A Look Into Spot Reducing Fat During Workouts
- August , 2021
- Fitness Guru
- 0
How Does Fat Burning Work?
“Burning fat” is an exercise term that people use to describe weight loss or decrease their body fat percentage. The body doesn’t actually ignite an internal fire to burn fat so what is actually going on? To provide energy to the body during workouts the body needs to breakdown stored energy. This stored energy comes in the form of carbohydrates, fats, and even proteins. Carbohydrates are the “short term storage energy” macronutrient. The body will break down carbohydrates first. Once the body has burned most of its carbohydrates, it will shift its focus to using fats. Fat is broken down from all over the body into glycerol and free fatty acids which can enter the blood stream. Glycerol and free fatty acids are a suitable form for cells to utilize for energy to make us move, think, breath, etc. However, just because someone’s doing the thigh master doesn’t mean that their body will only use fat from their thighs. Unfortunately, the current research continues to show that attempting to spot reduce fat is fruitless.
What’s the Next Best Thing?
Spot reducing fat has been debunked, but it is possible to build up muscle underneath areas for improved tone. This theory makes sense to most because as muscle grows larger it will give a more “toned” appearance. Thus, in order to improve tone, the person needs to perform resistance training in the targeted area. The drawback to this concept is that it sounds better than it works in practice.
The Real Answer
The ultimate answer to improving one’s body composition and physique comes from a combination of everything. It takes building muscle in areas desired to look more aesthetically pleasing. It also takes the discipline to eat healthy and burn fat from all over the body to show off the muscle tone. Someday there may be a magic pill or novel technique to bring glamor to one specific area of the body, but that very likely won’t happen in the near future.
