Does Spot Training Work?

The short answer is no. Spot training does not work. Crunches will not immediately burn fat on your stomach. Nor do leg raises melt fat off of your thighs. There are several reason spot reducing isn’t effective. It’s true that genetics has a lot to do with where we gain weight and were it comes off first when we lose. For some people fat around the middle goes last. You can lose weight but because of genetics, your tummy won’t go until you really step up the exercise and buckle down on the eating.Although spot training will not reduce fat on those areas specifically, it will improve the muscle tone. For instance, if you are trying to lose weight in your stomach and do 200 crunches or 3 ab routines a day you won’t necessarily lose the fat there but you will gain strength and muscle tone in your midsection. What this means is when the fat finally does come off, it will reveal more defined muscles because you have already been training those muscles.
 
Also, spot training can increase metabolism and help you lose weight just like any other strength training routine. When you build muscle, your metabolism is increased thereby increasing the likelihood that your body will burn fat. This works because muscle burns more calories than fat, even at rest. As a part of any weight loss program , you must incorporate strength training. While this won’t burn fat immediately where you train (saggy arms anyone?) it will increase your metabolism and cause your body to burn more fat overall.
 
Also important in losing fat is cardio workouts. Cardio or raising your heart rate to an aerobic level immediately burn calories. Things like running, kick boxing, dancing, and biking are all good cardio exercises. While this calorie burn isn’t sustained like the one you get by strength training and gaining muscle mass, it is important none the less.
 
If you stomach or thighs are the last trouble area to go when you lose weight, it’s definitely time to pick up the fitness effort. By strength training and increasing cardio you can lose fat overall and gain muscle definition. Spot training won’t get you closer to your goal, but is an okay addition to any strength training workout.