Spot Reduction

One of the most common questions I am asked by clients is, “How do I get rid of this right here?”, as they are pointing to one of their problem areas. Regardless of where they point to, my answer is the same… diet and exercise.

What they are referring to is known as “Spot Reduction”… and I’m sorry to say, but it doesn’t exist.

The human body doesn’t burn fat specific to working the muscles that the fat surrounds. For example, you can do crunches all day, and while you are burning calories, and developing your abdominals, you are not burning more fat from your stomach than you are from anywhere else. Working your arms, abs, legs, or buttocks more doesn’t make them skinnier. Clean dieting and exercise in general does.

If spot reduction existed you’d have to find a way to put fat on in specific areas of your body to fuel them. Your body is sparing you that responsibility by just using all the fat in you as a fuel source for all of your muscles.

Now, you may find that you lose fat in some areas faster than others. This has everything to do with genetics. You may see a person with a gut, and tiny skinny legs, or someone with a skinny upper body, and big hips and legs. This is due to their genetic makeup, and has nothing to do with training certain muscles more than others.

Men and women tend to both store, and lose fat in different areas than one another. It’s just one of the many differences between the male and female of the species. If spot reduction existed, then men and women alike would benefit equally from similar training programs.