Let's face it, unless you're the kind of guy who enjoys boredom, pain and wearing wrap-around sunglasses, then running kind of sucks... but then again, so does being out of shape.

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Typically pedaled as the first step towards shredding belly fat, many guys fall short of their fitness goals because the idea of running becoming a mainstay of their workout regime is worse than no regime at all.

As the old Chinese Proverb goes: If you really don't like something, then it's pretty easy find an excuse to avoid doing it... or something like that.

With that in mind, here we detail five straight-forward (don't mistake that for easy) exercises that will trim, tone and shed belly fat, without any need to move one leg in front of the other in a brisk and tiring fashion.

1 | Rowing

One of the best all-body exercises around, there's reason that professional rowers have some of the most-enviable physiques in the athletic world.

More technique-based and stimulating than the treadmill, incorporating rowing into your regime is a fast and effective way of cutting weight.

For a short and brutal workout, set a timer for 20 minutes and alternate between one minute of medium-paced rowing, followed by one one flat-out minute (rinse and repeat 10 times each), with no breaks in between.

2 | Burpees

Still the standard-bearer for assessing fitness and stamina levels in the military (along with the pull-up), the burpee is equal parts simple and exhausting, making it an ideal staple for guys with limited time, equipment and or space.

Great as an addition to a workout or a workout in itself, try performing five sets of 10 burpees, with 30 seconds rest after each set.

A gentle jog it is not.

High Intensity Cycling

As proven by numerous studies, the key to getting the most out of the stationary bike is to cut your time spent on it, but ramp up the intensity - with even a minute of all-out pedaling proving to be highly effective for weight loss, endurance and cardio fitness.

Keeping in mind the principle of get in, get out, start with a five minute warm-up on the bike, before alternating equally between 30 seconds of high-intensity bursts and 30 seconds of medium paced pedaling, for a total of 10 minutes.

Or longer, if you're feeling like pre-downfall Lance.

Swimming

Arguably the best all-in-one workout going, swimming is easy on the joints, great for cardio and works everything from your shoulders to your abs to your legs... oh, and it can also burn more than 700 calories for each hour long session.

While most swimming workouts centre on moving the plodders out of your lane and just going for it, try and incorporate some out of pool action for a real killer routine; an example being 10-20 press-ups for every five lengths completed.

Bear Crawls

Inexplicably underrated and underperformed, the bear crawl is a grueling exercise that works your core, triceps, shoulders and quads simultaneously; something that no other exercise can really replicate.

By working so many core muscle groups, the bear crawl isn't only great for building functional strength, it also shreds belly fat and will ramp up your metabolism for hours afterwards.

Best done on an empty stomach, to begin with try and perform a 30 second-long walk out, before pausing and doing the same thing backwards. If you can, aim for five sets with a 30 second break in between each one.

Like we said, grueling.