{"id":618032,"date":"2026-08-03T11:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/618032\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T11:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:28:12","slug":"once-a-week-walking-workout-shrinks-belly-fat-just-as-much-as-exercising-three-times-a-week-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/618032\/","title":{"rendered":"Once-a-week walking workout shrinks belly fat just as much as exercising three times a week, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MARTI STELLING, HEALTH REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 05:59 EDT, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 06:07 EDT, 3 August 2026 <\/p>\n

One session of brisk walking per week can help shed as much fat as three weekly workouts, a new study suggests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers found the benefits of one brisk walking session for body fat and heart health\u00a0were comparable to splitting bursts of the same exercise across\u00a0three days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The scientists, from the University of Hong Kong, looked specifically at interval walking – a workout that involves very fast walking interspersed with short periods of rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The four-month trial studied 315 adults with abdominal obesity – the dangerous buildup of deep visceral fat around the stomach and abdomen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Visceral fat harms health more than fat on the arms or legs because it surrounds vital organs\u00a0and raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes<\/a>\u00a0and other major illnesses.<\/p>\n

In the study, participants were assigned to one of three groups. One group completed one 75-minute session of walking interval training a week for the study period.<\/p>\n

Another group split the 75-minute session into three workouts across the week, while another acted as a control group and did no exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The researchers measured body fat using a bone density scan, which gives an accurate measurement of fat-to-muscle ratio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"One <\/p>\n

One session of brisk walking per week may help cut body fat and boost fitness nearly as much as three weekly workouts<\/p>\n

The scientists measured total body fat mass, body fat percentage and waist circumference three times: before participants started the study, immediately afterwards, and then again four months after it ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications<\/a>, found that at the 16-week assessment, both interval training groups showed similar improvement.<\/p>\n

This suggests that total exercise volume may matter more than how that exercise is spread across the week.<\/p>\n

There were no significant changes in blood pressure or cholesterol, which the authors think may be because participants’ levels were already fairly normal at the start.<\/p>\n

Waistline reductions persisted for at least four months after the exercise programme ended, although the fat-loss and weight-loss advantages had largely faded by that point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers concluded that once-weekly interval training may be a feasible and effective alternative for people who struggle to fit multiple exercise sessions into their schedules.<\/p>\n

Professor Parco Siu Ming-fai, the study’s lead researcher at the University of Hong Kong<\/a>, said:\u00a0‘While thrice-weekly interval training remains a commonly recommended approach for the therapeutic management of obesity, our findings show that once-weekly interval training offers similar benefits and represents a practical exercise strategy.<\/p>\n

‘For many adults with central obesity who struggle to balance work, study, family and other commitments, time constraints are a primary barrier to exercising multiple days per week.’<\/p>\n

‘Instead of relying solely on high-frequency exercise prescriptions, once-weekly interval training can be considered a feasible and effective alternative.’<\/p>\n

An estimated 66 per cent of adults in the UK are classified as either overweight or living with obesity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Obesity is linked to serious health risks including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and breathing problems, and costs the NHS more than \u00a311 billion a year, alongside wider losses from reduced productivity and welfare spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NHS recommends adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week, such as brisk walking.<\/p>\n

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