Deficit and spot reduction?????

lauriehouse

I've heard a lot of users throw around the word 'deficit' or calorie deficit. Can someone explain to me what that is?

And spot reduction is new too. I know what that means but it seems unfair. I go to the gym and do the ab crunch machine, does that mean I won't tone up my abs or lose any weight?! I want to tone my middle up abit and I thought going to the gym would be the way to do it.

howardheilweil

There is a difference between toning muscles and losing weight. You can definitely target various parts of the body with resistance exercises. But, if there is a layer of fat in your abdominal area, all the crunches in the world won't really help. Eating at a caloric deficit will and that is what MFP will help you with. If you followed the set-up process, MFP should have asked you a bunch of questions regarding your life-style, etc... It should then have provided you with a daily calorie target. This target is established with a built-in deficit, so that you are burning more calories then you are consuming. That is how you will lose weight.

RGv2

What everyone said about what a caloric deficit is.

You can't "tone" your midsection. Tone comes from reduced overall BF%.

You can do 10,000 crunches a day but your body will take fat to burn as fuel from whatever part of the body it wants first, and on most people the midsection is the last place. In order to "tone" your midsection:

Diet (modest caloric deficit) + Work (Cardio and Compound Strength training) + Patience.

You can get there with 1 and 3, but may not be as happy with your results if you don't add in the work.

One thing you'll notice here. Many of the individuals with "toned" midsections do little to no isolated Ab work.

lauriehouse

Thanks for the help guys. Although I'm a bit disappointed that doing crunches and stuff won't tone my midsection. Are those exercises worth doing? Do they help at all?

cwolfman13

I've heard a lot of users throw around the word 'deficit' or calorie deficit. Can someone explain to me what that is?

And spot reduction is new too. I know what that means but it seems unfair. I go to the gym and do the ab crunch machine, does that mean I won't tone up my abs or lose any weight?! I want to tone my middle up abit and I thought going to the gym would be the way to do it.

You need XXXX calories per day just to maintain your weight...this includes all of your calorie requirements for just being alive and pumping your heart and lungs, etc to your day to day hum drum to your exercise. To lose weight, you cut calories from your maintenance level of calories, thus giving you an energy (calorie) deficit requiring your body to dip into fat stores to meet it's energy needs.

You can't spot reduce...this means you can't pick and choose where your body takes fat from...it takes fat from everywhere and anywhere it wants. You will lose last from primary fat stores like the belly area. You'd be much better served actually doing some compound lifts like squatting and dead-lifts rather than endless crunches. You get a lot more bang for your workout buck.

RGv2

Thanks for the help guys. Although I'm a bit disappointed that doing crunches and stuff won't tone my midsection. Are those exercises worth doing? Do they help at all?

You're just as we'll if not better off looking into compound movements. Dead lifts, squats, etc work you're entire body, including the core making your body stronger and more efficient.

As I stated before, tone in your midsection comes from diet, cardio/ compound strength, and patience. You can do crunch machines all day long, but if your body has fat in other areas to burn, it will take from there. The body on most people turns to belly fat for fuel lastly.

And you'll notice that many on here with "toned" mid sections do little to no isolated abdominal work

jonnythan

Thanks for the help guys. Although I'm a bit disappointed that doing crunches and stuff won't tone my midsection. Are those exercises worth doing? Do they help at all?

They're pretty good at messing up your back if you don't have the proper balance of strength. So there's that.

EXRX is a phenomenal website for exercise information. Here's a blurb of theirs on spot reduction:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Myths.html#anchor7319578

And here is something they say about dangerous exercises:
http://www.exrx.net/Questions/DangerousExercises.html#anchor415546