Spot reduction doesn’t exist.

Spot reduction does not exist. 

“I really want to lose some of this extra fat around my stomach.” 

“I want to get rid of this extra flab on my arms.”

“How do I get rid of this?” *gestures to stomach.

If I had a dime for every time I heard some variation of those three questions up there.... well to be frank I’d have a shitload of dimes. I’m afraid I have some bad news for all of you. There is no way to ‘target’ fat loss, no matter what the latest ab exercise or stomach wrap advertisement is telling you. 

Do 3,000 sit-ups a day if you want. Wear a stomach wrap covered in Saran Wrap with an extra wrap of aluminum foil. Spot reduction is a lie. 

If you want to decrease body fat, you can only do so by creating a caloric deficit. Eat less and burn more. 

Here’s some harsh truth. Losing one pound requires a deficit of 3,500 calories. In a daily regiment that would be decreasing your caloric intake by 250, and then burning an extra 250 through exercise. Do all that, and in about a week you’ll have lost that pound. Every one of those ‘miracle weight loss’ diets/cleanses/pills/whatever where they advertising multiple pounds lost in a week, are all bullshit. What they aren’t telling you is that almost all of that weight comes back on. Drastic weight loss is possible, but never permanent. 

Now back to the sit-ups, because the stomach flab is the one that 99% of people say they want to get rid of. I’m not trying to say sit-ups are bad, or that you shouldn’t do them. All I’m saying is, don’t do them exclusively and expect abs. If anything, you’re making your midsection appear bigger because you’re increasing the muscle of your abdominal wall which thereby makes your stomach stick out a bit more

For the most part, abs are made in the kitchen, but for the sake of talking about strictly exercise, you have a better chance of ‘defining’ your abs with compound exercises. Compounds are any exercise that involves more than one joint. Example: a bicep curl uses your elbow as the primary joint. Whereas a pull-up utilizes your elbow, the shoulder, and the scapula. The more muscles involved in each exercise, the more overall caloric burn/muscle gain can be achieved. 

I know. I’m crushing a lot of hopes here, but I wasn’t once referred to as “a blunt force trauma of truth” because of my delicate nature. I was. And it was one of the best compliments I’ve ever been given. But I digress. Spot reduction isn’t a thing. There is no way to just lose the fat on your arms, or your belly, or your butt. Targeting muscle gain? Yup, that’s a real thing. But if you’ve got some saggy areas you don’t like, stop thinking that isolation exercises are the way to go. Instead, lets go over the diet, figure out a caloric deficit, and start hitting those compound movements. 

But again, I’m not saying to stop doing crunches. Crunches are a good exercise, just as long as you realize that they alone will not get rid of the belly flab.         

Until next time. Enjoy life. Just remember to work it off the next day.