You need to understand this right now if you are going to get the most out of your exercise programme. There is no such thing as spot reduction. The technique does not and cannot work. Ever!

It is crucial that you understand this point because a lot of people waste their time at the gym targetting their abs or thighs or biceps or whatever with intensive weight training exercises only to be disappointed with the end result. The reason they are disappointed is because they don’t know what you and I know. It is not possible to target the loss of fat from one particular part of your body.

What does happen when you target specific parts of your body with high intensity resistance workouts is that you stimulate the muscles used in a particular exercise. This has no effect on the fat stored in the cells in or around that part of your body. You cannot burn fat from your biceps by training your biceps, you cannot burn fat from your stomach by training your abs and you cannot get rid of the fat from your legs by training them with weights.

Hopefully after those four paragraphs I have got the message across. I’m sorry to go on so much but this message is really important.

So, one more time. Fat is simply a way for the body to store fuel for whenever it feels it needs it. The body will decide to use up fat from different parts of your body in any order it likes, whenever it wants to. You cannot influence where the fat is used up from.

The reason I advocate the use of intensive resistance or weight training exercise is for the overall fat loss effect. As we have discussed before in our previous myths, lean muscle mass is metabolically expensive to the body. The more you have the more fuel your body needs to use up in order to maintain it. Your goal therefore is two-fold when training with heavy weights. You want to build up muscle to burn off fat and you want to develop lean muscle mass in specific parts of your body in order to look good. It’s that simple.

So remember, use a properly structured free weight training program which is designed specifically to stimulate muscle growth. The exercises should use low to moderate repetitions but should be performed at a high intensity level.

As we said in myth number 7, don’t be afraid to train like a body builder, it is by far the quickest way to lose the fat and get the body shape you desire.

This is “Myth #8″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth #7 – Train too Heavy, Get Too Big
Fat Loss Myth #6 -Exercise Slowly and Burn Fat Faster
Fat Loss Myth #5 – A Fat Burning Diet Requires No Exercise
Fat Loss Myth #4 – Lose the Carbs, Lose the Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #3 – Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 – Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 – Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

With images in their heads of huge muscle clad bodies prancing around the free weight room, newbies to the World of fat loss exercise stay clear of anything that looks like weight training for fear of taking on this appearance themselves. This is especially true of the ladies.

The real story though is that if you are looking for a toned, lean muscle bound low fat body then intense weight training is exactly what you should be doing. There is one simple reason why weight training is important for lat loss, and that is that it promotes the development and maintenance of lean muscle mass.

Why do you want to promote the development of lean muscle mass? I’ll tell you.

First. Muscle tissue is what we call metabolically active. The percentage amount of your body which is made up of lean muscle tissue has a direct effect on the amount of calories your body burns even when you are resting. This is known as the basal metabolic rate. The mitochondria in your muscles, which is where nutrients you take in are converted into energy are stimulated when you train intensely with weights. The more they are stimulated then the more energy they require which means they burn up more nutrients. In other words the more lean muscle tissue your body consists of then the more fat you will lose.

Second. A nicely defined muscle toned body looks good! Surely one of the main reasons for losing fat is to end up looking good in the mirror or on the beach. If you don’t develop a decent amount of lean muscle tissue then you will end up with a smaller body which consists of less fat but it won’t have that fit and healthy look that comes from having cut muscle definition. So, low body fat levels is good, of course it is, but you also need to have a good amount of muscular development to go along with it.

Ok, so now you’re thinking that what I started out by saying at the beginning of this myth has been contradicted by what I just said about muscle development being crucial aren’t you?. You’re back to thinking that I want you to bulk up like a night club bouncer aren’t you? Well, get that image out of your head right now! The truth is that muscle development happens over a long period of time, not overnight. You will see changes to your body shape happen gradually and you will come to anticipate what is happening to your body well before it actually takes place. This is especially true for you ladies out there because as we have seen before, muscle development is primarily triggered by the hormone testosterone which is present in the female body in much lower quantities. Unless you are incredibly gifted at a genetic level then the fear of becoming a bulky mass of muscle is just completely irrational and you should not worry about it at all.

So, in conclusion, if you want to lose fat quicker and end up with a great looking toned and cut body that you would be proud to show off on the beach then it is essential that intense weight training exercise becomes part of your fitness regime.

This characteristic is the tendency for the body to continue burning fat well after the initial exercise is complete. If you add this amount of fat loss to the fat loss you achieve during the exercise itself, then the overall fat loss is greater than that of the low intensity workout which may itself last as much as three times longer. This is because after the low intensity workout the body doesn’t continue to consume fuel for anywhere near as long.

The high intensity short duration workout causes the body’s fat burning metabolism to spike, kick starting it into high gear. This short term shock causes the body to work extra hard and crucially requires that calories are expended for several hours afterwords in order to recover.

It is true that the during the exercise the primary fuel source will be carbohydrate, but overall the amount of calories burned off during, and crucially, following the session will be higher than that of the more traditional low intensity workout. After having ignited the fat burning metabolism, the body continues to use up fuel even when you are resting. This is just not the case with low intensity exercise as the fat burning metabolism never gets that initial spike.

There is another benefit of following this advice too. What would you rather do, work quite hard for 15 to 20 minutes or work slightly less hard for 40 to 45 minutes? I don’t know about you, but my time is precious and if I can achieve better results in a shorter amount of time by working a bit harder, then that’s what I will do.

Also, there is the possibility that exercising for longer gives you more chance of sustaining an injury and a low intensity exercise regime does not promote muscle development. We know from some of our previous myths that having a decent amount of lean muscle fibre enables your body to be more efficient at burning off fat. So, in short, work hard with high intensity workouts for 15 to 20 minutes at a time using interval based cardio exercises and you will lose fat at a much increased rate.

This is “Myth #6″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth $5 – A Fat Burning Diet Requires No Exercise
Fat Loss Myth #4 – Lose the Carbs, Lose the Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #3 – Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 – Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 – Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?