Transform your daily stroll into a powerful workout that delivers multiple benefits.

If walking is your preferred exercise, you’re making a wise choice. This low-impact cardiovascular activity not only boosts your mood but also reduces the risk of chronic diseases. A brisk 30-minute walk can enhance leg strength, improve circulation, and enhance balance. Moreover, walking can be an effective way to shed unwanted belly fat, which tends to accumulate with age due to factors like a slower metabolism, hormonal shifts, muscle loss, and lifestyle changes.

To elevate your walking routine and effectively target belly fat, we consulted an expert who shared five daily walking drills designed to trim your waistline more effectively than traditional ab workouts, especially for those over 45.

“Incorporating specific walking drills into your daily routine can often yield better results than conventional abdominal exercises such as crunches or leg raises,” explains Cody McBroom, a strength and nutrition coach, and founder and CEO of Tailored Coaching Method. “While many ab exercises focus on the rectus abdominis—the ‘six-pack’ muscle on the surface of the core—walking drills primarily engage the transverse abdominis. This deep intra-abdominal muscle functions like an ‘internal corset,’ helping to tighten the waist and flatten the stomach more effectively.”

“Specific walking drills done on a daily basis can work better than traditional ab exercises like crunches or leg raises because they primarily target a different area of the core,” explains Cody McBroom, strength and nutrition coach and the founder and CEO of Tailored Coaching Method. “Most ab exercises—especially the generic ones—usually target the rectus abdominis, which is the six-pack muscle that sits on the surface of our core. The benefit behind specific walking drills, and why they could be potentially more effective for tightening someone’s waist and flattening one’s stomach, is that these walking drills target the transverse abdominis. This is an intra-abdominal muscle and can almost act as an ‘internal corset’ for your body.”

The Stomach Vacuum

“Vacuum poses have been popular in bodybuilding for decades and can help tighten the core. For this drill, one will perform these vacuums while walking,” says McBroom.

Here’s how to do it:

1. While walking briskly, exhale all your air out and pull your belly button inward—as far back as you’re able to—toward your spine.
2. Hold this tightened position for 10 steps as you continue to take shallow breaths.
3. Relax for 10 steps.
4. Repeat for the duration of your walk.

High-Knee March

“High knees are a great way to engage your core in ways that a small, normal walking step will not do,” McBroom says. “Here’s how to use high knees while walking to activate the core.”

Here’s how to do it:

1. Drive your knee in toward your chest, alternating sides with each step. This allows your lower abs to lift your legs.
2. Pro tip: Slightly round your spine and flex your abs while breathing out and bringing your knee up at the same time.
3. You can complete these in intervals—30 seconds of high knee marches followed by 60 seconds of regular walking. Or, try to perform high knee marches for 60 seconds every five minutes.

Figure-8 Arm Swings

“This controlled but somewhat ballistic movement forces your core to engage in ways that aren’t as simple as flexing your abs, because it’s motion that you’re resisting and attempting to stabilize while it’s happening,” McBroom shares.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Hold your hands together in front of you. Alternatively, hold a one-pound weight in each hand.
2. As you walk, slightly rotate your torso as you “draw” a sideways figure-8 in the air. This motion activates the obliques, which helps tighten the sides of your waist.

Stop-and-Stabilize

“This drill is about walking and then doing a sudden stop, which creates “instability” and trains your core in a reactive way,” McBroom explains. “This happens because to keep from falling over, your transverse abdominis must instantly contract. This ‘bracing’ action tightens the internal muscles that hold the lower belly in place.”

Here’s how to do it:

1. Walk at a brisk pace for 20 steps.
2. On the 21st step, stop abruptly on one foot with the knee slightly bent.
3. Hold your balance for 3 seconds while squeezing your glutes and pulling your belly button inward.
4. Repeat this every 30 seconds for a 5-minute portion of your walk. Or, switch the intervals up as desired.

Overhead Reaches

“As we age, we often develop poor posture and tend to slouch forward. This compresses the spine and abdominal cavity, pushing the belly outward and sometimes creating an overhang look. Which is why this drill can be a great way to work on ‘decompressing’ the torso,” McBroom says.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Here’s how to do it:

1. Interlace your fingers and flip your palms toward the sky, reaching both arms overhead as high as possible.
2. While keeping your arms locked out overhead, take 30 steps. Focus on keeping your ribs tucked down without allowing your back to excessively arch.

“In summary, the way you walk matters a lot more than most people realize—especially as you age,” McBroom says. “Most people simply focus on the distance you cover, but it’s one’s posture, core positioning, breathing, and even pace, that specifically impacts the way our core looks and feels as the years go on.”