You CAN Spot Reduce

kiachu

Absolutely. You don't need to do a single crunch to get a flat belly. You need to use up your fat storage.

Unless you have a strength deficiency in your core area crunches are a waist of time when you could be doing other things like kettlebell swings.

mirandamayhem

If you could spot reduce.. I wouldn't have love handles or a second butt!

You don't understand! You can only spot reduce CERTAIN parts of your body, not ALL of them! Silly! :laugh:

kiachu

You can tone areas up by building muscle in said areas. When people say "you can't spot reduce" they mean that doing crunches over and over WILL NOT burn the fat off your stomach (I mean unless you incorporate into a cardio routine- now we're talking) It will only build up muscle so that it may look like you are slimmer but to lose that fat you have to do cardio and eat clean.

Of course you need to eat clean and burn fat with cardio, but you can build muscle in certain "spots" to improve the amount of muscle vs. fat in those spots.

I just hear so many people so frustrated with certain spots on their bodies and people are not giving them helpful info regarding how they can improve those spots.

Okay... if someone tells me they want a flatter tummy, I'm going to tell them to do cardio and eat less and quit doing a thousand crunches every day. Because usually when people don't know what they're doing they only do "spot reducing" and don't look at the whole picture.

Absolutely. You don't need to do a single crunch to get a flat belly. You need to use up your fat storage.

Unless you have a strength deficiency in your core area crunches are a waist of time when you could be doing other things like kettlebell swings.

Keightisgr8

Magnets? How do they work?..

TallCurvyMuscles

Yep theres thing called plastic surgery

InnerFatGirl

LOL.

avir8

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

InnerFatGirl

Absolutely. You don't need to do a single crunch to get a flat belly. You need to use up your fat storage.

Unless you have a strength deficiency in your core area crunches are a waist of time when you could be doing other things like kettlebell swings.

Haha, is this a pun?

oandptech

Of course you need to eat clean and burn fat with cardio, but you can build muscle in certain "spots" to improve the amount of muscle vs. fat in those spots.

I just hear so many people so frustrated with certain spots on their bodies and people are not giving them helpful info regarding how they can improve those spots.

What you're referring to here is spot increase (increase in muscle) You CAN NOT spot REDUCE (reducing adipose tissue (fat) in a specific spot. Any reduction happens roughly everywhere there is fat. Some individuals are lucky and they just so happen to loose the fat where they want it gone. But for the vast majority of us that doesn't happen, we loose is in other places before the "targeted" areas/ I'm never going to loose my belly fat doing crunches not matter how many thousand I do, just ain't gonna happen. In fact doing a whole bunch of crunches can have a negative increase in size even though what I'd be building is muscle it would visually just be bigger. And yes, I know, more muscle= more calorie burn.

You are confusing the ratio of fat vs. muscle with "reducing" fat. It is NOT the same.

cindybickler

:huh: gotta read this all later......cheap entertainment!

kiachu

Absolutely. You don't need to do a single crunch to get a flat belly. You need to use up your fat storage.

Unless you have a strength deficiency in your core area crunches are a waist of time when you could be doing other things like kettlebell swings.

Haha, is this a pun?

No, that's just me being illiterate, but that was funny LOL.

LovelyNFit

If you can spot "increase" body building then you can spot reduce...It may not have quick noticeable results but its possible. Just my opinion from experience.

MoreBean13

If you can spot "increase" body building then you can spot reduce...It may not have quick noticeable results but its possible. Just my opinion from experience.

By muscle atrophy? Yes, I suppose that is possible. Wear a cast for awhile and you will spot reduce that area. Has absolutely nothing to do with fat though.

KellyUK1987

This thread has actually been quite informative for me. (Being someone who has just started to work out, and knows absolutely nothing about weight loss and such). I think people that know nothing, *assumes* spot reducing is possible.. I did. I thought doing sit ups etc would lose weight on my gut. Not because I'm stupid but because I'm just uneducated in this field....

Now that I've read this thread, and read the scientific stuff people have posted I, personally, now understand that 'spot reduction' is not possible, and I will no longer waste my time working on my abs, only cardio for me for now So thanks everyone.

rose_mortem

surgery is always an option if you're that desperate :laugh:

MoreBean13

This thread has actually been quite informative for me. (Being someone who has just started to work out, and knows absolutely nothing about weight loss and such). I think people that know nothing, *assumes* spot reducing is possible.. I did. I thought doing sit ups etc would lose weight on my gut. Not because I'm stupid but because I'm just uneducated in this field....

Now that I've read this thread, and read the scientific stuff people have posted I, personally, now understand that 'spot reduction' is not possible, and I will no longer waste my time working on my abs, only cardio for me for now So thanks everyone.

Wait wait wait! The answer is not "only cardio"! That message got misconstrued. There are TONS of benefits to strength training as well as cardio- the strength training 1)preserves muscle mass, 2)increases bone density 3) Teaches you CNS to use muscle fibers that you already have and haven't been using- resulting in firm and strong muscles 4)Hormonal Response that accelerates fat loss significantly over cardio alone.

But yes, unless you have some specific need to train your core, your time is much better spent by using compound movements and targeting big muscle groups- your abs and core will get trained while doing those lifts, such as Bench Press, Pushups, Overhead press, Deadlifts, Lunges, Rows and my favorite- SQUATS! A half hour 2-3x a week is all you need to spend on strength training.

Prahasaurus

I do not think the trainer was trying to sell me something. Came free with my gym membership.

Spit out my coffee on that one.

--P

InnerFatGirl

Absolutely. You don't need to do a single crunch to get a flat belly. You need to use up your fat storage.

Unless you have a strength deficiency in your core area crunches are a waist of time when you could be doing other things like kettlebell swings.

Haha, is this a pun?

No, that's just me being illiterate, but that was funny LOL.

Good one

Mighty_Rabite

Yeah, spot reduction.. not possible. It goes with this great saying I once heard, that six pack abs are made in the kitchen.

Spot toning, sure. Anyone can target a single muscle and work it out.

Best analogy I saw was the typist one.

rlmadrid

I think I love you.