spot reduction

pretty_fit

my mom says cardio doesn't help in shrinking my waistline and ab exercises will... but i told her there's no such thing as spot reduction... who's right

Luthorcrow

You are half right. Cardio is not the only game in town. Strength training also reduces fat. What your mom is right about is that if you don't work your abs they are not going to look very fit once your body fat drops low enough to seem unless you do ab work.

But no you cannot target weight loss. It just doesn't work that way.

kendf60

You're mostly right. We can't control where the fat come off of first so what ever burns the most fat off will decrease the waistline fastest. That being said, ab exercises help us keep it sucked in.

bjohs

Yep, cardio will reduce fat from the entire body. If your belly is the first place you put on the weight, it will be the last to go. So cardio will help reduce the fat in time. Exercises targeting your abs will also help to strengthen and pull your ab muscles in making them flatter and more defined. All that hard work will also start to show once the fat is reduced enough from all over. You are correct, you cannot target weight loss.

grandpabiker

Remember this (learned from a physical therapist)--First Fat On, Last Fat Off. This means wherever your first fat settled on your body will be the last to disappear. You cannot spot reduce fat (except for liposuction). You can tighten abdominal muscles to hold in the fat but the fat will still be there. Aerobics is the best natural way to burn fat. Your heart beat needs to be in the aerobic range (around 65% to 85% of your maximum heart rate). Diet alone will cause fat and muscle loss. Doing things like ab crunches will tighten your stomach muscles and burn fat (but not necessarily from the stomach). The problem with doing only ab crunches will give you a harder stomach but you will not get "in shape" because you have not strengthened your heart and lungs. My advice continue with the aerobics and incorporate your ab exercise as a form of strength training. Anytime you perform a strength exercise the "tearing" of the muscle fibers will increase your metabolism. The more aerobics you do the more "in shape" you become and the more exercise you will be capable of doing. Strength training alone produces muscles with no endurance.