Does Spot Reduction Work For Abs? |
Posted: June 16, 2014 |
For those of you who are not familiar, spot reduction means the attempt to remove subcutaneous body fat stores from specific areas of the body by performing exercises that target those areas. In example, a person who has an inordinate amount of fat stored on their sides above the hips ("love handles") may use a side-bend or an abdominal side-to-side twisting exercise in the attempt to torch those fat cells. By now we should know the reality of this endeavor. Performing those exercises may strengthen the muscular responsible for those movements, but they have negligible impact on reducing the amount of fat stored there, all other factors being equal.
You won't see muscle definition or a nice six-pack despite how many crunches you do, because of the layer of fat resting on top of your muscles. "Don't focus on a body part. Try to get them all," said Burron, a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise. "You might have beautiful triceps -- it may not be flopping all over the place. Until the fat is gone, most people wouldn't know it's there."
Sure it is a great fantasy to think of targeting only one area of your body that has an appearance you are not happy with. If this were possible we could cut so much time out of our exercise programs and just focus on that one thing, such as abs. But in reality it just is not enough, and targeting a specific area with spot reduction techniques will of course get you healthier than doing nothing at all, but it will not produce the results you are looking for. To want to plan like this is a bad idea, any trainer can tell you that we must be balanced to achieve any results. Certainly we can focus on abs or even strength training but balance is needed. Even heavy weight Olympic lifters run a treadmill, watch their diet and stretch. The key is balance.
The fact remains that the only way to achieve any of these myths is to lose body fat and gain muscle mass. You should follow these basic guidelines with all major muscles groups when designing a program. Progressive overload - You will increase in strength and muscle size if you progressively increase the intensity of your workouts. Decrease body fat - Through dietary manipulation and exercise, you can decrease your body fat and increase your lean muscle mass, which will lead to that "toned" look everybody wants. Periodization - All muscle groups should be periodized. No muscle groups should be trained every day or even every other day. 2-3 times per week, for advanced bodybuilders, is enough. So what two points do you need to gleam from this article? 1- Again, you cannot blast a specific body area (i.e., abs, triceps, inner thighs) with a plethora of exercises and prescriptions (i.e., 100, 500, or 1,000 reps) and realize fat loss only in that area. 2- Training programs that do incorporate high reps on any exercise, whether it's total body (burpees) or a specific muscle group (leg extensions) can be effective in reducing fat mass, but the fat loss will be over the entire body. Contingent of course on caloric intake.
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