Operation Six Pack

The Myth of Spot Reduction

Many people think that you can target certain areas of the body for fat loss by training those areas.  This idea is one of the most widely propagated fitness falsehoods, and I call it the myth of spot reduction.  This myth makes people think that the way to lose belly fat is to do hundreds of crunches. This is just not true! There are many fitness programs and products that are based on this myth, and they are all crap (remember the thigh master ?). The only way to lose fat off your stomach is to lose fat all over your body by maintaining a caloric deficit. That is why for O6P the order of importance is 1. Nutrition and 2. Cardio because these are the aspects that put you in a caloric deficit, which is what really causes loss of belly fat. Weight training comes in a distant third because its purpose is to maintain your lean mass while in caloric deficit.  So instead of doing a bunch of crunches, go for a run or a swim or do some other activity that gets your heart pumping for an extended period of time.

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