Targeting Belly Fat Is POSSIBLE?! (New Study)
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the possibility of spot reduction for belly fat, a topic previously deemed impossible by most researchers. A 2023 study suggests that combining targeted ab exercises with cardio may lead to more localized fat loss around the abdomen. The video summarizes various studies, including one where participants performed thousands of sit-ups, and discusses the importance of both mobilizing and burning fat. It concludes with practical advice on integrating ab exercises with cardio for potential spot reduction, emphasizing the role of diet in achieving results.
Takeaways
- 🧐 Targeting belly fat for reduction may be possible and easier than previously thought, according to recent studies.
- 🔍 To burn fat, the body must first release it from fat cells through a process called mobilization.
- 💪 Strength training increases blood flow to the fat surrounding the muscles, which may help in mobilizing fat.
- 🤔 The difficulty in losing belly fat could be due to its lower blood flow compared to other body parts that are exercised more frequently.
- 🧐 A 2023 study suggested that combining ab exercises with cardio could lead to specific fat loss in the abdominal area.
- 🏃♂️ The study ensured that participants in both the spot reduction and control groups burned the same amount of calories.
- 📉 The spot reduction group lost significantly more fat around the belly compared to the control group after 10 weeks.
- 🏋️♀️ Other studies have shown that performing exercises targeting specific body parts followed by cardio can lead to localized fat loss in those areas.
- 🍽️ Diet remains crucial for fat loss, and being in a calorie deficit is necessary for the best results.
- 🤔 Despite the promising results, the concept of spot reduction is still not widely accepted and requires more research.
- 🏋️♂️ Consistent ab training, even during periods of increased body fat, can lead to more visible abs and improved definition.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the video script?
-The main topic discussed in the video script is the possibility of targeting belly fat for reduction through specific exercises and the findings of recent studies on the subject.
Why is belly fat considered stubborn and difficult to lose?
-Belly fat is considered stubborn because it tends to receive very little blood flow, and the abdominal muscles are often trained less frequently than other muscle groups, which receive a large increase in blood flow during regular activities and workouts.
What is the process of 'mobilization' in the context of fat loss?
-Mobilization is the process by which the body releases fat from the fat cell, making it available to be burned off for energy during physical activity.
What role does blood flow play in the mobilization of belly fat?
-Increased blood flow to the fat surrounding the muscles being worked can help mobilize the fat, making it easier to be burned off for energy. This is one theory as to why belly fat can be harder to lose due to its lower blood flow.
What was the unique aspect of the 2023 study mentioned in the script?
-The unique aspect of the 2023 study was that it was the first to ensure that the same amounts of calories were burned in both the spot reduction group and the control group, allowing for a more accurate comparison of fat loss results.
What were the findings of the 2023 study regarding spot reduction?
-The 2023 study found that the spot reduction group lost 2 and a half times more fat from around their belly compared to the control group, suggesting that targeting belly fat through specific exercises and cardio may be effective.
What are some limitations of the studies mentioned in the script?
-Some limitations include the fact that the nutrition of the participants was not tightly controlled, and the spot reduction group started with more fat, which could have influenced the results. However, even accounting for baseline levels, the spot reduction group still lost significantly more fat.
What is the importance of being in a calorie deficit for losing belly fat?
-Being in a calorie deficit is crucial for losing belly fat because it is highly unlikely to gain weight while simultaneously spot reducing fat in the belly. The studies suggest that combining ab work with cardio can be effective, but overall fat loss is primarily driven by a calorie deficit.
What are some practical takeaways from the studies for targeting belly fat?
-Practical takeaways include combining ab exercises with cardio, either before or after, to maximize fat burning. It also suggests that certain ab exercises like crunches and torso rotations may be more effective for targeting the abdominal region.
What is the speaker's final stance on incorporating spot reduction into routines?
-The speaker is not fully convinced about incorporating spot reduction into most people's routines, but acknowledges that the latest studies have opened their mind to its possibility and recommends trying the suggested exercises on recovery days.
What role does diet play in losing belly fat according to the script?
-Diet plays a significant role in losing belly fat. The script emphasizes that most people underestimate the number of calories in their food choices, which is why even those who eat clean and work hard can struggle to shed belly fat. It suggests working with a dietician or using resources like the video mentioned for guidance.
Outlines
🔍 The Possibility of Targeted Fat Loss
This paragraph delves into the common struggle of losing belly fat and introduces a new study suggesting that targeting belly fat might be possible. The narrator explains the process of fat mobilization and the theory that increasing blood flow to the abdominal area through exercise could help in mobilizing and burning belly fat specifically. The skepticism from the scientific community, including Dr. Bill Campell's, is also highlighted, along with a historical review of past studies that attempted to answer the question of spot reduction without conclusive results.
📊 Emerging Evidence for Spot Reduction
The second paragraph presents recent studies that challenge previous beliefs about spot reduction. It discusses a 2023 study where overweight men were divided into two groups, one focusing on spot reduction and the other serving as a control group, both following different workout plans. The study found that the spot reduction group lost significantly more fat around their belly compared to the control group, even when the total calories burned were equated. The paragraph also mentions other studies from 2017 and 2021 that showed similar promising results, suggesting that certain exercises could lead to more fat loss in specific areas of the body. However, it acknowledges the limitations of these studies, such as the lack of controlled nutrition and the potential for more research in this area.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Belly Fat
💡Mobilization
💡Blood Flow
💡Spot Reduction
💡Dr. Bill Campbell
💡Calorie Deficit
💡Cardio
💡AB Exercises
💡Oxidation
💡Diet
💡Research
Highlights
A new study suggests targeting belly fat may be possible and easier than previously thought.
Belly fat is stubborn because it receives less blood flow and is less frequently trained compared to other muscles.
Mobilizing fat is necessary before it can be burned off for energy, which is a key process in fat loss.
Strength training increases blood flow to fat around the muscles worked, which could help in mobilizing belly fat.
Researchers hypothesized that boosting blood flow to the abs could target belly fat during exercise.
Dr. Bill Campbell's lab at the University of South Florida is dedicated to fat loss research.
Past studies have not found a notable difference in fat loss through spot reduction exercises.
A 2023 study found that a specific routine combining ab exercises with cardio could lead to spot reduction.
The study ensured that both groups burned the same amount of calories, which was a unique approach.
The spot reduction group lost 2.5 times more fat from their belly compared to the control group.
The study's limitations include differences in initial fat levels and uncontrolled nutrition.
Other studies have shown similar results, suggesting that spot reduction might be possible.
Practical takeaways from the studies include combining ab work with cardio for better fat loss results.
The type of ab exercise may matter, with some being more effective for targeting the abdominal region.
A suggested routine for targeting belly fat includes direct weighted abs exercises with low to moderate intensity cardio.
Diet is crucial for losing belly fat, and many people underestimate the calories in their food choices.
BuiltWithScience.com offers a quiz to help discover the best approach for individual body types and goals.
Transcripts
everyone wants to lose that stubborn
belly fat problem is you can't choose
where your body burns fat from every
time you work out or at least I didn't
think you could according to a new study
targeting belly fat may not only be
possible but also much easier than we
all thought in this video I'll share
exactly what researchers have found and
how you can apply it to your own
training now my belly has always been
the hardest area to lose fat from even
when I lose weight it seemed like the
fat there just wouldn't budge but this
got me wondering why is belly fat so
stubborn in the first place well I
looked into it and I'm glad that I did
because once you understand this all the
new research makes a lot more sense you
see to burn fat your body first needs to
release it from the fat cell a process
known as mobilization once you mobilized
the fat it can then be burned off for
energy but how exactly do you go about
mobilizing it well when you strength
train you don't just strengthen your
muscles you also increase blood flow to
the fat that surrounds the muscle you're
working and this is one Theory why belly
fat can be so hard to get rid of
compared to the fat in other areas of
your body it tends to receive very
little blood flow not to venture we also
tend to train our ABS less frequently
than other muscles think about it your
quads and hamstrings are used all the
time running squatting walking you name
it they're some of the largest muscles
in your body and so they receive a large
increase in blood flow when you're
working out but your belly well not so
much so this go researchers thinking if
you can boost blood flow FL to your abs
could you then specifically Target belly
fat during exercise and if it could
Target your belly why stop there
theoretically by increasing blood flow
to the right spots you could reduce fat
in any area that you chose theoretically
to find out I reached out to my good
friend Dr Bill Campell who runs a lab
dedicated to Fat Loss out of the
University of South Florida I've been
asked a lot Can you spot reduce and my
answer has always been no the research
that exists is is not very strong and
most of the research that's been done on
this has suggested or reported that it's
not possible after digging through
endless research papers I've come across
all sorts of funny and in some cases
just play out weird experiments
researchers have tried to get to the
bottom of this question one study had
participants do over 5,000 sit-ups in 27
days which honestly might be more than
the rest of us have done in our entire
lives another one had participants do 12
weeks of high-intensity leg pressing on
one leg all to answer the question can
you choose where your bare fat but
neither study found a notable difference
in fat loss and because of this most
researchers including Bill were
skeptical about the idea of spa
reduction people would let's say do you
know hundreds and hundreds of crunches
and they would say well now I'm going to
have a defined midsection and my
response would be well that's not really
how it works however as it turns out
there was one thing that pretty pretty
much all of these studies overlooked
remember how it said you need to
mobilize bat before it can be burned off
well there's two parts to this process
first mobilizing it and then burning it
it all the issue with the past studies
such as the 5,000 situps one is that
while they may have mobilized belly fat
this doesn't necessarily lean to burning
it at all but this is where a 2023 study
comes into the picture they wanted to
test a routine that could do both yeah
so the results did surprise me just
relying on my past knowledge I I my
thoughts were I don't expect any type of
spot reduction outcome to be reported
but that's exactly what was reported and
the the design was good basically
researchers divided 16 overweight men
into two groups one focused on Spa
reduction and the other the control
group both followed a 4-day workout plan
for 10 weeks the control group did 45
minutes on the treadmill each session
meanwhile the spark reduction group had
a shorter 27-minute treadmill workout
followed by two ab exercises course
orientations and machine crunches now
this study was unique because it was
also the first of its kind to make sure
that the same amounts of calories were
burned in both horo groups and this is a
big problem with a lot of Prior research
if you don't equate the calories being
burned you don't have much faith in
whatever body fat outcomes are being
reported because it could be that they
just burn more calories and of course
they're going to lose more fat so what
happened well after the 10 weeks both
groups lost a relatively similar amount
of total body fat but what was
surprising was that The Spar reduction
group lost 2 and 1 half times more fat
from around their belly compared to the
control group what's also interesting is
that the treadmill only group also lost
more fat from their legs than The Spar
reduction group and if The Spar
reduction theory holds true well then
this result makes sense since it did
more R it but of course the study
doesn't come without its limitations one
of the criticisms of the study was well
they had more fat to start with which
they did but they still lost like 3%
more total fat in the trunk area was
like 7% versus 4% so even when you
account for the fact that this spot
reduction group had more fat to start
with they still lost significantly more
fat even accounting for Baseline levels
and although the workouts were tightly
controlled the nutrition wasn't
personally I don't think this is too too
big of a concern given that both groups
lost a relatively similar amount of
overall fat but it is something that
would have made the study a lost shoger
but hey it's not just a study other
recent studies on spot reduction have
also shown promising results in 2017
there was a similar experiment
researchers had one group perform an
upper body workout Then followed up with
30 minutes of cardio and another group
did a lower body workout followed by the
same 30 minutes of cardio now both
groups perform the same number of
exercises sets and Reps and and they did
this three times per week after 12 weeks
both groups lost a near identical amount
of total body fat but again what was
interesting was that the upper body
group lost more fat in their upper body
and the lower body workout group lost
more fat in their low body and more
recently in 2021 another study found
something similar just like the 2023
study their idea was to use ABS
exercises to mobilize belly fat and then
combine it with cardio to burn the
fattest Fuel and they too found
promising results mainly in the upper
belly area again the studies do have
their limitations all studies do but
this research is still exciting to see
and I'm sure a lot more will be done in
this area and what's nice is that the
results of these studies still offer
some practical takeaways which you can
immediately start using in your workouts
before I get to them though let me say
this if losing belly fat is your goal
then you need to be in a calorie deficit
to get the best results it's highly
unlikely you're going to be able to gain
weight while simultaneously spot
reducing fat in your belly what the
studies do suggest though is that if
you're doing ab work you should probably
combine it with some form of cardio
either shortly before or after to get
the most bag for your buck yeah yeah
there's there it has to be of such an
intensity and or duration that it
actually causes an an increase in what
we call oxidation where you're actually
burning the fat as an example you
couldn't perform these studies and go
for a 3 minute walk and come back and
think oh I should have spot reduction
the other thing is that if spot
reduction does work then it seems like
some ABS exercises are better than
others I don't see planks as as
targeting the abdominal region the the
abdominal
muscles as much as crunches in abdominal
torso rotation I would suggest and again
being a scientist rely on the data that
we have both use crunches and one used
crunches and abdominal torso rot
rotation so I would think yes the the
the abdominal exercise does matter so if
I was designing a routine to better
Target belly fat I'd use direct weighted
ABS exercises combined with low to
moderate intensity cardio which could
look something like this I'll be honest
though I'm still not 100% convinced and
neither was Bill when I spoke to him
these latest Studies have definitely
opened my mind to spot reduction being
possible and it seems like future
research could be promising but it's
definitely not enough for me to go about
planning Spa reduction into most
people's routines that said on my
recovery days I have been using those
two ABS exercises and slapping on some
cardio either before or after who knows
maybe this is giving me the spa
reduction effect maybe it's stopped but
even if it's not I still highly
recommend that you regularly train your
abs and with weight once I started
training them consistently they seem to
appear more visible even during bulks
where my body fat was increasing and
after all they're just like any other
muscle group and growing them can help
with definition but guys just remember
that most of your results will still
come from the basics and losing belly
fat heavily depends on your diet in fact
most people completely underestimate
just how many calories are in their
usual food choices and this is why even
people who eat clean and work hard still
struggle to shed their belly fat to help
with this I worked with our lead
dietician Kelly to show you how you can
eat twice as much food while keeping the
calories as samee and you can check out
that video If here and for those who
want more step-by-step Guidance with
both their training and nutrition just
head on over to builtwith science.com to
take our quiz to discover what approach
is best for you and your body thanks so
much for watching I'll see you next time
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