Ask any reputable coach and they will tell you that you cannot burn fat locally (spot reduction). And that no belly fat disappears purely by doing crunches. However, a new study calls this time-honored wisdom into question.

SPOT REDUCTION

The traditional argument against spot reduction is that we cannot control where our bodies store fat and therefore cannot choose where we lose it. Doing triceps pushdowns frequently, for example, won’t magically make the fat on your arms disappear.

To grow defined abdominal muscles, doing abdominal exercises such as crunches is not enough; you will also have to lose body fat by maintaining a calorie deficit for a longer period of time. And this can be done by eating less on the one hand and doing cardio on the other. With strength training you also consume some calories, but still not in a specific place, but all over your body.

When we lose weight, we see results of fat loss sooner in areas where there is more fat. In men, this is first the abdominal area, followed by the arms and legs.

RESEARCH

Although few will dispute the foregoing, a study has recently been published that suggests that spot reduction is possible. In that study there is a control group that only does cardio and a spot reduction group that does two abdominal exercises in addition to cardio. The result: the spot reduction group loses more fat (1170 grams) in the abdomen than the control group (475 grams).

And there’s a second recent study that shows spot reduction may be a thing.

SIDE NOTES

However, we should not shout hurray too quickly. In Brobakken’s research, although calorie consumption was equalized, there were no nutritional controls. There was no diet provided for the subjects to follow, nor was there any assessment of the subjects’ nutritional intake.

In addition, there are several studies (including 1, 2) that show that no spot reduction occurs when training the abdominal muscles.

CONCLUSION

Spot reduction seems impossible in principle, but new studies cast some doubt on this. However, that does not alter the procedure you must follow to get visible abdominal muscles: on the one hand, strength training (see best abdominal exercises), and on the other hand, creating fat loss throughout the body. You do the latter by cutting. The great thing about it is that you also gain muscle definition in other places and not just around the abdomen.