Spot Reduction a myth?!?

[superman1]

Originally Posted by Mansewerz

Biggest myth ever is that doing ab work will shed off belly fat effectively. Ab work will increase mass of the abdominals if done with enough intensity as is with all of the muscles, some more than others, but ab work doesn't burn off enough calories to reduce body fat. Plain and simple.

What fools a lot of people is that their stomach feels tighter and flatter the next day after ab work, and they think they're burned some fat off. Really the only difference is that their abs are a little stronger and more activated and are pulling their stomach in. But another problem people make is that they read that doing crunches won't give them a six pack, so they stop doing them. Everyone should still do crunches - abdominals are very important for back support and core strength.

[Rickson]

Originally Posted by superman1

What fools a lot of people is that their stomach feels tighter and flatter the next day after ab work, and they think they're burned some fat off. Really the only difference is that their abs are a little stronger and more activated and are pulling their stomach in. But another problem people make is that they read that doing crunches won't give them a six pack, so they stop doing them. Everyone should still do crunches - abdominals are very important for back support and core strength.

I'm not a big fan of crunches, but I do reverse crunches in a sense. I hang on a bar and raise up my knees. I find these very easy, but I have noticed that weaker people are afraid of slipping off while I can even do hanging leg raises after a back workout when my grip is at its weakest.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by OrangeOne

Ever heard of a smiley? Any clue to try and translate to people that you're trying to make a joke? ...

Thou shalt use smileys to indicate humor!!! Sorry, not all of us feel compelled to punctuate every tongue-in-cheek & ironic statement with a smiley, rimshot, or trumpet fanfare. Take note, a little bit of subtlety will often suffice.

Note that my "lighten up" request was a response to the antagonistic nature of your post (#10). The initial (cynical) remarks appeared to be completely superfluous. They attacked a pair of trivial, innocuous statements that I made. It felt to me as if it was calculated to demean & discredit nearly everything that I has to say in order to make your real points later.

Originally Posted by OrangeOne

...

Please, i've never heard this, ever, ever, ever, and it sounds like one of the worst myths, a great reason for fat people not to jog!

I'll stand corrected if I need to, however I can think of a million reasons it's wrong: stretch gut? food doesn't really make an impact on the size of the gut in anyone of any 'overweight' size, large gut worst due to MUSCLE stretching? I don't think so.

Not sure exactly what you are saying in this last paragraph. Of course the gut is stretched when a large amount of food is ingested. Don't see how you can deny that. (Note that you mentioned muscle stretching, not me).

True, a potbelly is due, in large part, to excess visceral fat. However, numerous sources indicate that poor posture and weak transverse abdominus muscles are also factors in a "potbelly appearance". These weak ab muscles probably play a significant part in the theory that I passed along (in post #9).

As I mentioned before, I picked up this info from televised sources some years back. Unfortunately, I do not recall the research they referenced for these claims. Nonetheless, these sources appeared to be fairly credible and the ideas, at the time, sounded very plausible. I do not know with absolute certainty if these ideas completely valid, but they still do seem plausible. While I cannot point you to the studies where the ideas originated, there are a number of sites on the web that pretty much say the same thing.

www.weightloss-info.com/articles/48.shtml

"One surprising fact is that jogging can actually exacerbate a potbelly. This is a result of the difficulty in holding your stomach in as you run. This actually serves to weaken the stomach muscles which, in turn, causes the stomach to distend."

"When you go to bed with a full stomach this keeps your stomach muscles relaxed and stretched all night as you sleep. Over a period of years, this will lead to a potbelly."