If you’ve ever been looking for ways to reduce fat from one area of your body like your abs, back, or arms (spot train) and have done a search online for how to do it, then you’ve probably discovered endless posts claiming they have the solution for you. Can a hundred crunches a day give you six pack abs? Will tricep extensions get rid of jiggly arms.? Some people would like you to think so, but is it true?
I’d say it’s pretty common for people to want to change a certain part of their bodies. They want to slim and define one area. So they focus on that one body part excessively thinking the fat will just melt away in that one area. It sounds good and people want to believe that it can be done.
Does spot training make sense logically?
Let’s think about it from a logical standpoint. If someone wants to get more definition in their abs, so they do crunches every day, will they get the result they’re looking for? You can definitely strengthen specific muscles by performing certain exercises that target those muscles. But, if you have layers of excess body fat, will you be able to see the stronger more defined muscles? Sure, lifting weights will also burn calories, helping you lose fat. However, using a certain body part doesn’t create fat loss from that one particular body part necessarily. You can’t tell your body to burn fat in the one area that you want it to, unfortunately. Everyone is a little different. Different people have different body types. Some people tend to carry more fat in the abdominal area while some may carry more in their lower body. Your DNA is what will determine where your body will store extra fat. Your DNA plays a big part in which body parts you will be able to increase muscle definition more easily.
What to focus on
So, exercising and eating a nutritionally balanced diet will help with fat loss. Losing fat will help you be able to see the definition of muscle in areas without excess fat. But again, you can’t tell your body where to shed the fat. You’ll need to focus on overall health and fat loss as well as training the muscles you want to define. Also, if you have lost a lot of weight and have excess skin remaining, it will be much harder to see muscle definition and get rid of the jiggle. If you’ve ever tried a spot training plan and you weren’t successful, don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault. It was never really possible to begin with. Focus on being healthy and loving the body you have, as a whole, for what it can allow you to do, and not on what each part looks like.
