You CAN Spot Reduce

Well I found my workout for the day. I'm going to go through this entire thread and do a squat for every time I see the word "spot".

Here's some more for ya...
Spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot...ha

443 "spots" in the first 10 pages. I really didn't think this one through. I better get to it.

You can't spot reduce.

Oh, ok. My body must be magic then.

There's a lot of sorcery around here. You do pushups to develop pectoral muscles (and several others). You can spot develop muscle, which is why you see results from an upper body strength routine on your upper body but not your lower body. What the upper body strength routine does not do is make you lose fat only on your upper body. You'll lose fat all over based on your deficit.

Inches lost on 30DS being in places you worked out are essentially because you work out your whole body, you burned a bunch of calories and you lost fat all over your body. Yay you!

Well I found my workout for the day. I'm going to go through this entire thread and do a squat for every time I see the word "spot".

Here's some more for ya...
Spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot spot...ha

443 "spots" in the first 10 pages. I really didn't think this one through. I better get to it.

Tell you what love, I'll join you . 443 bodyweight squats today!

Then she shouldn't have used the words "spot reduction", which commonly refers to the reduction of body fat by doing exercises that target that area. Like, I want tummy fat to go away, so I'll do crunches, and no cardio, and keep drinking soda.

Ok. Wrong terminology. Perhaps she truly thought that "spot reducing" meant losing inches in an area. And, if you have firm abs and weigh 125 lbs, you will be (in terms of inches and centimeters) "smaller" around your waist. I am not arguing that the phrase was not the correct one to use, I am merely saying that sometimes, it is ok to see their point, explain how certain parts are right, and then, politely, educate the person on the parts that are wrong. Even if OP won't agree (not saying she won't), someone else reading it may benefit from your knowledge. I have learned a lot from other people here. And it was all of other people's threads. It was all when someone took the time to explain it properly instead of just calling the OP a moron. (Not saying you have, just in general)

I can spot reduce just as well as I can fly when I jump off of a 4 story building. It seems like it works until.... SPLAT

I get what she is saying.

Sure, you cannot focus on WHERE you lose fat from. But, if you are consistantly losing fat and toning the muscles in a particular area while losing fat, as the fat goes, THAT area is smaller, because you ARE increasing muscle, If you have a lower BF%, which you get with more muscle, less fat, then even though you are just toning that area, it improves faster than others may.

It can be explained without being rude though. Not every one knows everything, so, when you get the chance to educate someone, why not do THAT instead of making that person feel like a fool for even suggesting the idea?

they tried, it didn't take and she wasn't all peaches and rainbows about being incorrect

I only saw a few people trying. Most people didn't even realize what she was saying. She was talking about a reduction in the measurement of a particular area. Everyone knows you can't pick which area to lose their fat. She wasn't talking about fat, she was talking about toning muscles. Some will say that's a "gain," and to be sure, that's correct, but it is also correct that a reduction in the number on the tape measure is still a reduction.

I read every page I know how it went down. She refused to listen and understand what the definition really meant, she wanted to continue to use the word that already had another definition instead of saying oh I was wrong and this is what I really meant. Hence people got pissy downward spiral from there.

I don't believe that any of "those people" actually read and absorbed what she actually meant. Instead they made assumptions and responded with snarky comments.

You can believe whatever you like, you don't know for SURE. She stated she knew she would take flack for it so she knew from the get go what was going to happen and it did, she walked right through the open door. People eventually got snarky and she still doesn't believe it means what it means.

what's a pook? \m/

It's probably a term you only hear out in Newfoundland; their language is not for outsiders to understand. :laugh: (I kid, but seriously... my mother-in-law's best friend is from there, and sometimes, I have no idea what she's just said.)

Reason number 1 why I love NL

And we'll keep talking to you regardless haha

“Building muscle can make that body part look better”, maybe you should have stated this instead of “you can spot reduce”? I understand what you were trying to say but maybe you should try to explain a little better and not get onto people when you knew this was going to start something :happy:

I may get a lot of crap for this, but I am so tired of people saying you cannot spot reduce.
When someone asks, how can I lose inches off my stomach or asks for good arm exercises, please do not response "you cannot spot reduce".
Weight training and programs like the 30 Day Shred really do help you "spot reduce", You can lose inches in particular spots by doing particular exercises. Otherwise, why to we kill ourselves with push ups and crunches? It is because they work.
I have done 30 Day Shred several times and a lot of inches in places that were focuses on during the workouts.
Another example, if I only weight train with my arms and not my legs, I will see a big difference in my arm "spots" lol, and not my legs.
There is hope! You just have to work for it!

I am really not understanding why you think that the 30 Day Shred "spot reduced" cerain parts for you. I HAVE the 30DS dvd and have done it. First off, it is not even that intense, secondly - no where in that vid does it work just one area of the body. It is an all over workout.

This is especially funny..".Another example, if I only weight train with my arms and not my legs, I will see a big difference in my arm "spots" lol, and not my legs." Why would you see a difference in your legs if you are NOT working them. Is this post a joke? Did you just want to see how many responses you would get? I mean really.

In conclusion, the push up works more than just the arms. Therefore, proof that you are NOT spot treating. The chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps....as well as the abdominals and quadriceps.

So again, NO you cannot spot reduce.

Not to be controversial BUT, I think the poster has a point. Certain exercises can make certain areas smaller or larger, and certain conditions you exercise on makes a difference. I noticed this while watching the Olympics and noticed that the sport a person played determined body shape even more than race. I noticed that the female swimmers, while having serious muscle mass also had a fat layer for insulation. The ladies had large backs and slim waists. The gymnasts had wide waists and large thigh and shoulder muscles, but very low body fat. The type of exercise and the conditions you do the exercise on make a big difference in what areas get small or big. So, in essence, you can spot reduce, just maybe in a different way that people normally think of spot reduction.

Shape is from genetics. You can't change the way your muscle or body shape is. You can "enhance" the muscles you already have by training them directly.
And NO you can't spot reduce an area without surgery.
On going thinking and misinformation like this without scientific clinical studies to back them up will just confuse people and cause desperate people on here to think it's possible.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Whatever, I'm not trying to argue. We all know that average black person is going to have rounder shaped gluts than an Asian person. However, get the Asian into track and field and the black person into marathons, guess what will happen to said gluts? You don't have to take my word for it. Look at any female Olympian swimmer. Black white or Asian, they will have a wide V shaped upper body, tiny waist, fat layer all over. Look at any marathoner. Lean head to toe. Any track and field- large thighs. Genetics may have you predesposed to a certain body type, but tell that to those swimmers who look more like other swimmers than members of their own race.

That has already been explained earlier in this thread, actually. People with the right body type tend to be the most successful in each particular sport, particularly if you limit your observation to the Olympics.