When it comes to weight loss and exercise, many people have been sold by the media on the idea that you can target fat reduction in specific areas through particular exercise and diets. While it is a common belief that exercise and training a particular body part will preferentially shed the fat on that part; for example, that doing crunches is the most direct way to reduce tummy fat. This is false. Be a smarter consumer, and know that even though this claim is often made, you cannot reduce fat from one area of the body to the exclusion of others.
Why can you not have targeted fat reduction?
The reason lies in the idea of fat as a whole. When your body uses fats, most of the energy derived from fat gets to the muscle through the bloodstream. This is what reduces stored fat in the entire body. Thus, while crunches may improve the size and shape of abdominal muscles, and make them appear less fatty. You are not specifically targeting belly fat for loss. Rather, those crunches may help reduce overall body fat, affecting all parts of the body as determined by genetics. And believe it or not, stomach fat will often be the last fat removed from the body.
When you think of body function, it makes sense that you would not be able to target fat reduction, so why do so many believe it? Well, you’ve probably heard people say that the solution to unwanted “fat spots” is exercise targeted to that area: sit-ups for a tummy bulge or sessions on the stairmaster to melt away fat on the thighs. The reason people believe it is because it is possible to target muscle growth, so it seems like it would be possible to target fat reduction. However, you can target muscle growth because you actually move and work that particular muscle in the process. Fat on the other hand does not work or move, and thus fat burned during prolonged exercise comes from all areas of your body, not just the part being worked most vigorously. Fat is reduced through the blood, and your blood is not specific to certain areas.
While target fat reduction is not possible, with enough exercises, you will eventually lose the fat in the areas that the exercise is supposed to target. So many think that their work out paid off, and do not necessarily recognize that they lost fat elsewhere as well.
It is never a bad thing to try and target fat reduction, it is simply disappointing. Rather than try and target fat reduction, you should focus instead on reducing fat in general, and target muscle growth in the areas you want to reduce fat. If you do this, eat a well balanced diet that reduces fat, exercise regularly to reduce overall fat, and then build muscles in specific places, you essentially get targeted fat reduction, just the name is not really true. It should be called targeted muscle growth and overall fat reduction.
So, don’t let this or that add or exercise program fool you into thinking that you can target fat spots or areas that you want to. You are smarter than that. Know that while their exercise program will likely help you to lose fat, it is not going to be specifically from your thighs, belly, or wherever else you want to lose fat from.
Make fat reduction your target through proper diet and exercise, and before you know it, those fat spots, those areas you want to target for fat reduction will no longer be a problem as you will have overall better health, and be thinner, more active, and healthier,