Spot-Reduction: Real or Fake? | HBR Personal Training

Is your goal to lose weight from a specific part(s) of the body? Losing weight is a taxing and challenging task — not only does it require a lot of physical effort, it also involves maintaining self-discipline, changing your lifestyle, and opting for healthy diet plans.

People generally want to target certain areas of their body when it comes to weight loss… Stomach / midsection, armpits, thighs are some of the most common. Most of these people want to tone down their belly fat and look for quick fixes, i.e. big events like vacations or weddings. People also look for surgery to reduce certain fatty areas.

What is spot reduction?
In recent times, a new phenomenon has been coined known as ‘spot reduction.’ It is also referred to as called ‘targeted weight loss.’ The idea involves working out in specific ways to eliminate fats from a specific portion of the body… Is this actually possible, though?

One famous example of this type of exercise is crunches. Some trainers suggest that a person can lose midsection body weight by doing a specific set of crunches. Many research studies have been conducted on spot-reduction, but none have not found substantial evidence supporting it. 

Spot Reduction: Myth or Reality? 
With the exception of liposuction and other surgeries for targeted weight loss, spot reduction is a myth. Very few studies have supported it and the ones that do tend to fail to consider the fact that every person has a different body. Weight can only be lost if the calories burnt are greater than calorie intake. You cannot target a specific area and lose fat within that particular section. When the body burns fat, it does not choose which muscles and fats will be burned first. The whole body loses weight at the same pace!

Why is spot reduction impossible? 
Working out increases the body’s metabolism and burns fat. A person generally gains mass on the stomach initially until they embark on a weight loss journey. While they lose most weight from that same spot, they also lose weight from the rest of their body. This does not support the spot reduction theory. 

Why was there a hype of spot reduction? 
Spot reduction is a mere hype promoted by a few advertisers. Many trainers devised programs for spot reduction techniques and advertised weight loss pills. All of these were mainly money-making businesses, and they had no evidence supporting their proposed outcomes. In fact, these weight loss supplements might also be detrimental to vital organs of the human body. Often other advertisers promote creams that could potentially speed up the process of losing weight in certain areas… These claims have also been widely dismissed in recent studies.

The following are promising practical ways to lose weight:

• opt for a healthy lifestyle

• exercise regularly

• have a healthy diet

• incorporate strength training in your routine

• perform cardio exercises

• stay hydrated;

• avoid zero calories

• reduce stress

• maintain a weight journal

There are no shortcuts or easy ways out when trying to lose weight. Always remember you must put in genuine and consistent efforts if you want to achieve your dream body.

Spot Reduction: Myth or Reality?