You CAN Spot Reduce

You can't spot reduce.

What your referring to is the building of muscle and changes to muscle fibers in those areas. You aren't actually necessarily reducing your fat content in those areas.

I repeat, you can´t spot reduce.

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.

*Puts on seatbelt*

You can't spot reduce.

Oh, ok. My body must be magic then.

Sorry, you're "study" isn't exactly scientific.

2 different people above you told you WHY you can't.

All you are doing is toning up the muscles. To get rid of the actual fat, to reduce the fat you have to have cardio and clean eat. Crunches and weights build muscle..

Could any of you tell me why you think you cannot spot reduce? I have even had a trainer tell me "you can't spot reduce" is a myth.

Because exercising a tricep for example, does not encourage the body to burn fat from around the tricep area......that isn't how the body works.

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.

Increasing muscle mass in a specific area is not the same as reuducing fat from a specific area, these are 2 completely difference things.

If i make my tricep twice as big, yes this is a bigger ratio of muscle/fat around that tricep -that is not the same a spot reducing.

Could any of you tell me why you think you cannot spot reduce?.

Because when you work certain areas, your working certain muscles. Working muscles may burns fat but your body wont take it all from that area, because your body has absolutely no way of 'knowing' where you want the fat to go from.

You really cannot spot reduce. We all have pre-determined fat storage patterns and when we maintain a calorie defecit we lost body fat according to those patterns.

You'll probably know a friend who has really slim legs and bum but who's belly and chest are disproportionately larger. Or the other way around.

Certainly it can appear like your crunches are burning fat around the waist, but only because this is where you personally lose your fat from first. In fact it's fairly common for women to lose upper body fat before losing from bum and legs.

The proof that you can't spot reduce is readily visible; the part of our body that moves the most is undoubtedly the fingers. Pretty much everything we do has them bending and flexing away constantly. All the more so since the keyboard became the chief tool for many of us in our workplace. Obeserve any very overweight person (including your stereotypical computer geek) and you'll see sausage fat fingers. It spot reduction worked they would be nice and slim.

You cannot spot reduce.

I don't think of it as "spot reducing" so much as it is "spot toning." Yes you CAN increase a particular muscle while ignoring the rest. You CAN focus on one part of your body while ignoring the rest.

People who continue the mantra "You can't spot reduce" are really talking about body fat, not muscles.

(Another myth busted: fat does NOT turn into muscle)

:smokin:

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.

I have even had a trainer tell me "you can't spot reduce" is a myth.

Oh, well then...

Also, you're the one retorting with sarcastic responses.

I knew I would get a lot of crap for this, but I don't see any of you who are opposing me giving any examples of why you think the way you think .

It has been explained above.

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.

Correct.
I remember this debate in undergrad SO CLEARLY...because on the surface it makes no sense, if I do a billion lunges the weight will come off my thighs, it just seems logical.
Certain areas of the body store different kinds of fat cells, some of which are more easily accessable for our metabolism than others. It's like having a cupboard full of cans. Your body is only willing to take out the ones at the front of the shelf, you can't make it reach behind the other cans to get the specific cans you want.
There is study, after peer reviewed study, on how YOU CANNOT SPOT REDUCE. Anyone who tells you othhrwise might be trying to sell you something.