OPTIMUM EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY

  • Home
  • Services
    • Exercise Physiology >
      • NDIS
      • Home/Aged Care Package
      • Chronic Disease Rehabilitation
      • Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation
      • Allied Health Solutions
      • Diabetes >
        • Diabetes Exercise Class
      • Athletic Development
      • DVA
      • Workplace Injury
      • Medicare Referrals
      • Telehealth
      • Personal Training
    • Group Classes >
      • EP Group
      • Diabetes Exercise Class
      • Strength Bones & Balance
      • Timetable
    • Diabetes Education >
      • Optimum Diabetes
    • Conditions We Treat >
      • Diabetes
      • Cardiovascular Disease
      • Exercise & Cancer
      • Osteoporosis & Bone Health
      • Chronic Pain
      • Osteoarthritis
      • Stroke
      • Weight Loss
      • Pre & Post Natal Exercise
      • Neurological Conditions
      • Mental Health
      • Joint & Muscle Pain
      • Pulmonary Conditions
  • Referrals
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Client Resources
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Exercise Physiology
    • FAQ
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us!
  • Book Now
  • Home
  • Services
    • Exercise Physiology >
      • NDIS
      • Home/Aged Care Package
      • Chronic Disease Rehabilitation
      • Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation
      • Allied Health Solutions
      • Diabetes >
        • Diabetes Exercise Class
      • Athletic Development
      • DVA
      • Workplace Injury
      • Medicare Referrals
      • Telehealth
      • Personal Training
    • Group Classes >
      • EP Group
      • Diabetes Exercise Class
      • Strength Bones & Balance
      • Timetable
    • Diabetes Education >
      • Optimum Diabetes
    • Conditions We Treat >
      • Diabetes
      • Cardiovascular Disease
      • Exercise & Cancer
      • Osteoporosis & Bone Health
      • Chronic Pain
      • Osteoarthritis
      • Stroke
      • Weight Loss
      • Pre & Post Natal Exercise
      • Neurological Conditions
      • Mental Health
      • Joint & Muscle Pain
      • Pulmonary Conditions
  • Referrals
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Client Resources
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Exercise Physiology
    • FAQ
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us!
  • Book Now

Blog

Myth Busting:  Why we can’t spot target fat loss.

24/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
“I want to get rid of my muffin top” or “lose my wobbly arms” and “cut back the beer belly” are all phrases we hear regularly in the clinic and I’m sure we’ve all thought at some point. Unfortunately, I’m here to bust that myth and let you know that no matter how hard you try, you can’t target where on your body fat loss occurs.  ​Often these goals or obsessions with a particular aspect of your body can actually be preventing you from being more effective with your training and achieving a range of health and fitness goals, rather than just one. 

It has been a long-time belief for many people that by training a specific muscle or muscle group, fat loss will also occur in this same area. This is not the case and yet many popular workouts on social media and in magazines will have you believe otherwise, promising to “tone those trouble areas.” Often what these people are selling is a quick fix and not providing you with a holistic approach to your overall health and fitness goals. 

To reduce fat mass, we must have a greater energy expenditure than input into our bodies. We gain energy through consuming food and we burn energy in 3 ways. Firstly, while at rest to maintain our bodies essential functions like breathing, blood circulation and organ function. Secondly the process of turning food into energy and lastly by moving our bodies. Put simply when our body needs energy, it uses a range of resources within the body, one being fat which is then released from fat calls to help produce said energy. Unfortunately, regardless of which body parts we are moving our body removes fat from cells based on your gender, genetics, body shape and a range of other factors. 

Often the exercises prescribed in these “spot targeting” workouts are focused around working very small muscles that don’t contribute a lot to improving your overall fitness, strength or energy expenditure. If your goal is to “get lean” meaning to build muscle and decrease fat mass, then targeting small muscles will likely leave you feeling frustrated and unsuccessful. Alternatively focusing on large muscle groups when training will not only improve your overall fitness and strength but also the amount of energy you burn, increasing your energy expenditure for the day, promoting an increase in fat loss overall. 

To increase your overall fat loss try focusing on activities that expend more energy and eventually your “target areas” will reduce too. If you find that you really enjoy training the smaller muscles, leave those exercises for the end of your workouts if you have the time and energy! 

Aleisha Michael

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    AuthorS

    Lisa Parkinson
    ​Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Diabetes Educator

    Thomas Harrison
    Accredited Exercise Physiologist
    ​
    Rebecca Dostan
    Accredited Exercise Physiologist

    Archives

    April 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    July 2019
    July 2018
    December 2016
    September 2016

    Categories

    All
    Active Ageing
    Asthma
    Back Pain
    Cancer
    Cardiovascular
    Chronic Pain
    COVID-19
    Diabetes
    Disability
    Education
    Ergonomics
    Falls Prevention
    Foam Rolling
    General Health
    Goal Setting
    Heart Health
    High Cholesterol
    Hypertension
    Injury Prevention
    Insulin Resistance
    Liver Disease
    Low Back Pain
    Menopause
    Men's Health
    Mental Health
    Motivation
    Muscle Soreness
    Neurological Conditions
    Obesity
    Osteoarthritis
    Osteoporosis
    Pain
    Parkinson's Disease
    Pilates
    Pregnancy
    Rehabilitation
    Rheumatoid Arthritis
    Running
    Shoulder
    Sleep
    Strength Training
    Stress
    Stretching
    Type 2 Diabetes
    Walking
    Weight Loss

    RSS Feed

Copyright © Optimum Exercise Physiology, 2020. All Rights Reserved.