Is It Really Possible
to Lose Those Trouble Spots?

Great question and probably one of the most popular questions that people ask if not THE most popular.

I almost feel like it has been asked enough that the cat should truly be out of the bag by now. But just to be sure you get it, here is the answer: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SPOT REDUCING. You can spot tone, but you cannot spot reduce.

Let me explain: Let’s say your right biceps is bigger than your left biceps. You can try bringing your left biceps up by training a little harder or heavier, maybe doing an extra set of biceps curls with your left arm. That would be spot toning.

Or let’s say you have very underdeveloped calves or no butt or no muscularity in your arms. You can work extra hard on these areas to bring them into the sculpted shape you wish them to be by hitting them harder than any other muscle group for a while. That would be spot toning.

If someone walks up to me and says, I love my body except my butt is too big or my calves are too fat, can you give me exercises to tone my butt or calves? Well, it just doesn’t work that way. So the short answer is No. Any strength training exercise is going to cause hypertrophy which is muscle growth, toning and conditioning, not fat loss.

So, when people ask me how to get rid of these problem areas, what they are really asking is how do I get rid of this fat that tends to hang around mostly my stomach, legs, hips, butt, etc. These are the common problem areas for most women. For men it is the ever-so-hated love handles.

The answer is very simple in theory, but not so easy to implement. Here it is, are you ready? It’s CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE!!

That’s right, you have to lose the fat. So the best way to do this is to get the whole fitness regimen together.

• You must do cardio to burn the fat.
• You must strength train to tone and condition your muscle because the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism to burn off more calories even at rest and to sculpt your body.
• And last but not least, you have to get your nutrition program together so that all that hard work shows and pays off.

• Start doing regular cardio training and throw in some HIT sessions if and when you can.
• Begin strength training every major muscle group at least 2-3 times a week.
• Get your nutrition plan working by learning your daily caloric needs according to your goals and just get started, people!
• Above all, don’t give up. Make up your mind to do this as if your life depends on it, because basically, it does.

If you are more than 20 pounds overweight and you haven’t already developed health issues due to obesity, you most likely will eventually. Especially if you continue to gain weight. These issues will shorten your life and rob you of quality of life that you deserve. It’s your birthright to feel good and to enjoy your life.

You have to work at this, but I know you can do it! Whenever you fall off the wagon and an unplanned cheat happens, just do not let that completely derail your plan. Just get back on track and get it going again. Don’t give up until you have achieved your goals!!

Now, sorry, I tend to get a little carried away. I know there are some of you saying, okay, Linda, but aren’t there exercises I can do for those problem areas? Yes, there are and they should be done along with all of your other muscle group exercises as a part of working all your muscle groups. Understand? Yes, train your hips, butt, abs, etc., along with your biceps, triceps, chest, back, shoulders, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. If you do all that I have told you to do up till now, I promise your problem areas will diminish.

EXERCISES FOR PROBLEM AREAS
With that said and done, I can give you some exercises for those areas.

ABS
Let’s start with stomach or ab exercises. Crunches are great and one of my favs is a Swiss Ball Crunch. Another exercise I love for abs is the hanging leg raise done with ab straps. I demonstrate those along with Swiss ball cable crunches at You Tube Ab Superset Vid. So be sure and check that out! Those are just a couple of exercises for your core. The most basic exercise is of course the crunch with or without a Swiss ball.

HIPS or THIGHS
Now, how about hips or thigh exercises. Lunges, leg presses, squats, and many floor exercises are great. These exercises can be difficult if you have bad knees. However, most of them can be done or at least a modified version of them if you are very careful. There is also the inner/outer thigh machine that most gyms have.

Check out my Lower body workout video that will whip anyone’s butt into shape or watch the triple threat video. If this is too difficult, you can divide the 3 positions shown in the triple threat video up into 3 separate exercises. They are very effective in toning the glutes!

TRICEPS
Another problem area that women often ask me about is the triceps or back of the upper arm that continue to wave in the wind long after they’ve stopped waving.

Triceps Pressdowns using a rope or bar, kickbacks, and dips are great for the muscle in this area. Again go to Youtube to see the pressdowns in action or view the Total arm workout for the best looking arms possible, training both biceps and triceps.

By implementing the advice and exercises in this newsletter you can kiss those problem areas goodbye!

Linda Burke, CPT