More than the thighs or buttocks, the stomach is the part of the body that generally suffers the most from a poor lifestyle or the aftermath of pregnancy.

In addition to a healthy and balanced diet, it is unreasonable to expect to have a perfectly flat stomach without regular physical activity.

Which sports disciplines are best suited to lose belly fat and make it firmer?

Without sport, achieving a firm and flat stomach is pure fantasy. The key is to find out which physical disciplines put the greatest strain on the abdominal muscles and burn the most calories during a session.

These include walking, running, swimming, cycling and even yoga. Each of these has a specific effect on the tummy and has a different effect on firming it and “burning fat”. What these disciplines have in common is that they develop endurance and thus enable their practitioners to eliminate their calories over time.

Walking and running to lose weight quickly

To regulate your weight more easily and increase your chances of losing weight, walking deserves the greatest attention. No particular physical predisposition is required, but it should be practised for at least 30 minutes to start feeling the effects on your stomach.

Walking will generate a burning of calories which will automatically be reflected on the stomach. On average, 125 calories are burned during a 30-minute walk.

Running is another essential discipline for toning and building up the stomach, and it also develops endurance and draws more fat from the reserves, depending on the length of the session and the distance covered. Running leads to rapid weight loss and has the advantage that it can be done in groups, which makes it more fun and friendly.

While contracting the abdominal muscles with each stride, a 30-minute jog will burn an average of 400 calories for a beginner.

Swimming, cycling and yoga: the other flat belly solutions

Other sports disciplines are just as beneficial for the stomach. First of all, swimming does not only work the abdominal muscles because of the resistance of the water.

Whether it’s your thighs, back, legs or arms, swimming impacts a large number of muscles. In one hour of swimming, 400 to 600 calories are burned. Cycling, on the other hand, is ideal both for building a firm stomach and for drawing on your fat reserves. Cycling for an hour consumes 236 calories.

Another practice that is more suited to people who do not wish to engage in an activity that is too physically intense, yoga is a perfectly feasible option for building up your belly without even realising it.

By working on breathing, which plays a major role in the process of firming up the body, yoga can be usefully complemented by various home exercises such as, for example, gainage (maintaining the abdominal muscles with contraction of the buttocks for several seconds), squats (ideal for getting a toned tummy and strengthening the back) or carrying out series of oblique abs (for reshaping the waistline and building up the obliques).

To achieve a firm stomach and get rid of excess fat, certain physical disciplines such as those mentioned above are highly recommended. How can you achieve visible and lasting results? Simply by practising them regularly and by combining them with a balanced diet in all circumstances.