New Scientific Study: How to Target Fat Loss

Long ago, physical activity stopped being just a primal and mindless practice and began to be studied in depth. One of the most frequently asked questions is: can we target fat loss to lose weight from specific areas of the body?

Authentic physical activity and sports professionals don’t exclusively depend on their personal opinions or experiences. Their main sources of information and knowledge are research and rigorous academic studies. Recently, new studies have claimed that it’s possible to lose fat from specific areas of the body. In other words, you can target fat loss from where you want on your body. Keep reading to learn more about these scientific theories.

How to target fat loss: the human body’s reserve system

Lipids or fats are one of the components of the human body. These elements have important functions for the system, including the following:

• They are a source of energy for daily activities.
• In addition, fats carry out thermoregulation processes for protection against the cold.
• They serve as sustenance and protection for the organs, along with the muscles and bones.
• Additionally, they supply fatty acids to benefit tissue mass – the epidermis or skin.
• Fats help the body absorb vitamins such as A, D, or K.
• Lastly, they intervene in hormonal processes.

Therefore, you should not hate fats! In reality, fats help you to achieve a sculpted, healthy body that can perform well in athletic activities. On the other hand, you must learn how to obtain adequate levels of this essential component.

Current data on health and fats

According to data from the WHO —the World Health Organization—when body fat percentage in adults, preferably measured by electrical bioimpedance, exceeds 25 percent of the total in men and 32 percent in women, it’s considered obesity.

From this percentage, obesity is classified by degrees from I to IV. The higher up the scale, the more serious the individual’s situation. In contrast, extremely low lipid levels are also harmful to your health, leading to or indicating problems such as anorexia or poor mental performance.

How to target fat loss: scientific studies

Previously accepted knowledge described fat stores as a single system in the human body. In this way, it wasn’t possible to lose fat from a specific area of ​​the body or in other words, target fat loss.

When consuming fats as energy resources, it was believed that fat was the general source of fuel, regardless of whether you performed a specific activity in one muscular area or another. Fat stores worked as a single resource tank, according to previous studies.

The revolution of new advancements

According to a recent scientific study, the key doesn’t lie in burning fat with just any workout program. The question is: what if there’s a workout method that makes people lose fat in the areas they want?

New studies in exercise physiology have found that, through specific and combined exercises, people can achieve their goals of losing fat only in certain areas. You can actually target fat loss. Read about the new exercise methods below!

The key to localized fat loss: concurrent training

Concurrent or cross-training is the system that applies methods that could actually seem like the opposite of targeted exercises. These include, for example, strength and endurance training. An eight-week workout program for the individuals participating in the study was based on the following model:

Group 1: upper body strength exercises, directly followed by 30 minutes of pedaling at a medium intensity.
Group 2: lower body strength exercises, directly followed by 30 minutes non-stop of arm crank exercises, better known as the ergometer.

Results

The results showed an overall reduction in fat in the two groups. However, in group 1 there was a greater fat reduction in the arms than in the legs. Meanwhile, in group 2, the fat reduction was greater in the lower body than in the upper extremities.

Likewise, group 1 showed a greater increase in fat-free mass in the legs than in the arms. However, there were no differences between fat-free mass improvements between arms and legs in group 2.

These results tell us that strength training performed before aerobic exercise can focus on specific regions of adipose tissue to target fat loss. In this way, the previously established molds are broken.

Losing localized fat: there’s still a lot to study

It’s a necessity for the entire professional community to open their minds and put pride aside to accept new proven possibilities. The new studies you’ve read about today are just the beginning of new exercise theories. Surely there will be many coaches and doctors who will refuse to change the way they work from one day to the next.

However, this discovery is a very good first step to continue improving your physical training plans. Thus, anyone who wants to live healthier can take this information into consideration when designing their workout plans and fitness goals.