By Ron McDonald Jr., CPT
Here we go again, another myth bites the dust. Yeah I know how you feel about that little bit of fat on your inner thigh, under your arms, and of course around your waist line. Unfortunately you can't simply melt it away by doing exercises that specifically work the muscles in those areas.
The concept of "spot reduction" or specifically burning fat from a specific area of our bodies just because we don't like the way it looks is really a false concept. The idea of spot training is all over the TV in prime time commercials and late-night infomercials with fitness equipment that targets specific areas, vibrating ab belts, and magic pills that burn fat in specific areas. Unfortunately none of it is true as the bottom line is, that we cannot reduce fat in any one particular area of the body through exercise. This is apparent in the idea of doing more ab work to decrease abdominal fat has eluded gym-goers for years, yet no matter how many crunches you do, that stubborn fat remains. The exercise may firm up the area but will not make fat disappear in that specific area. There is no such thing as "spot reduction", because muscles do not fuel the exercises by using the fat that surrounds them. Instead, during exercise the body tends to use the fat from areas throughout the body, so the fat used as fuel during sit-ups may come from your feet, legs, back, face, or chin.
So how do I the burn fat?
Simply put you need to burn calories - lots of them. The human body follows the Law of Thermodynamics which simply means its all about calories in and calories out. You may have heard this a million times, but now it time to listen. One pound of fat is about 3500 calories. This means in order to burn one pound of fat, one must be in a caloric deficit of 3500 calories per week - approximately a 500 calorie deficit per day. According to ACSM research and guidelines, the body can safely burn 1-2 pounds of fat per week.
So the goal of your nutrition program is to control your caloric intake, but not limit. The goal of your exercise program is to burn as many calories as possible daily incorporating aerobic exercise and weight training focused on building muscle and using as many muscles as possible during the exercise. More muscles mean more calories burned all day everyday. Think about it - your abdominal muscles are relatively small, and the number of calories used during a set of sit-ups is very little. A brisk walk or jog will expend more calories than hundreds of sit-ups. So focus on burning calories.
Be Well.
