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What every woman should know about stubborn weight loss...
A recent study has confirmed what women have known for years -- you lose fat faster from different parts of your body regardless of the type of exercise you do.
The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, tracked a group of 31 women during a 6 month training program. At the beginning and end of the study, body fat levels were measured using a sophisticated technique known as dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA for short). This allowed the research team to establish precisely WHERE the women were losing fat.
What did the training program involve?
The training program consisted of 90 minutes of training, five days each week. Because the routine was designed to enhance the performance of military-specific tasks, much of the program involved various military drills, running, and multi-joint exercises (such as the squat, bench press, and barbell press).
What did the results show?
Despite the fact that the women exercised for almost 9 hours each week for 6 months, they lost just 5.7lb of fat. This highlights the importance of getting your diet right if you want a faster rate of weight loss.
It's also interesting to note that of the 5.7lb of fat lost, 2.9lb came from the trunk. The rest came from the arms, even though the women did NO specific exercises designed to "tone" their arms (such as tricep kickbacks).
Moreover, despite the high volume of work performed for the legs, there was no reduction in fat content -- providing more evidence that performing hundreds of repetitions for a certain bodypart will not reduce fat from that area alone.
Based on these findings, the research team proposed a "hierarchy" of fat loss that differs according to gender.
· Men lose fat first from their trunk, then their arms, followed by their legs.
· Weight loss in women appears to be greater in the arms, followed by the trunk, then by the legs.
The term "trunk" simply refers to the parts of your body that aren't your head, arms, or legs.
So, what's the "take-home" message from this study?
Firstly, it's clear that "spot-reducing", that is, trying to lose fat from isolated parts of your body by performing hundreds of repetitions for that area simply doesn't work. If it did, the women in this study would have lost the majority of fat from their thighs.
Yet the results showed the opposite was true. Average fat loss over the 6 month study was greatest in the arms -- despite the fact the women did no specific arm exercises.
Second, although many women want to lose fat from their hips and thighs, that's actually the last place it goes from. One of the main reasons concerns the ratio of beta and alpha receptors on fat cells in different parts of your body.
Let me explain.
Just like a car, your fat cells have a series of brakes and accelerators. The parts of a fat cell that accelerate the release of fat are called beta receptors, while the parts of a fat cell that put the brakes on fat loss are known as alpha receptors.
The distribution of brakes and accelerators on each fat cell explains why certain parts of your body lose fat faster than others. For example, there are more brakes (alpha receptors) on the fat cells in your thigh than your stomach.
Although there are supplements that take the brakes off fat loss by "shutting down" the alpha receptors (yohimbine being one example), there are only a handful of studies evaluating their long-term effectiveness.
Short of surgery, the only solution to losing "stubborn" fat is a blend of hard training, good nutrition, intelligent supplementation, and a good dose of persistence.
Reference
Nindl, B.C., Harman, E.A., Marx, J.O., Gotshalk, L.A., Frykman, P.N., Lammi, E., Palmer, C., & Kraemer, W.J. (2000). Regional body composition changes in women after 6 months of periodized physical training. Journal of Applied Physiology, 88, 2251-2259
A recent study has confirmed what women have known for years -- you lose fat faster from different parts of your body regardless of the type of exercise you do.
The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, tracked a group of 31 women during a 6 month training program. At the beginning and end of the study, body fat levels were measured using a sophisticated technique known as dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA for short). This allowed the research team to establish precisely WHERE the women were losing fat.
What did the training program involve?
The training program consisted of 90 minutes of training, five days each week. Because the routine was designed to enhance the performance of military-specific tasks, much of the program involved various military drills, running, and multi-joint exercises (such as the squat, bench press, and barbell press).
What did the results show?
Despite the fact that the women exercised for almost 9 hours each week for 6 months, they lost just 5.7lb of fat. This highlights the importance of getting your diet right if you want a faster rate of weight loss.
It's also interesting to note that of the 5.7lb of fat lost, 2.9lb came from the trunk. The rest came from the arms, even though the women did NO specific exercises designed to "tone" their arms (such as tricep kickbacks).
Moreover, despite the high volume of work performed for the legs, there was no reduction in fat content -- providing more evidence that performing hundreds of repetitions for a certain bodypart will not reduce fat from that area alone.
Based on these findings, the research team proposed a "hierarchy" of fat loss that differs according to gender.
· Men lose fat first from their trunk, then their arms, followed by their legs.
· Weight loss in women appears to be greater in the arms, followed by the trunk, then by the legs.
The term "trunk" simply refers to the parts of your body that aren't your head, arms, or legs.
So, what's the "take-home" message from this study?
Firstly, it's clear that "spot-reducing", that is, trying to lose fat from isolated parts of your body by performing hundreds of repetitions for that area simply doesn't work. If it did, the women in this study would have lost the majority of fat from their thighs.
Yet the results showed the opposite was true. Average fat loss over the 6 month study was greatest in the arms -- despite the fact the women did no specific arm exercises.
Second, although many women want to lose fat from their hips and thighs, that's actually the last place it goes from. One of the main reasons concerns the ratio of beta and alpha receptors on fat cells in different parts of your body.
Let me explain.
Just like a car, your fat cells have a series of brakes and accelerators. The parts of a fat cell that accelerate the release of fat are called beta receptors, while the parts of a fat cell that put the brakes on fat loss are known as alpha receptors.
The distribution of brakes and accelerators on each fat cell explains why certain parts of your body lose fat faster than others. For example, there are more brakes (alpha receptors) on the fat cells in your thigh than your stomach.
Although there are supplements that take the brakes off fat loss by "shutting down" the alpha receptors (yohimbine being one example), there are only a handful of studies evaluating their long-term effectiveness.
Short of surgery, the only solution to losing "stubborn" fat is a blend of hard training, good nutrition, intelligent supplementation, and a good dose of persistence.
Reference
Nindl, B.C., Harman, E.A., Marx, J.O., Gotshalk, L.A., Frykman, P.N., Lammi, E., Palmer, C., & Kraemer, W.J. (2000). Regional body composition changes in women after 6 months of periodized physical training. Journal of Applied Physiology, 88, 2251-2259
It is so simple but yet we make it so complex!!!
There's just no wishing it away, is there?
