Sunday, December 28, 2014

Spot Reduction - Nothing but a myth!

If you've been doing hundreds of crunches and sit-ups a day in an attempt to lose that belly fat, let me break the bad news to you right now. YOU'VE BEEN DOING IT WRONG. What you've been trying to do is spot reducing belly fat and we know now for a fact that SPOT REDUCTION IS NOTHING BUT A MYTH. Unfortunately, yes! We have been bombarded by infomercials which try to make us believe that we can lose fat in specific areas of the body, especially in trouble areas such as the belly, butt, thighs or love handles. This is not how you lose unwanted fat. This ‘technique’ just doesn't work. It would be safe to say that no such thing even exists. The only way you lose fat in those trouble areas is by losing fat all over your body.


To lose fat, you have to burn more calories than you eat.  When you do that, you create a calorie deficit that causes your body to steal more energy from your cells. Hopefully, the ones with all the fat in them.  When that energy is taken, those cells get smaller and smaller, leading to what is, hopefully, a smaller body with more muscle and less fat. Here's where things get frustrating.  The body doesn't only draw energy from the cells in the area we're working.  It gets energy from the body as a whole, which means that leg lifts won't do much for removing fat from the thighs, although they can increase strength and endurance in your lower body (not a bad thing).

Tip: Do whole body, compound exercises. You'll expend more energy doing a squat than doing a bunch of leg lefts.  A squat is a complex exercise that works multiple muscles namely the glutes, the hips, the thighs, the calves and even the core.  A leg lift, especially if you're lying down, only works the outer thigh of one leg. You'll burn more calories by involving the larger muscles of the body - The glutes and thighs in the lower body and the chest and back in the upper body.  Or go even further and do combination exercises like squats with an overhead press. Click here: Go for Compound Exercises Instead!

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