Spot Weight Loss, The Facts

I often get asked, “What exercises can I do to lose weight from my tummy/upper arms/thighs?” etc. The short answer is that there is no such thing as spot weight loss. When you exercise, your body will choose where to use its energy stores from to power you on and there’s not a whole lot you can do to direct it.

Doing 1,000 sit-ups every day will not trigger significant weight loss from around the abdominal region. What it will do is give you great abdominal muscles underneath so that when the sub-cutaneous fat has been reduced to lower levels that six pack that you worked hard for will be nice and visible. So, how to we reveal those beautiful muscles underneath?

Aerobic activity, (rhythmic movements that use the large muscle groups at sub-maximal intensities in the body) is the key as this form of exercise uses the body’s aerobic energy system. Aerobic means “with air”, (oxygen). When we exercise aerobically, the body uses carbohydrates (glycogen), fat and oxygen as its preferred energy sources. It really kicks in at around the 20-minute mark so your aerobic exercise session should ideally last 30 minutes or more, the recommended frequency of this type of activity is 3 – 5 times per week for general health fitness.


By increasing your aerobic activity throughout the week and coupling this with a controlled diet, your body will begin to use the excess fat stores as fuel thus reducing your overall body fat percentage which aside from being an aesthetic result we all like to achieve, is also essential to avoid health-related problems such as diabetes, heart disease and more.

What’s classed as aerobic exercise? You don’t have to go to the gym, aerobic activities include; swimming, walking, dancing, gardening, cleaning the house and rowing.

So get those cardio-vascular systems into gear and improve your look, your health and your heart!