Spot Reduction

by Kristian
(Ireland)

I've been doing a lot of research, on the web and other sources, on how to get fit and I have found some discrepancy on the idea of spot reduction. Meaning you can do certain exercises to reduce weight in one specific part of your body. Half of the sources claim it to be an absolute myth and the other half use it as a common exercise term. My question is, is there such a thing as spot reduction and if so what exercises can be carried out to achieve it. If it's simply building up a muscle group in that area then the term is very misleading.

Comments for Spot Reduction

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Is spot reduction possible?
by: Dr. Dan

Kristian,

It would be nice if spot reduction was possible, but it's not. Why not?

There are two basic divisions in your body. One is the lean body. The other is the fat body.

The lean body is your muscle, bone, and connective tissue. This responds to physical exertion and gravity. If you don't exercise or if you are an astronaut in outer space your muscles and bones waste away. If you exercise you build them up.

The fat body is a layer of material that lies under the skin and around your internal organs. It is controlled by your hormones.

That is why men tend to have more fat around their waists and women tend to have more fat around their hips. It is controlled by their hormones.

In fact some women have more fat around their waists, and those women tend to have more heart disease like men do.

So what happens when you exercise? You build up the lean body. And you increase your metabolism and burn up fat.

But the fat is removed from everywhere -- from the face, back, abdomen, arms, legs, everywhere. It is removed more slowly from some areas than others. Those are your "trouble spots."

More situps won't spot reduce the abdomen. What it will do is give you a more muscular abdomen. No matter how hard you exercise you cannot spot reduce.

Dr. Dan

Spot Reduction
by: Joshua Curtis

I also have looked and searched the world over and what my father Dr. Dan has told you is true.

However, there have been some studies done that show that if you do your ab work prior to cardio you can have a more pronounced reduction of fat in that area than you would otherwise, due to increased blood flow.

When you do ab work you engorge your abs and some of the fatty tissue with blood. You then do your cardio and this blood flow helps shuttle the fat away and get used as energy. Hope this helps you!

Spot Reduction
by: Bobbi

There are combinations of moves or series of exercises that can be done that will tone up different areas of the body. There is an excellent book on the subject. It is "Miss Craig's 10-Minute-A-Day Spot-Reducing Program A Catalogue of Exercises for Improving Specific Parts of the Body" Written by Marjorie Craig Crowley and Phyllis Cerf Wagner.
Miss Craig designed this program "to tone and firm all the large muscles of the body in a systematic way." The main routine is one that tones up all the large muscles of the body. There are 16 other routines that target specific areas. You can tailor your routine to work on your problem areas. Each group takes about 5 minutes to go thru. So her 10 minutes a day refers to using the main set that addresses the large muscles, plus one specific area. (I should be so lucky to have just one!) So 5 minutes, plus 5 times how many other areas you would like to tackle. It should be used in addition to getting regular exercise.
The routines are easy to follow, very low stress and if you use them regularly, they will work. But - as the other posters noted - you do need to follow a sensible diet and exercise program.
I believe the book can still be obtained either thru your local library or thru a book seller such as Amazon.com.
I wish you luck in your endeavors!

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