Spot Reduction of Abdominal Fat. Not so simple.
Spot reduction is a term in exercise science referring to targeted, precise, fat loss. The common assumptions would be: walking on a treadmill to reduce lower body fat, doing biceps curls to reduce arm fat, or the big one, doing ab exercises to shrink the belly. Unfortunately, the human body is not so simple; the general scientific consensus does not bode well for the concept (1).
The purpose behind this article is not to dissuade anyone from doing those types of training, but merely to shed some light on the specifics of the goal of reducing belly fat, go into a little detail about what fat really is and how it’s used, and provide some research on spot reduction.
Weight loss is at the same time the easiest and most complex process. If you want to lose weight, quite literally all you have to do is burn more calories than you eat; easy peasy. On the other hand, there are many different ways in which the body burns calories, making it very difficult to keep a close eye on the intake/burning ratio. To touch on this topic, abdominal fat, also known as abdominal adipose tissue, is a fuel source stored in the body.
Adipose tissue is stored and seen in the body in two main ways, subcutaneous and visceral (2). Subcutaneous adipose tissue are the fat cells at the surface most level, under the skin. Visceral adipose tissue is located in the abdomen and surrounding vital organs. The concept of spot reduction fat loss would generally be aimed at subcutaneous adipose tissue, as it is the more directly noticeable.
Because we are able to target specific muscle groups for growth, you would probably assume that targeting regions of fat for reduction could follow suit, unfortunately this is not the case. Muscle groups, while being part of a larger system, are essentially separate entities; exercising your biceps won’t increase your entire body’s musculature, just that one area. If you want to make a muscle grow, make it move.
To describe fat, adipose tissue, in an analogy, think of it as a fuel tank. This fuel tank is spread all across the body in the shape of little pockets here and there. Your blood vessels, that cover near every inch of your body, pull fuel from various tanks to bring to muscles so they can move. Rather than there being a direct link between muscles and their closest adipose neighbors, energy from adipose is delivered to where it is needed most to complete an activity.
Spot reduction is a continually relevant topic in exercise science; the literature varies on specific elements, but the consensus holds true that regional fat loss or change in body composition is not possible (3). When any exercise, regardless of region, is done, there will be benefits seen in overall body composition, but not in targeted areas.
Directly on this topic, Vispute and colleagues in a 2011 study measured the effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat. Their participants saw improvements in abdominal muscular endurance, but no change in body composition or abdominal fat (1).
Concluding this seemingly negative article, I want to offer some positive notes. There are definitely benefits to doing ab exercises, namely muscular strength and endurance. In regards to the goal of subduing belly fat, a stronger abdominal muscle wall keeps everything inside from pushing outward; building a stronger core, while not burning much fat, still helps in reducing the belly.
R. Andrew Paxton, B.S., M.S. Kinesiology
Head Coach & Trainer, Coeur Ninja
e: robertpaxton11@gmail.com
p: (615) 424-3239
REFERENCES
Vispute SS, Smith JD, Lecheminant JD, Hurley KS. The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011;25(9):2559–2564.
visceral. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved April 17 2019 from
Ramírez-Campillo, Rodrigo; Andrade, David C.; Campos-Jara, Christian; Henríquez-Olguín, Carlos; Alvarez-Lepín, Cristian; Izquierdo, Mikel. Regional Fat Changes Induced by Localized Muscle Endurance Resistance Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2013;27(8):2219–2224
Comments
Post a Comment