The Best Exercise for Losing Belly Fat After Having a Baby

Most women are ready to return their pre-pregnancy size after delivery. While you'll lose some weight by giving birth, excess fat may stick around, particularly in your belly. The best way to lose fat is to burn more calories than you consume. This requires cutting calories from your diet and burning calories through exercise. Walking is an ideal form of postnatal exercise, recommended by the Mayo Clinic, because it allows you to tailor a routine based on your ability and schedule and you can bring your baby with you. Talk to your obstetrician about when it is safe to return to exercise after delivery

1 Start slowly. Take a short walk once a day and gradually add time to your walking schedule as your endurance and strength improve.

2 Build your walking routine until you are exercising for at least 150 minutes per week. This is the recommendation for most healthy women, but if you have a lot of stubborn belly fat, you may need as much as 300 minutes each week for effective weight loss. Spread this time out throughout the week for the most benefit.

3 Walk around your neighborhood, in the park or at the mall with your baby in a stroller. This allows you to fit in a workout to burn belly fat without having to find child care.

4 Break your walking routine into small chunks if you're short on time. Having a new baby is often demanding and might leave you little time to exercise. Walking for three 10-minute sessions each day is just a beneficial as walking for 30 minutes at one time. Try a walk in the morning, at lunch and after dinner to reach the recommended amount of exercise each day.

5 Add strength training moves that target your belly two to three times each week. While cardiovascular exercise helps burn belly fat, strength training tones and defines the muscles in the area. Planks, squats, woodchops, inchworms and crunches are good choices. Moves that require balance, such as pushups and stepping, are also beneficial for working your abdominal muscles. Do 15 to 20 repetitions of each exercise.