You CAN Spot Reduce

But...........you can change the appearance of a specific area through strength training?

Essentially, you can build muscle. The muscle will give the "spot" a better appearance once fat is lost. Muscle gain without fat loss doesn't though... it can just make the spot look wider.

^^^^And that is what most of us are looking to achieve when we say 'spot reduce'. It's the terminology is misused and misunderstood. Fat/ weigh loss we can't 'spot reduce' it comes off the body as we lose weight (predetermined genetically??). But once you start strength training you can 'reshape' some areas in other words you're building up muscles fibers to change the appearance.

When you start "building up" muscles, isn't the the opposite from "reducing"?

women can't bulk up. we can strengthen (maybe that's the better word) muscles to improve appearance.


****ooops typo there added 'en' to strengthen

Women can bulk up. Not the same as men do, but with effort: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yKEB44ZkAQ

^^^^^ I was being facetious in response to this > 'When you start "building up" muscles, isn't the the opposite from "reducing"?' somewhat condescending rhetorical question. It was heading int the direction of the age old debate on the forum where the woman says 'but I'm afraid of bulking up I just want to tone' and then all the men jump on here and make fun of us.

My whole point is that you can change your body through strength training.

My exercise physiology textbook uses the following example to debunk the myth of spot reduction:
They studied professional tennis players and the differences between their dominant and non-dominant arms, by using high-tech body fat analysis methods. The circumference of the dominant arms were bigger, due to increased muscle mass from use. They tested the FAT on the two arms and found them to be equal. If spot reduction were possible, the tennis players would have lower body fat on the dominant arm, there was no evidence to support this.

You're so silly bringing research into this kind of thread. What were you trying to accomplish? LOL

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.

Yeah, the sport they play has an influence on their body shape. Sprinters have larger legs. Why? Because they have large leg muscles because in order to be fast over short distances, you need large/strong leg muscles. Gymnasts have large shoulders. Why? Because they spend a lot of time on their hands, which builds up shoulder strength. The exercises you do determine what areas get big, not the areas that get small.
Swimmers do not have "slim waists" because they do a lot of ab work, which is the definition of spot reducing. Swimmers might appear to have a slimmer waist because their shoulders and backs are so large. This is NOT spot reducing. This is just an optical illusion. A woman with measurements of 40-25-40 appears to have a smaller waist than a woman with measurements of 32-25-32. Really, they have the same sized waist.

We are saying the exact same thing. Their are exercises you can do to make a body part smaller or larger. Some tummy exercises will strengthen your core and pull your stomach in. Spot reduction. You have reduced inches in that area. Their are leg exercises like squats that make the muscle bigger, and others, like yoga, that make the muscle lean. Don't argue with me. It's obvious. If you want to talk about lipid loss in a specific area, I wasn't talking about that. Thank you.

No, we are not saying the same thing. You cannot do exercises that will reduce a body part, which is the definition of spot reducing!
I did ballet and yoga for around 13 years. These are supposed to make you long and lean, right? Then why was I short and fat? When I started reducing my calories, training for a half marathon, and lifting weights four times a week, that's when I started to lose weight ALL OVER. When I was heavier, I did a lot of ab workouts. I didn't have flat abs. I do a lot of squats and deadlifts and such when I'm lifting, plus I run a lot and do yoga a few times a week. I don't have slim legs.
Also, "Some tummy exercises will strengthen your core and pull your stomach in. Spot reduction."? I just sucked in my belly. My belly has been pulled in. That is not spot reduction.
"Spot reduction refers to the belief, long viewed as a myth, that fat can be targeted for reduction from a specific area of the body."- Wikipedia
What is it that you think spot reducing is? Because whatever it is, you're not right. Spot reducing is fat loss in a specific area.

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.

Laughed way louder than I should have!

*Puts on seatbelt*

Potato,potato. I get what she is saying, maybe not spot reduce but, spot improve. All of you get so hung up on semantics! Quit harassing people on the forums and go work out.

^^^^ yes this! Thank you, you're my hero!

You're talking about two different things.

No one is going to argue that working a particular body part isn't going to change the way that body part looks. That's the whole point of different exercises. So I don't doubt that doing specific work on a specific part made it "look better." If I do nothing but arm work - of course my arms will change, while my legs don't do anything.

That's not what's meant by "spot reduction". Spot Reduction is the myth that you can burn fat from a specific area of your body. And like many other people have already pointed out - it doesn't work that way. Let me put it this way - if you take Aleve for a headache - do you seriously believe that your body has some sort of internal "intelligence" that tells it exactly where to send the medication? I can assure you it does not. Same principle applies here. Your body only understands "lose fat." it doesn't understand "lose fat from X location." You may carry it more in certain areas, and you may lose it from certain areas first, but your body decides that - not you.

So what you're seeing is the result of the former and not the latter. Obviously if a muscle (even if it's underneath fat) gets bigger the area will look different. it doesn't mean that you specifically lost fat from that region.

Imagine the fat is peanut butter and your muscle is a balloon. Assuming I could spread a nice even layer of PB over the balloon - if I blow the balloon up, that layer will *appear* to get thinner. But I haven't taken an PB away, so I haven't "lost" any.

You can't spot reduce.

Oh, ok. My body must be magic then.

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!