Newbies: You can't exercise a specific area to lose body fat

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ninerbuff
ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Yeah yeah, the "gurus" of DVD's and other fitness programs will blurt out stuff like "doing Hip Hop abs will slim down your waistline", etc., but the truth is that you can't spot reduce any area of the body by directly exercising it. Even with a calorie deficit.
The body loses fat systematically, meaning if you lose 1%, you lose it from all over. Genetics will have you store fat in some areas more than others, but as mentioned, it will reduce in proportion to whatever percentage you lose.
So there's no need to do 5 minute planks, or 400 body weight squats because all you're doing is building muscle endurance (unless that's your goal) and not really burning fat off your abs or legs by performing them.
Hope that clears some stuff up.

EDIT: There is one study that does show it can be done (University of Coppenhagen), but the exercise (leg extension) is done for 30 minutes straight and you lose like 15 calories of fat. Have fun with that if you like.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Replies

  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,339 Member
    edited March 2016
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    So I'm done losing weight, (have lost over 80 lbs to date) I really don't want to lose any more pounds, but I still have a light layer of fat around my midsection....will the 2-3 days/week of light lifting I do going to help with that? If not, what would you suggest...I'd like not to end up with a lot of sagging skin when I'm done.
  • RollTideTri
    RollTideTri Posts: 116 Member
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    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    So I'm done losing weight, (have lost over 80 lbs to date) I really don't want to lose any more pounds, but I still have a light layer of fat around my midsection....will the 2-3 days/week of light lifting I do going to help with that? If not, what would you suggest...I'd like not to end up with a lot of sagging skin when I'm done.

    Nothing you can really do (outside of liposuction or something) to remove that fat besides lose a few more pounds. The lifting won't affect it one way or another. If you don't have sagging skin now, losing that last bit on your stomach won't cause it.
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
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    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    So I'm done losing weight, (have lost over 80 lbs to date) I really don't want to lose any more pounds, but I still have a light layer of fat around my midsection....will the 2-3 days/week of light lifting I do going to help with that? If not, what would you suggest...I'd like not to end up with a lot of sagging skin when I'm done.

    Here is an excellent thread:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    But what about 6 pack short cuts!? There's no way they're fake or enhanced!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    So I'm done losing weight, (have lost over 80 lbs to date) I really don't want to lose any more pounds, but I still have a light layer of fat around my midsection....will the 2-3 days/week of light lifting I do going to help with that? If not, what would you suggest...I'd like not to end up with a lot of sagging skin when I'm done.
    Continue with the lifting. As for sagging/loose skin, that's entirely genetic. Some of it will retract, but there's no guarantee. Some can lose a lot of weight and have no loose skin, while others will have quite a bit. Time will tell.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited March 2016
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    EDIT: There is one study that does show it can be done (University of Copenhagen), but the exercise (leg extension) is done for 30 minutes straight and you lose like 15 calories of fat. Have fun with that if you like.
    Yes that was interesting and helped (perhaps....) explain why you see cyclists (as an example) with very lean/defined legs but a chubby body. The local fat burn was so miniscule you needed a huge multiplier to make it even slightly significant.
    So three hours cycling at cadence of 80 rpm = 14,400 repetitions.
    Then multiply by a few years......

    Doing 50 crunches a few times a week for a couple of months before your vacation/wedding/high school reunion aren't going to cut it. Might improve your posture but not your fat.
  • VisofSer
    VisofSer Posts: 130 Member
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    Have either of you ever read a study on the impact of significant muscle gain on sagging/loose skin, particularly long term? I imagine that in the 2-3 year time frame enough muscle growth would fill the skin as effectively as the fat had, if not more so. But has it been observed that getting very lean and very muscular fixes the droop?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    VisofSer wrote: »
    Have either of you ever read a study on the impact of significant muscle gain on sagging/loose skin, particularly long term? I imagine that in the 2-3 year time frame enough muscle growth would fill the skin as effectively as the fat had, if not more so. But has it been observed that getting very lean and very muscular fixes the droop?
    No. And it's not likely if someone had a lot of fat to lose. If someone measures 59" around the chest and had a lot of fat, they'd have to build a muscular 59" around the chest and back to compensate for the skin expansion. And you're talking on par with someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger's chest size.
    There have been a couple of people (I can't remember the names) who lost a lot of weight on here, who have posted pictures and they are very muscular, but you definitely can see they have a loose skin issue. And they don't care to get surgery to fix it. They like that they are fit and at a healthy weight.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    bump
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    worth a bump after getting a lot of inquiries about exercising to lose fat off a certain area
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    Bump
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
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    Can you explain how building glutes work if you cant spot train body parts?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,579 Member
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    ummijaaz560 wrote: »
    Can you explain how building glutes work if you cant spot train body parts?
    You can BUILD muscle. Focusing on building up muscle in a part of the body can be done.
    You can't reduce FAT by targeting a fatty area with exercise. Well, you can, but you'd have to continually work that one area for a minimum 30 minutes straight and lose like 50 calories of fat. That'd be many hours of training a small area of the body, to get minimal results. Better off just eating a calorie deficit.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • ummijaaz560
    ummijaaz560 Posts: 228 Member
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    Thanks for explaining!
  • CJsf1t
    CJsf1t Posts: 414 Member
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    Bump

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