Burning stubborn body fat

 

 

If I had €1 for every time someone came up to me in the gym and said that they wanted to lose fat from their tummy and arms and nowhere else id be rich! No, it’s not impossible as some trainers will make you believe, you can target problem areas but it’s on such an insignificant scale that it’s practically useless. So in practicality, training to spot reduce fat through targeted exercise is like trying to sieve flour with a tennis racket!

Targeting stubborn bodyfat is done through diet, exercise and supplementation. It is physiologically different to other types of fat, it receives less blood flow and is more insulin sensitive which means it stores more fat and releases less.  For women it’s the hips, bum and thighs and for men its love handles. High Estrogen times of a ladies monthly cycle is also when female stubborn bodyfat is even more stubborn to shift, which is made even more difficult as this is the time when we crave sugar!

If an area has a lack of blood flow it means that even if the fat is released, it doesn’t get moved out of that area to be burned elsewhere more readily. Stubborn fat is normally in areas that is harder for the body to heat up, ie, the love handles and saddle bags. These areas are further away from the centre of the body and tend to be “colder”

 

How do we fix this?

Stop dieting! Eating less and exercising more makes you really hungry, gives you horrible cravings, makes you lethargic and decreases your metabolic rate which makes you store the fat you have.

Cycle your diet! Don’t eat the same things all the time. Your metabolism is highly reactive and adaptive so best off keeping it guessing every few weeks. This keeps your thyroid activity high and keeps insulin sensivity at a manageable level. Eat less, train less for two weeks followed by eat more, train more.

Stop with the steady state cardio!! This burns more lean muscle mass then it builds, HIIT (high intensity interval training) along with a good weights session is the best way to achieve bodyfat loss.

Supplement your diet once you’re eating clean. Green tea extract and acetyl L-Carnitine are great aides for fat loss but no good if you’re eating rubbish !!!

 

Louise Kavanagh - Spencer Health Club Manager