Spot reduction isn’t a myth. Cosmo keeps telling me how to target ‘stubborn love handles’, so they must know something, right?
ehh- not quite.
Spot reduction is probably one of the most popular requests I see. So what exactly is it and why is it so in demand all the damn time? Put simply, spot reduction usually refers to targeting areas on your body through exercise in order to ‘tone’ or slim them. Everyone and their mother assumes that because you’re working a bodying part vigorously, it’s bound to be slimmer than the rest. Although, theoretically, that would make sense. In reality, that’s not the way our body works (However, there are some exceptions. Stay tuned till the end to find out why 😉 ) .
Additionally, you may not be interested in losing some stubborn belly fat but there’s a 100% chance that the person beside you is. Probably because 1) most people aren’t willing to put in the work to achieve the results they want 2) they’re impatient and want to see results yesterday. As you might guess, some of these people are also most susceptible to falling into fad diets, random supplement hoaxes and detoxes. Although it’s not necessarily their fault, it is a common misconception that, somehow, there must be an easier way to see results. I mean, what sane person wants to deprive themselves of delicious food? Or purposely tear their muscle fibres and go through short -term discomfort with the promise of maayyybe having a decent looking body in 3 to 8 weeks? Sounds terrible, right?
The Glory-Be of Spot Reduction
You’re sitting in a gym, looking like a hot-mess and in walks this beautiful, tall, blonde in a red, skin tight dress with long flowing hair. She whispers in your ear ‘In exactly 10 days, your stubborn fat will be gone. There’s only one thing you have to do: wrap this velcro waist band around your stomach when you workout. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. Maybe apply this tingly goop too but that’s up to you’ Would you do it? I’m guessing you probably would. The thing is, most people agree that the worst case scenario to these methods is that it just doesn’t work. However, the best case scenario would be that it does. Most of the time when companies promise you that you’ll get slimmer arms or a flatter stomach it’s usually because they think they’re bringing you value or they know that you’ll fall for it. In reality, the truth isn’t as easy or glamorous but that wouldn’t sell copies or products, now would it? I mean, it’s the tell old tale of marketing which is, publish what sells. Plus, the fitness industry is rampant with liars and schemers looking to make a quick buck. Some people swear by shortcuts but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t some sort of truth to this gimmick.
The Truth
So let’s break it down. Why can’t we spot reduce? I’m not going to get into the bioscience of it (because quite frankly I’m not well versed in it) but I’ll put it in layman’s terms. Any exercise we take part in, we either obtain energy in the form of glucose from carbohydrates or we use fat cells. The kicker here, is that when our body decides to use fat cells for energy we don’t get to decide which fat cells it uses. We could be walking on an incline expecting to lose fat from our legs but our body may use fat from a completely random part of our body. It’s frustrating and soul wrenching, I know. On the other hand, it’s easy to rationalize why this may work in achieving slimmer thighs because 1) when you’re walking on an incline you are potentially gaining lean muscle tissue in your legs b) you’re losing water. That last part is super important, let me explain.
Here are two reasons why some spot reduction equipment (such as waistbands) might work. Not only do they promote sweating i.e. loss of water, feeling lighter and therefore, leaner but, they also increase circulation into the area that’s being suffocated. There were a few studies showing that increased circulation i.e. promoting heat in areas of the body that we wanted to lose stubborn fat in helped metabolize that fat. NOW I’m not telling you to go out and buy any of this equipment (in fact, I’m doing the opposite). I’m just educating you on the fact that, it will not last. Once you drink water or eat food with any molecule of water your body will return to how it was prior. These are short-term solutions not to mention the risks associated with each product are endless and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I know, it’s sooo much sexier than ‘diet and exercise yada yada yada’ so we’ll pretend that it works for the time being while doing things that are actually helping us.
Marie.
