On Spot
Reduction: Featured Article By Stephen Holt
As
you well know, I prefer to write and publish my own articles
for this site. The exception, of course, is when I get a chance
to publish an article by a "real", bona fide expert.
Stephen
Holt (of StephenHoltFitness.com)
is one such expert -- not only is he incredibly knowledgeable,
he's received a ton of accolades from credible publications
online and off. This guy really knows his stuff -- so listen
carefully when he speaks. With no further adieu, I'll turn things
over to Stephen...
On
Spot Reduction, By Stephen Holt
Let's
suppose you're driving around with a 55-gallon drum of crude
oil in your trunk. Even though your engine uses gasoline and
gasoline comes from crude oil, your engine still can't use that
crude oil for fuel.
You
would still have to get fuel that's convenient and in a usable
form.
You
would still have to go to a gas station even though you had
a form of the same thing right there in your trunk.
Your
body works similarly.
Even
though there may plenty of fat directly above your abs, the
muscles cannot use fat that's in that form.
Abdominal
exercises, inner thigh exercises, etc. do not directly burn
fat in those specific areas.
When
a muscle uses fat as a fuel, that fat can come from anywhere
in the body.
Typically
it comes from the fat cells that were deposited last.
That
stored fat, known as adipose tissue, is then sent to the liver
where it is broken down into a form that muscles can use, free
fatty acids (FFAs).
These
FFAs are then sent to the working muscle through the bloodstream
In
other words, the abs and thighs can't even use the fat above
them directly.
Any
fat used by a muscle must be broken down to FFAs in the liver
first. You have no more control over where you lose fat than
you did over where you gained it.
Fat
is deposited in a genetically predetermined order that cannot
be changed by any specific exercises.
Abdominal
exercises and outer and inner thigh exercises will not necessarily
get rid of the fat in those areas.
Have
you ever seen an overweight dog or cat? Where are they fat?
In
the abdominal region!
That's
where all higher order organisms store excess fat - around their
internal organs.
Now
have you ever seen a lean dog or cat?
Do
you think they got that way from doing crunches?!
Your
best bet for losing fat is the combination of the right eating
plan for you, full-body strength training focusing on the largest
muscles in the body - the legs and lats - and high intensity
cardio (tempo runs and interval training) mixed with occasional
long, slow distance (LSD).
Stephen
Holt, BSE, CSCS
AllExperts.com's "Expert of the Year"
"Top Trainer" - Fitness Magazine
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