Spot Reducing Fat
Can You “Spot Reduce” Fat from a Particular Area of the Body?
Do you have areas of your body that seem to hold onto fat more than others? Maybe you have excess fat on your thighs or upper arms. Maybe you have a problem with belly fat. Most of us have areas of our body that we’d love to just wave a magic wand over, and magically the fat would disappear. The process of reducing fat in certain areas is called “spot reducing”, and there’s a whole industry that is built around the concept that some products can help reduce fat in the areas we choose. Most of these products target belly fat because it’s what most people want to reduce, but there are some that target other areas of the body. Is there any truth to the claim that fat can be “spot reduced” and do any of these products work?
Fat accumulates in different places in our bodies, and the amount and the order in which the fat accumulates is largely determined by genetics. It can also be influenced by some external factors like stress and lack of sleep, both of which cause cortisol levels to rise. Elevated cortisol levels can cause more belly fat to accumulate, but genetics play a larger role in where fat is deposited. There’s not much you can do about how your body stores fat, but can you influence how it gets rid of it?
Just as you can’t control where fat deposits form in your body, you can’t control what areas lose fat first. There are no exercises that you can do to “spot reduce” fat, even though there are multiple gadgets and programs that claim you can. Exercising a certain body part will help the muscles in that area get stronger, but it won’t cause fat to be reduced in that area. Fat loss and muscle strengthening are two different things. Also, fat does not turn into muscle. You can decrease fat and increase muscle, but you can’t turn one into the other.
There are a couple things you can do to lose fat, but you won’t be able to control where that fat is lost from. The only thing you can do is consistently lose body fat at a healthy rate by lowering your calories enough so that you burn more than you take in. This is called being in a calorie deficit. You will have to continue the process until you lose fat in the areas that you want. It may take a while, but it will happen if you stay in a calorie deficit long enough. The belly is normally the last place most people lose fat. You can help your body let go of belly fat by getting enough rest and keeping your stress levels low, lowering your cortisol levels, but there are no guarantees.
Now that you know the truth about “spot reducing” fat, you are a more informed consumer and will be able to make better decisions regarding your health and fitness. Spend your money, time, and energy on proven methods of fat loss, and stop looking for short cuts. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
How Much Daily Exercise Does It Take To Lose Weight
How Much Exercise Do You Need Every Day To Lose Weight
Weight loss is a goal that requires both a disciplined dietary approach and exercise, among other factors, to achieve and excel.
How much exercise is needed every day to achieve your weight loss goal is a common question and not one that generally has a clear answer.
Unfortunately, there is not a magic number of minutes, reps or hours needed to lose weight, rather there are a number of variables that need to be considered in order to figure out the right number.
We’ll examine the different variables that come into play when trying to determine how much exercise is needed to give you a roadmap to determining the exercise timeframe that works best for you.
Variable 1: Calories Consumed and Calorie Quality
The first principle of weight loss is that to lose weight we must achieve a caloric deficit or expend more calories than we are consuming. Thus, in order to know the amount of exercise needed to lose weight, we need to know what our daily caloric intake is, and just as importantly, what the sources are for those calories (for example, vegetables versus potato chips).
To this point, if you operate on a low-calorie diet generally speaking, it would take less exercise to lose weight and you may be fine with a moderate 3-4 day a week training plan. Conversely, if you eat excessive amounts or use tons of supplements, you’ll need to up your exercise plan and really push to get back into the caloric deficit mode.
Variable 2: Exercise Type and Intensity
The second key variable is the type of exercise, and more specifically the intensity. 20 minutes on the elliptical has a far different energy output than 20 minutes of all out sprinting. This variable can also dovetail with our first variable, in that the greater the number of calories consumed, the more energy we may have for high intensity exercise, whereas if we aren’t consuming too many calories, we may not need to exercise for an especially long time or at a high intensity per se.’
In general, exercise modalities that are more aerobic will require a longer time to see any sort of effective impact on weight loss. Jogging, biking, the elliptical or other options would all require a significant amount of time, potentially hours over the course of a week, to see a meaningful impact.
Conversely, anaerobic activities such as sprinting, resistance training or interval training methods will be more effective in a short amount of time, yet their intensity level is much higher and thus they have a certain level of pre-requisite fitness to achieve their full potential and results.
Variable 3: What is the Weight Loss Goal? How much time do we have to achieve it?
The third variable is arguably the most important, what is the weight loss goal? Much like our car ride or travel plans are determined by our destination, our exercise plan and weight loss journey will be dictated by the goal we have set.
If the goal is to lose 5 pounds in two months, that is a fairly modest and achievable goal for most and would not require much additional exercise. If you were a sedentary person prior to your goal you would only need to exercise 20-30 minutes a day for 3-4 days a week to achieve this goal.
Conversely, if you goal is to lose 30 pounds in two months, the equation is radically different, and it would take an extreme amount of exercise, multiple hours every day at high intensity to achieve that same goal.
Putting it All Together: Finding the Right Number
Now that we have examined the variables, we can think about how to more effectively answer the question of how much exercise we need per day to lose weight. If you have a low caloric intake generally speaking, are planning on utilizing low intensity aerobic exercise and have a modest goal than you might be ok with 30-45 minutes of aerobic exercise a day.
However, if you love to eat, love to lift weights and also have an ambitious goal for weight loss, you’re going to have to spend hours per day working out to reach those goals.
The ultimate recommendation would be to accurately assess your starting point as compared to your goal, look at how much time you have to reach that goal, and then make a plan accordingly to reach it rather than rely on a standard number or cookie-cutter approach that doesn’t apply to every person.
How To Improve Your Health With A Stronger Core
How A Weak Core Impacts Health And What You Can Do About It
The core muscles of our body are kind of like the knot that ties our upper and lower body together.
Our core muscles are used every single day, likely in ways that you never even realized.
A weak core not only throws off our balance and posture, but it can prevent us from doing everyday tasks such as tying our shoes or doing housework.
Keep in mind that a “strong core” does not mean you have 6-pack abs, it simply means your core is strong enough to support your daily level of functioning and that you are healthy.
Daily tasks that require a strong core
Every single day, even if you do not workout, you are doing something that engages your core muscles. Basic activities, such as, putting on your shoes, looking behind you, getting dressed, even sitting down/standing up all activate your core muscles. These are activities that we do naturally every single day and without decent core strength, these basic tasks will become difficult or painful.
Work related tasks that require a strong core
The most obvious core-engaging jobs are construction, fitness instructor, and any job that requires an extensive amount of lifting, bending, and twisting. These tasks are very difficult without a strong core.
However, those of you who sit at your desk for x-amount of hours/day are still engaging your core. Sitting still for hours on end, answering phone calls, using the computer, and other like – tasks can hurt your lower back. A strong core will help prevent back pain or injury as well.
Sports and Housework
Activities such as tennis, biking, running, football, swimming, and boxing all require a strong core. A weak core will only tire you out faster and prevent you from playing to your best ability
There are also several household activities that require a strong core.
If you are a fix-it yourself kind of a person, the hammering, sawing, lifting, bending, it all is much easier if your core muscles are tighter. Other household activities such as vacuuming, dusting or even gardening if you’re into that, can be more pleasurable if you don’t get a side cramp after twenty minutes.
What You Can Do About It
So, have you found yourself experiencing side cramps or having a hard time bending or lifting? You could probably benefit forma stronger core and there are so many ways to go about getting those muscles fired up.
• Work out your entire core! When people think “core muscles” the first thing that comes to mind is their abs, but there is much more to your core than that. You also have to engage your back muscles, which are very important to everyday living. Nobody wants back pain every time you bend down to pick up the newspaper or chase your kid around the yard. Exercise such as Pilates or yoga are ideal for working out all the muscles in your core.
• Practice standing up straight. Many people do not realize that good posture actually engages the core and helps to fight fat build up. Slouching can cause damage to your back muscles and prevent core engagement.
• Eat healthy! I know I know, this is the most overstated piece of information, but it really is the most important. All that exercising is nothing without the proper nutrients. You need to feed your body plenty of protein (preferably form actual food and not a powder) as well as drink lots of water. Fruits and vegetables are also crucial for proper bowel movement, aim for 3-4 different fruits/vegetable per day.
Top 5 Core-Engaging Exercises
1. Planking. Planking is an exercise that engages nearly every muscle in your body and is great for core strengthening.
2. Bridges. Bridges target the lower abdominal muscles, glutes, thigh muscles, and lower back.
3. Supermans. Supermans engage the lower back muscles as well as the glutes. They are perfect for working out the lower back.
4. Full body crunch. This exercise is ideal for working out your entire core in one swift movement.
5. Cross over crunch. Aimed for working out the oblique’s, the cross over crunch is a must have in your workout routine!
A stronger core can really change the way you live your life.
Take some time every day to put in a workout even if it’s just 20 minutes, and do your best to pass on that extra slice of cake!
Improving Productivity With Morning Exercise
Can Morning Exercise Make You More Productive During the Day?
It is no big secret that exercise, proper nutrition, getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of water throughout the day is a proven recipe for health.
Regarding exercise, is there a particular time of day when working out or staying physically active will deliver greater rewards?
The answer to that question seems to be “yes”, and the time you should be exercising is in the morning.
When you are productive in any area of your life, you enjoy less stress and anxiety, more happiness and a sense of fulfillment, and more success.
To boost your productivity, get active more often. Jogging, taking a walk, lifting weights, cycling, and performing yoga or Pilates will give you more energy than if you are sedentary, which will naturally lead to better productivity.
When you schedule that exercise in the morning, you supercharge that productivity.
Here’s how it works.
Exercise in the morning means fewer scheduling conflicts.
You never miss a workout when you wake up early, and you don’t have to push other responsibilities aside to make sure you get a workout in. This means after your morning workout, your entire day can be focused on productively knocking out your to do list, and daily responsibilities.
Waking up is hard to do for a lot of people. This means sluggishly getting through the morning and heading to work without much energy.
Exercise fires up your endorphins and cranks up your energy levels. Enjoying even just 20 minutes of physical activity in the morning can lead to energy reserves to fuel a productive day.
Early-morning fitness means a spike in your metabolism. So when you have a mid-morning snack and lunch while you are working throughout the day, you effectively burn more calories.
This means you’re less likely to suffer a mid-afternoon energy crash. Moderately intense to intense physical activity also wakes up your brain. So you start the day with a clear head, improving your chances of keeping ahead of your workload and responsibilities all day long.
As far as motivation goes, getting your workout in early gives you a boost of self-esteem. You have barely begun your day, and you have already accomplished something important. Success can build upon itself. The feel-good hormones that exercise releases make you feel good about yourself for exercising in the morning, a time when it may be tough to think about physical activity.
This successful early-morning achievement develops the proper mindset to attack subsequent goals and commitments with a lot of productive energy and positive feelings.