Many of us begin an exercise program carrying a few -- or sometimes more than a few -- extra pounds. Where those extra pounds wind up varies with the individual, but as a rule gender decides where our fat stores settle. For men, the most common area for excess fat is around the waist, around the body's core. Women, on the hand, store their excess weight around the thighs and buttocks.
Needless to say, being the vain creatures that we are, men and women often make the mistake of zeroing in on these areas when they first begin an exercise program. Men will resort to endless repetitions of crunches and sit-ups; while women will very likely resort to an equally endless series of leg lifts in an attempt to “melt” the fat off the offending areas.
This approach to the localized break up of fat stores is called spot reduction. On the face of it, the method would seem to make sense. After all, when we want to strengthen our legs, don't we do leg exercises? Why doesn't the same hold true when it comes to reducing the amount of fat on a given body part?
Unfortunately, the body doesn't metabolize fat in this way. It is certainly true that we can build specific muscles with specific exercises, but this is due to factors that have nothing to do with either fat storage of fat utilization.
Your brain may be able to send a message to a particular muscle group but it can't send a direct message to a particular group of fat cells. Too bad! The breakdown of fat deposits is a general process that takes place throughout the entire body. If you take up running, for example, you will lose weight not just in your thighs, but everywhere else as well.
So if you want to use leg lifts and abdominal crunches to tone those abdominal and buttocks muscles go right ahead. But don't waste your time doing more repetitions than necessary in the misguided belief that you are spot- reducing. It doesn't work.
Have you ever noticed how when a man or woman loses weight you see it first in their faces? Why is that? In all probability they aren't doing any facial exercises.
No, rather it's because the breakdown of fat takes place throughout the entire system and not locally, and we notice weight loss first in those areas of the body where we have the least of it to begin with. Even the heaviest person will have far less fat or adipose tissue in their faces than around his thighs and mid-sections, and that is why you notice it there first.
Maybe you know a woman who went on a diet to lose her thunder thighs only to discover after a few weeks that, much to her dismay, her breasts were shrinking. This is the result not of doing chest exercises of course, but again from the fact that the body breaks down fat systemically rather than locally, and as you know, the breasts consist of mostly fatty tissue.
This is the reason why some competitive female bodybuilders often resort to breast implants for contests. Dieting and training reduces their body fat to such a degree that some less well endowed women actually lose a fair amount of their bosoms while in the process of becoming super lean.
The only way to reduce fat in any location of the body is through a combination of aerobic exercise, resistance training such as weight lifting, and good nutrition. The exercise will rev up your metabolism and help burn fat throughout the body, including your problem areas. A balanced diet will encourage your body to begin to tap into those fat stores and will also prevent you from adding any extra pounds by reducing excess calories.
Remember: the breakdown of fat is a generalized and not a localized process. With a little time and the right approach, however, your “problem” areas will also show signs of improvement.
