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Fat loss: Why spot reducing doesn't help
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Everyone wants to spot reduce. They want to get rid of the fat on their thighs. They want to get rid of the fat around their bellies, on and on. The fact is you cannot spot reduce. Exercises for any part of the body won't diminish body fat. Aerobic exercise and healthy eating will accomplish that goal.
Having said that you can tone or add muscle to a specific area. For example, an exercise that isolates your quadriceps (front of thighs) such as leg extensions, can define the muscle but you will not reduce the fat.
What is spot reduction?
The abdominal area is the one area that people ask about the most. Spot reduction refers to training a specific muscle in order to burn off fat in that area. According to this idea, to develop ab definition you would do a lot of ab training, a lot of repetitions, and burn away the fat that is hiding your muscles i.e. get a 6-pack.
It doesn't work that way. Yes, when you reduce calories to a point that you are eating less than you are expending you will lose weight as long as you aren't starving yourself.
See Five reasons you are not losing weight
If you are cutting out too many calories your body starts to metabolize fat for energy. Your body doesn’t go to the one place you want it to go especially when you are working that area so hard.
Exercise, of course, does burn calories, but the abs are relatively small muscles so no matter how much ab training you do you won't metabolize nearly the energy you would by just going for a walk for the same amount of time.
This is true of all the areas you'll like to whittle down. Leg lifts, for example, may tone your leg but you won't lose the fat - you will just have toned, fatty legs!
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