Does Spot Reduction Really Work?
Do you want to get rid of fat in your thighs, belly, arms, or any other body part? Is “spot reduction” a myth or a reality? Get-Fit Guy sheds light on new scientific research
Ben Greenfield
In the episode How to Tone and Lose Fat in One Body Part, you learn 3 steps to “spot reducing” or losing fat in just one body part, such as your thighs, abs, or under your arms. If you haven’t checked out that episode yet, I highly recommend you do so now.
This week, a new study entitled “Regional Fat Changes Induced by Localized Muscle Endurance Resistance Training” shed new light on the idea of spot reducing. The study looked into whether working one muscle group over and over again would actually cause the fat in that muscle group to go away faster than muscle groups that weren’t being exercised.
In this experiment, 7 men and 4 women trained with just one leg during 12 weeks, with 3 sessions per week. Each training session consisted of 1 set of 960–1,200 repetitions of the leg press exercise with just that one leg. Despite the enormous number of repetitions, that one leg didn’t lose any more fat than the leg that wasn’t exercising. Interestingly, the participants did actually lose fat from the exercise, but it came from their trunk and arms, not their leg.
The take-away message is this: if you want to tone and lose fat in one body part, you need to go above and beyond just exercising that one body part. You also need to eat right, do high intensity cardio intervals, and follow all the same type of potent fat loss rules I outline in the Mighty Mommy Belly Burn Project.
If you have more questions about spot reduction, then join the conversation at Facebook.com/GetFitGuy!
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and has helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.