ExRx.net

So I was telling a friend that spot reduction was a myth, as is generally accepted, when he linked me to this study(Which happens to have been done here in my own country, heh): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16985258

It seems that spot reduction isn't completely a myth, but it may be unclear to what degree it is possible. The study is also pretty small.

What do you guys think?

I think this was discussed here a few years ago. In any case, the effect is very small, and for practical purposes, it's irrelevant. If you want to lose fat on your abs, for example, you are better off doing exercises that work the largest muscles in the body (legs) and eating to minimize fat, and controlling hormones that control fat deposition (i.e. cortisol in this case). That approach will be far more effective than endless situps.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

If effective spot reduction would be true, many people would look very weird (No fat in abdominal region and ass, but totally fat legs and arms). It seems illogical to even think you could lose fat from some portion of your body, but have fat in the other. It would also make fat loss more difficult to program, as you would have to concentrate to equal fat loss around the body.

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Prove the impossible!

ya, you'd have no fat on your legs whatsoever from walking everywhere. I don't buy it.

Fat people that chew all the time have lean faces, not.

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...I don't have a signature...

I think a lot, and find that my head is getting smaller.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

You guys raise some valid points.

I didn't expect it to actually be *that* significant, anyhow, but I never knew that it was at all possible. It was merely curious.

Hi, I was reading about this but I can't find out where some hormones put fat.
If someone has love handles, he is insulin resistant.
If someone has stomach, he has low testosterone levels.
If someone has fat on the back, I think he has something about cortisol.
What about estrogens in men?

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Don’t run if you can walk, don’t walk if you can stand, don’t stand if you can sit,
and if you sat, might as well lie down and take a nap.

Polquin has done some research, or has at least exploited, this area. Ori Hofmekler has also written about estrogen. Estrogen produces the pear shape in women. I'd be guessing as to the fat effects in men, other than man-boobs.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD