Why You Can’t Really Target a Certain Area for Fat Burning

Wouldn’t it be great to  target a certain area for fat burning? When all you want to do is focus on your middle, it feels like a waste of time to have to do all the cardio workouts. Why should you strength train your legs when all you want to do is slim your abs? Why should you do core workouts when it’s your booty that needs the work?

Being Able to Target a Certain Area for Fat Burning is a Myth

There are tons of products on the market that claim to help you to pinpoint the location where you will be able to lose weight. There are fitness devices, pills, and specific workouts that claim they can zero in on one particular spot. The fact of the matter is, however, that you cannot target a certain area for fat burning. 

Studies have shown, time and time again, that this is the case. Infomercials may want you to believe otherwise. Fitness magazines would love you to think they have all the secrets. Unfortunately, research regularly reveals that nothing you do can let you choose where you will lose body fat.

Spot Reduction Remains a Popular Claim

It’s a shame that some companies claim that their products will take aim at certain parts of the body. Many dieters unwittingly fall victim to those claims. In fact, it happens to millions of people every year. 

However, the secret to target a certain area for fat burning remains undiscovered. Instead, weight loss pills, products, diets and workouts can help to burn fat from the body overall. Eventually, it will reach the targeted area. Still, that will happen in its own time. All the crunches in the world won’t change it.

The Science of Why Targeted Weight Loss Doesn’t Work

There are a number of reasons you can’t target a certain area for fat burning. The first is that fat is a substance contained within cells. While stored, that fat is called triglycerides. Your body’s muscles are not capable of using triglycerides as a fuel source.

Instead, the body must first break down its fat into glycerol and fatty acids. Those substances are sent into the bloodstream for use by the muscles. Therefore, the body muscles don’t automatically use up the fat closest to where they are located. The fat used to fuel muscles can come from anywhere on the body, near or far.