“I want to lose fat here and here.” As a personal trainer, I hear this all the time. “I want to lose fat in the back of my arms and thighs.” Wanting to lose fat in a particular spot is called spot reduction in the fitness industry. “Lose belly fat by doing these ab exercises.” Ever heard this before? Well, let’s dive into the facts of why this is deceiving.
First, the body doesn’t choose to lose fat in one spot. Just because you do a lot of sit-ups, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to lose belly fat. Again, it comes back to body fat percentage. There’s 3,500 calories in one pound of fat and if you don’t burn or lose that, then body fat wouldn’t drop. So no matter how many crunches you do, your waist wouldn’t drop unless body fat is dropping.
Secondly, is the “burning” sensation. “Oh, I feel the burn. I must be losing it there.” Technically, the muscle is activating and you are building that area. However, in order to see the drop in inches, striations, and layers of muscle, body fat must be at a certain level. So if you ever wonder why you aren’t seeing your progress, its relative to the amount of body fat.
Ultimately, the body doesn’t choose where to lose. If that were the case, then my job would be easier. Matter of fact, I might lose my job if it were that easy. So keep the focus on dropping your body fat ladies and gentlemen and you will see your hard work show in the mirror. In next week’s blog, I want to go over why overloading one exercise will be dangerous. I will share my experience of how I ended up hurting my shoulder and needing surgery because I wanted to spot develop (increase muscle in one area and disregard the others). Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog. Stay tuned for more next Wed…………………..Kei