front Squats
Barbell front squats require you to hold a barbell in front of you, over your upper chest. It allows for a different range of motion, though it is tougher than regular squats.
To Perform Barbell Front Squats:
- Begin by standing under a barbell in a squat rack, with the bar roughly at shoulder height.
- Next, place your arms under the bar so that it rests above your chest, on the front of your shoulders.
- Now, carefully un-rack the bar and take a step backward into a standard squat position, with your feet a little more than shoulder-width apart, pointing at a 10 and 2 position on an imaginary clock face.
- Now, brace your core, keep your head up and your back straight, and squat down as low as you can.
- Hold for a second and then push through with your feet into a standing position and repeat for as many reps as necessary.
Barbell Back Squats
Barbell back squats are the most common squat variant you will likely see in the gym. When gym rats talk about squats, this is the exercise they’re talking about.
Here’s How To Do Barbell Back Squats:
- Begin by placing a barbell on a squat rack at upper chest height. Step into the rack and under the bar, positioning it behind your head, and resting the bar on your upper traps. Your hands should be wider than shoulder-width, though take a grip that feels comfortable to you.
- Now, lift the bar off the rack and step backward into a squat position, with your toes facing outwards slightly, just like with a front squat.
- Brace your core, inhale, and slowly squat down, making sure to keep your head up as you squat down. Once your knees reach parallel, hold for a second, and stand up, exhaling as you do.
- Repeat for as many reps as necessary.
Bodyweight Squats
Finally, if you’re looking to turn squats into a cardiovascular-type exercise, bodyweight squats could be the way to go.
As the name implies, you do not need a barbell, dumbbell, or any other weights or equipment to do these squats. The only resistance comes from your body weight.
To Do A Simple Bodyweight Squat:
- Begin by standing with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Again, point your toes outwards slightly.
- Next, cross your arms over your chest so that your right palm touches your left shoulder, and your left palm touches your right shoulder.
- Brace your core, inhale, keep your head up and your back straight, and then slowly squat down as deep as you can go. Once you’re as deep as you can go, hold for a second, exhale, and then stand back up.
- The first few reps will feel easy because there is no extra weight, so aim for around 20 reps per set. By the end of your set, you should feel a deep burn in your legs and your heart rate should be elevated. If it is, this means that you’re burning calories.
How To Maximize Fat Loss With Squats
As mentioned, squats are not only great for building muscle and strengthening your core and lower body, but they are also fantastic for burning fat.
If you want to maximize the fat-burning potential of squats, however, there are a few tweaks that you are probably going to have to make. For example, rather than throwing a whole bunch of weight on the bar and performing just 1 – 5 reps, go lighter and do more reps instead.
Don’t forget to use the right shoes for squatting, as we recommend Vans or Converse for lifting.
Heavy weights and low reps are all well and good for strength training, but you’re not trying to get stronger, you’re trying to get rid of the stubborn belly fat around your abdomen that just doesn’t seem to want to leave.
Go with a lighter weight and perform more reps. If you are doing bodyweight squats then you should aim for at least 20 reps per set.
You should also try to reduce the amount of rest that you take between sets. Strongmen, powerlifters, and strength athletes will rest anything from 4 – 10 minutes between their sets, to get their heart rates back down.
You want to keep yours up, as this will help you to burn more calories.
Between sets, aim for 30 – 60 seconds of rest as this will help to keep your heart rate elevated and therefore help your body to burn more calories.
A very simple routine for an experienced squatter would be to perform 5 sets of 20 reps using 50% of your 1 rep squat max.
If for example, your 1 rep max for squats was 200 pounds, you’d perform 5 sets of 20 reps using 100 pounds. If you are not an experienced squatter, however, then bodyweight squats will work perfectly fine.
Either way, you can check if you can do deadlifting and squatting on the same day!
How Many Squats A Day To Lose Belly Fat?
As you can see, there is no way of targeting just belly fat if you’re looking to lose weight. When you burn fat, you will burn fat from everywhere in your body.
With that said, however, is there a magic number of squats per day for you to lose weight?
Well, sadly not. Different people lose weight at different rates. Not only that, but your diet and other exercise habits will also be deciding factors when it comes to belly fat loss.
A very popular method of losing fat while squatting, however, is by simply performing as many bodyweight squats as you can in 10 minutes.
Doing this will burn an average of 59 calories, give or take.
Split this into 4 separate 10-minute workouts, and you can burn around 240 – 260 calories per day. Create a 250-calorie deficit through diet, and you are now 500 calories below maintenance each day, which will help you to burn off 3500 calories each week.
This is roughly 1 pound of body fat. Over a month, that’s 4 pounds. Over a year, that’s 48 pounds.
Final Thoughts
Okay, so in terms of how many squats a day to lose belly fat, we recommend 4 x 10-minute squat sessions each week, along with a calorie-controlled diet.
If that sounds a little too full on, how about 5 x 20 reps per day, so basically 100 BW squats each day? At the end of the day, any exercise is beneficial and will help you to lose weight, especially squats, which are one of the most functional exercises you could wish for.
