Many people who want to lose weight have a particular area of their body where they would like to be able to lose fat, whether it is the stomach, arms or thighs. But while there’s no shortage of videos and online guides on the best way to “blast fat” from these so-called problem areas, the evidence on whether or not spot fat can be reduced remains mixed.
The mechanics of losing weight is quite simple and rooted in the laws of thermodynamics. Basically, this means that in order to lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you consume.
You can increase your spending either by moving more daily (although exercise can have the downside of increased appetite for some people) or limiting caloric intake. It is often the most effective weight loss method.
But where you actually lose that weight isn’t that simple. This is because our body stores fat ruled by our hormones.
Most of us have a tendency to store excess fat in the stomach, thighs and buttocks. In men, this usually leads to an “apple” shape, where the fat is concentrated around the belly. In women, this usually leads to what many call a “pear” shape, where fat is concentrated around the hips and buttocks.
However, hormones also vary from person to person, which can still affect where you store fat. Geneticdiet and even exercise levels are all factors.
But just as we can’t choose where our body stores fat, we can’t choose where we lose it. When we lose weight, we tend to see fat loss from areas where there are more – lose more weight in the torso followed by the legs and then the arms. This pattern of weight loss is dictated by your sex, genetic and age – especially in women.
Use exercise
Some hope, however, that by exercising a particular muscle group, you may be able to increase fat loss in that area. For example, many people do sit-ups in hopes that it will help them get rid of stomach fat. But the evidence on whether or not dark spot reduction works is still mixed, despite many years of study.
When it comes to losing weight through exercise, the body needs to break down our stored fat (called adipose tissue) into fatty acids. These then enter the bloodstream, where they are delivered to our working muscles where they can be burned as fuel for exercise. Aerobic exercise such as cycling or running 50-70% of our maximum exercise capacity is known as our “fatmax” and is the best for burning fat.
Interestingly, some evidence actually supports localized fat reduction. Research dating back to the 1960s shows that fat loss from exercise was actually greater in regions that have exercised. More recently, a 2021 study showed that it is possible to spot reduce fat in abdominal area after 12 weeks of abdominal exercises compared to people who did only general full-body resistance exercises.
Research has also suggested that fat stores in the body are regulated somewhat separately by differences in biochemical processes. This means that, at least in theory, fat loss in the body can be targeted.
Other evidence shows that blood flow and fat burning (known as lipolysis) is greatest in fatty tissue next to muscle being exercised, compared to the muscles that are not used. So, in theory, point fat reduction is possible. However, this study involved young active men – so it is uncertain whether the same effect is seen in other groups of people.
But while some studies have shown spot reduction is possible, many others found that spot reduction had no effect. A local increase in lipolysis is only the first of many steps to move fat into the blood where it can be used by muscles for energy, eventually leading to weight loss. The increase in local lipolysis is therefore not synonymous with a reduction in localized fat. Working a single muscle group also recruits fewer muscles and burns fewer calories than exercises for the whole body – so you are less likely to see overall weight loss.
Strongest Conclusion
To understand the consensus on a research area, scientists use systematic reviews and meta-analyses. These summarize the findings of several independent studies on the same topic to determine an overall trend. A meta-analysis published earlier this year concluded that localized strength training has no localized fat reduction effect. This might be our strongest conclusion yet, that pinpoint reduction probably isn’t working.
But while exercise can’t help you cut fat, there is pharmaceutical and surgical methods that can. Topical creams or injections may work to manipulate fat receptors to reduce fat, with research showing aminophylline cream in particular can reduce waist circumference by 6 cm more than a placebo in overweight men and women. These methods carry many risks and are therefore not to be taken lightly.
Building muscle mass in our body can certainly increase our ability to burn calories – including fat. It can help to reshape our body, similar to what is expected with localized fat reduction. But there is a catch. Increasing overall muscle mass will help more than localized muscle growth if the ultimate goal is to lose fat.
