Welcome to a new night in Carol’s Corner. I alway’s say night because I am usually writing this late at night. Today I am very late getting it started. It’s 1:37 AM. Well the first day of spring has gone, and it sure doesn’t feel like spring. Winter , hurry up and leave. I’m wearing another top today that I bought when I first lost weight. I love the style and the colors and again I have the perfect color cami shaper to go underneath the top. Made this jewelry set to go with it back when I bought it.

Love this FitBit combo, another of my favorite bands, and my jewelry coordinates so well.

Tonight’s blog is going to be about spot reducing. Does it work ? We shall see what the experts have to say on the subject. We are going to use information for this discussion with something from Sports MD.with an article titled ” The Fallacies of ” Spot Reducing” And Truth About Fat Loss”.

The concept of “Spot Reducing ” is behind many of the infomercial products marketed in the fitness industry. The concept is that if you train a specific area of your body through repetitive low intensity muscle contractions(e.g. massive amounts of abdominal crunches) that the fat overlying the area will decrease( e.g. reduction of belly fat)

UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS ONLY A MYTH , says this author , but one that is perpetuated by the constant bombardment of new “spot reducing” products advertised via infomercials. A basic understanding of exercise physiology will help inividuals understand how the body accumulates excess fat, where it is stored, and how it is lost.

WHY DOES MY BODY NEED TO HAVE FAT?

There are two types of fat stored in the body. The first is essential fat. This is the fat that is stored in the heart, the lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, intestines, muscles, central nervous system, and bone marrow. This fat is “essential” for the organs to function properly.

The second type of fat is stored fat. Stored fat includes the fat that is surrounding the internal organs of the body(for protection from trauma) and fat that is subcutaneous ( stored just between the skin’s surface). The stored fat located under the skin is the larger portion of stored fat.

The body was designed to store fat as an energy reserve. If the individual consumes more calories than the body needs, the excess calories are stored as subcutaneous fat. The good thing is that subcutaneous stored fat can be reversed and utilized as an energy source when blood sugar is low.

WHY DO WOMEN HAVE MORE BODY FAT THEN MEN?

Women have more essential fat then men due to sex-specific fat that women need for pregnancy. The lowest limit of essential body fat for women is 12% while the lowest limit for men is 3%. In other words, fat is essential for the healthy functioning of the body and women will need to carry more fat then men.

HOW CAN I REDUCE SUBCUTANEOUS FAT?

Subcutaneous fat is reduced when the body neeads fuel to keep moving. As muscles are exercised and blood flow is increased to and from the muscles,the body is better able to mobilize from the fat stored within the body and metabolize that fat into energy.

The key to losing subcutaneous fat is to add low-intensity exercise to your daily routine. Low-intensity exercise pulls from stored fat for it’s energy source.

Aerobic exercise can also help with fat metabolism in that higher level aerobic exercise helps speed the mobilization and transition of stored fat to usable energy in the blood stream. A combination of both types of exercise can help to reduce excess body fat.

A little personal observation from the above material, is that those of us who utilize the Leslie Sansone or other similar type exercise routines on a daily basis, are already on the right path to geting rid of body fat.

CAN I INFLUENCE HOW FAT IS REMOVED FROM MY BODY?

It is important that we understand that we can’t choose the location from which stored fat is metabolized. Fat is stored in a unique and sytemstic pattern for each individual, mostly based on genetics. Excess energy that is stored as fat will be laid down in a specific pattern for each individual. Everyone has their own unique pattern of fat distribution .

Males tend to store excess fat in the abdomen, where as females tend to store excess fat in the hips and thighs. Of course the opposite could also be the case, as each individual is unique.

Another interesting fact about fat distribution within the body, is that fat will be removed within the body in the same order that it was laid down.(another pretty interesting fact). Once again, this pattern is set by the body and cannot be influenced through specific training. So far I personally am finding this whole subject, as presented here, very educational and interesting at the same time.

HOW CAN I GET A LEANER LOOKING ABDOMEN?

While abdominal exercises strengthen the underlying muscles, they do not specifically reduce the overlying fat. However, strengthening abdominal muscles is still beneficial for core strength and for the reduction of back injuries and should be included in your fitness program.

The following are Sports MD core strength videos to strengthen your abdominal muscles.( I am assuming you can find them somewhere on their web site).

1) ABDOMINAL EXERCISES AND ASSESSMENT 2)TESTING YOUR TRUNK AND CORE 3)CORE STRENGTH EXERCISES:THE SIDE BRIDGE 4)TRANSVERSE ABDOMINAL PRESS

Next they go into some names of specific muscles, but am going to skip that and just get to the bottom line, is that you need to incorporate fat burning exercises to reduce the body fat that is lying over the abdominal muscles.

This can be accomplished by targeting exercises that specifically burn body fat-low-intensity exercises. One of the best fat burning exercise you can do is walking . (Again Leslie Sansone or similar type exercise is perfect for this). If exercise is at a higher intensity, the fuel that is needed to maintain a higher level of intensity is pulled from a different source.

Exercising at a heart rate of 110bmp (may change depending on age) is exercise that is at a low enough level to pull energy from the subcutaneous fat stores of the body. The benefit from this type of exercise is that it can be maintained for 30-40 minutes without taxing the body’s energy systems. The second benefit is because the individual is exercising at a low level, it can be done every day without injuring the body.

Walking 30 minutes a day has been found to be effective at reducing excess subcutaneous body fat, as long as the individual does not increase his/or her caloric intake at the same time.

As the body uses subcutaneous body fat to fuel the body during low intensity exercise, the individual will gradually see the subcutaneous body fat decrease. As this type of exercise is maintained over time, the individual will then be left with a leaner body and one in which the underlying muscle definition will begin to be seen.

The individual can also benefit from aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is exercise that is maintained at a higher intensity (60 % or higher of max heart rate) and one that is sustained using the large muscles of the body. High intensity exercise actually increases the bodies ability to metabolize energy from stored fat. So this type of exercise will all help in reducing store fat. (So again may I say, Leslie Sansone or similar type workouts are doing all the things that need to be done) I am going to skip over some stuff they have. You can read over a couple sections if you desire. I’ll provide a link to all the information I have given you.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO REDUCE OVERALL BODY FAT?

Effectively reducing body fat begins with a fitness program combining strength training, low-intensity level exercise, and aerobic exercise. Each type of exercise plays an important role in subcutaneous fat reduction.

STRENGTH TRAINING IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE LARGER MUSCLES BURN MORE ENERGY AND INCREASE THE BODY’S RESTING METABOLIC RATE

The metabolic rate is how much energy the body needs to sustain it’s functions. A body with more muscle mass will generate a higher metabolic rate, thus burning more energy throughout the day even at rest. This is a key component to reducing body fat especially for women as they get older. Metabolism naturally decreases with age because activity levels decrease. Maintaining a regular strength training program can help counter this metabolic decrease.

Because women do not have the hormone testosterone, women do not have the ability to gain large muscle mass when they strength train. However small gains can be seen with regular strength training programs. Women will see an increase in strength more than an increase in size. It is reccomended here, to strength train three times a week to see a steady gain in strength.

FOCUSED ATTENTION ON DAILY LOW-INTENSITY EXERCISE IS THE SECOND COMPONENT IN A PROGRAM TO REDUCE BODY FAT

As mentioned earlier, walking is one of the best types of exercise for reducing body fat. Other forms of exercise may be used as long as heart rate is kept to 100-110 bpm. Start at 30 minutes a day and increase as you are able.

LAST, AEROBIC EXERCISE CAN BE INCLUDED THREE DAYS A WEEK

The purpose of aerobic exercise is primarily to strengthen the cardiorespiratory system, understanding that the heart is itself a muscle, and grows stronger with aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise also enhances the body’s ability to metabolize fat.

These three types of exercise combined in a fitness program are the keys to reducing body fat in any body type. A healthy body can be obtained with a focus on three basic principals as shown in the above segments. http://www.sportsmd.com/sports-nutrition/weight-loss/fallacies-spot-reducing-truth-fat-loss/ link to the entire article

I know this has been rather long, but is chocked full of useful and interesting information. As those of you who are familiar with the walk workouts many of us already are using, we already have all the tools we need to reduce our body fat. We just have to keep with the program and do it religiously. Exercise is key in my stage of the journey and I have actually increased it as of late. I hope you enjoyed this and can see that you may already be on the right track. So stay strong, stay motivated, and above all, never give up. Till next time God Bless.