Building muscle can help you burn fat, but can it burn belly fat specifically? "Not directly. Lifting weights will help you develop muscle," Rondel King, MS, CSCS, an exercise physiologist at NYU Langone's Sports Performance Centre, told POPSUGAR.
"As a result, your resting metabolic rate (how much energy/calories your body burns at rest) will get higher. You'll essentially be burning more calories, and that can potentially lead to overall weight loss, which includes fat as well," he explained.