For anyone looking to lose belly fat without committing to a strict diet or gym routine, at-home walking workouts are becoming an increasingly popular option – but do they actually work? In a viral seven-day challenge, fitness creator Susie Todd followed Grow With Jo’s three-mile intense indoor walking workout every day to find out, using fast-paced marching and dance-style cardio (think 90s step workouts) to get her heart rate up without leaving the house. She kept her diet exactly the same – the only change was introducing Grow With Jo’s living-room friendly workout.
The workout in question explicitly claims to target ‘lower belly fat’, and while no exercise can specifically target stomach fat alone (or any particular area of fat), studies show that regular aerobic exercise like brisk walking can help reduce overall body fat and visceral belly fat over time – even without extreme dieting. One review published in the International Journal of Obesity found aerobic exercise significantly reduced abdominal fat, while research from Harvard Medical School confirms that moderate-intensity exercise like walking is particularly effective at reducing harmful visceral fat (belly fat) around the organs. Read on for exactly what the week taught Susie – and her honest results.
The workout
Grow with Jo’s 3-mile intense lower belly fat indoor walking workout lasts 53 minutes. You’ll walk around 5000 to 6000 steps, and Jo claims you’ll burn around 400-600 calories, though this will depend on various factors including age, weight, height, fitness level and more. No equipment is required, and the whole workout is performed standing. According to Reddit users, the intensity level is a 9-10; it’s beginner-friendly but challenging enough to suit advanced levels.
Susie’s learnings1. The workout is challenging enough to get a sweat on
YouTube
‘Hello guys, it is day one. I’m about to do the Grow With Jo workout. It’s like 3:30pm. She’s doing like a boppy walk, I guess to keep your heart rate up so you burn more calories. My rhythm is atrocious. This is very fast paced. I haven’t really broken a sweat thus far…
‘One minute and 37 seconds later, I’m definitely sweating now. I feel like I’m dying. She’s an absolute trooper. I just popped something. I’m literally dripping wet. Do I look good whilst doing this? Okay, I don’t know if you guys can tell, but I am feral with sweat right now. Like literally, can you see the sweat on my back?
‘So, a couple of things about the workout: it was super easy to follow. I really liked how happy she was the whole time, and I also really liked that she was actually sweating – like dripping with sweat. Usually fitness YouTubers sweat a little bit, but they don’t even look like they’re struggling. She looked like she was kind of struggling a little bit, so it made me feel a lot better. It felt a lot more real.’
2. It’s a good running alternative
‘When I usually do cardio, I’ll have an asthma attack from literally running because it gives me so much heartburn that I can’t breathe. I really struggled, don’t get me wrong, and I know it was working because I was sweating, but I didn’t feel like I needed to have an asthma attack, which was so good. So thumbs up to the workout. I actually really enjoyed that and it was really fun, but I’m definitely glad it’s over.’
3. Music and podcasts can help with motivation
‘It’s day four. I’ve got to be honest, I don’t feel like doing this at all. I’m going to put on my own music and hopefully that motivates me because I do not feel motivated.
‘I always get comments from people asking me how I stay so motivated and honestly, it’s not really motivation. It’s kind of just forcing myself to do the workout when I don’t feel like doing it because I know I’m going to feel better after I do it.
‘I’m so glad that’s over. I thought that was really going to drag on because I so wasn’t in the mood. I decided to put on a podcast to distract myself. Podcasts keep me entertained, so that actually went really quick once I put one on. I just put on Happy Hour with Lucy and Nikki, one of my recent saves. Day four done.’
4. Repeating the same workout can cause injury
YouTube
‘Today I don’t really want to do the walking workout because I’ve kind of hurt my foot and I have this bad heel pain when I step on it. I think it’s from overdoing the stomping when I was working out. I think just keep in mind that you want to make sure you’re doing these workouts on a mat. Just be mindful of how much pressure you’re putting into your feet and ankles.
‘I’m also just not completely into the idea of working out today. I’m feeling a bit lazy, I’m not gonna lie. So instead we’re going to try Grow With Jo’s “Lazy Girl Full Body Fat Burn Workout”. It’s 10 minutes – that sounds like my kind of workout. No jumping, low impact, at home. I think this will be fine to do with my sore foot.’
5. It doesn’t burn as many calories as it claims
‘Okay guys, it is day seven and it is the final day of doing the Grow With Jo walking workout. I’ve got my Fitbit on, so we’re going to track how many calories this actually burns. She claims that it burns over 600 calories. We’ll see. Mine may be a bit less because I might have to take it a little slower because of my foot.
‘Altogether this workout burnt 423 calories, so it’s not 600-plus like she said. Well, she has an Apple Watch so it could be that the calorie calculation is different on each watch. It could also have to do with the intensity she was doing it at and her heart rate. It has to do with a lot of different things.
I’m still really happy with 423 calories. I mean, that’s like a good breakfast. So basically I burnt off my breakfast, which is awesome. But the most important thing isn’t the amount of calories you burn, it’s how you feel doing the workout.’
6. It’s a simple and easy workout – but doing it daily can get boring
YouTube
‘Something I regret is doing the same workout every day for a week. That’s something I’d recommend – switching up the workout. She has so many on her channel: dancing workouts, walking workouts, ab workouts, booty workouts. Even though I got a bit bored by the end of it, when I started I thought it was such a fun workout to do and also super simple and easy to follow, which is great.’
7. It’s perfect for when outdoor walks aren’t possible
‘It’s not like you need a massive amount of coordination to do this workout. I don’t know if she came up with walking workouts, but I think it’s so cool that she’s done something you can do in the comfort of your own home when you don’t have the option of actually going for a walk outside. I love how motivating she is in the videos. She’s so happy, she really gets you into it.’
Susie’s results
YouTube
‘And here is my body on day one versus my body on the morning of day eight. I don’t see a massive difference between the before and after, but it’s more about the way you feel on the inside – and I was feeling great.
‘I don’t think the difference physically is that drastic, but then again it’s only been a week. You need to do something consistently to see real results.
‘So my final thoughts are that I really enjoy Grow With Jo’s channel and I’m definitely going to keep doing her workouts. If you’re watching this, Jo, keep it up – I love what you’re doing.’
Benefits of indoor walking workouts
The expert: Kate Neudecker is a qualified PT and fitness writer.
- They’re free
- They’re convenient and can be done at home
- They’re accessible for all levels – read on for progressions and modifications
- They’re low-impact
- They boost cardiovascular health
- They can improve blood sugar regulation and ease perimenopausal symptoms
- They improve mood and reduce stress
- They ease joint pain by producing synovial fluid to lubricate your joints
- They build muscle strength
- They’re pre and postnatal-friendly
Indoor walking workout progressions: 3 ways to make them harderIndoor walking workout modifications: 4 ways to make them easier
- Reduce the pace and go at your own speed
- Miss out every other strength exercise (if these are included in your indoor walking workout)
- Use a walking pole or balance stick if you struggle with balance
- Perform only the first half of your chosen indoor walking workout until you feel confident to complete the whole session
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As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.