If you want to reduce the amount of fat in a specific area of your body, then you want to exercise local fat burning... Some say it is possible, others say the opposite. Who is right?
Local fat burning has long been discussed in books, magazines, videos and more. It seems logical to ordinary people that "which muscle group works, this one loses weight."
However, as early as 1971, a study was conducted on tennis players at the University of California. Each of the athletes had a “dominant” hand to serve, and therefore received a lot of stress over the years. One would expect that the layer of subcutaneous fat on this arm will be less than in other areas. However, when measurements were made, it turned out that this was not at all the case. That on the left, that on the right hand, the layer of subcutaneous fat was the same.
But there is workout for slender hips, and there is workout for a flat stomach. Pick up any fitness magazine, you will surely find workouts for six cubes and the like. Does any of this work at all? Can we really influence where the fat burns? Answer: You cannot directly influence the fat burning site through exercise.
Studies have shown that blood flow or polysis increases in the trained muscle (which means that fat cells are used for energy), but this does not happen in a large enough volume.
The impossibility of local fat burning has real physiological reasons. The fat found in fat cells exists in a form known as triglycerides. Muscle cells, in turn, cannot use triglycerides directly for energy (for the same reason that cars use gasoline as fuel instead of crude oil). Fats are broken down into glycerin and free fatty acids, which are released into the bloodstream. As a result, the fat used for energy during exercise can be from any area of the body, not just the part that receives the load.
In reality, training of any muscle group, firstly, burns calories, and secondly, it leads to the growth of this very muscle group, and both contributes to fat loss, but does not directly lead to the process of fat burning in a particular place.
Many of the exercises that people associate with localized fat burning do not actually consume that many calories, and if the calorie expenditure is low, you will not be able to lose a significant amount of fat. Long-term execution, in this regard, will be more effective than power training with iron.
Fat loss occurs throughout the body, provided that you are in a calorie deficit.
You can at least give your abs with exercise, but you will not see six cubes without reducing the amount of fat throughout the body, and this in turn contributes to the diet.
Local fat burning is possible!
An interview with a permanent scientific consultant, an outstanding scientist Professor Viktor Nikolaevich Seluyanov, who developed in detail the method of local fat burning.
IRON WORLD: Hello, Victor Nikolaevich! What facts can you cite confirming the possibility of local fat burning?
Victor Seluyanov: Hello! In fact, there is a lot of evidence in practice. physical culture and sports. We often have to test players. So, the players of the Caucasian republics are very much concerned about their appearance. And having a raised press for them is a very important goal. As a result, even the laziest player on the team does abdominal strength exercises every workout. As a result, every single player has clearly defined abs cubes. And the players of other clubs do not have this. But at the same time, the thickness of the skin and fat folds in other areas practically does not differ from the thickness of the folds of Caucasians.
At the end of the 50s of the last century, the so-called athletic (better to say, artistic) female gymnastics appeared in the USSR, originally invented for people who finished playing sports. Even before coming to the country of aerobics. Exercising this gymnastics and following a ballet diet (two apples and a glass of kefir per day) gave excellent results.
And about local weight loss, you can cite Mokhova's data. The dissertation was defended at the State Center for Physical Culture and Sports (80s). The tested women were divided into groups, depending on the type of physical activity. One group trained on skis, another ran, the third did rhythmic gymnastics, the fourth did swimming, and the control group did something like general physical training. Six months after classes, anthropometric testing was carried out for all participants in the experiment. It turned out that the one who ran, lost fat mainly from the legs, and the one who swam - from the hands, since the experiment involved women who did not go in for sports, who did not know how to use their legs correctly in swimming and stayed on the water mainly due to the muscles of the arms. V rhythmic gymnastics and skiing fat went away evenly. And then it became clear that, depending on the types of exercises performed, the departure of fat from the body segments will also depend.
Later, a new type of physical exercise appeared in the country - shaping (from the English shaping - shaping), and in shaping they dealt directly with the shape of the body. The trainees first did circular exercises for all muscle groups, then for problem areas, that is, for certain muscle groups, so that fat would go there (and this is local weight loss). The first circle was done for all 12 muscle groups, and the second, third and fourth - for those groups where there was excess fat. And the result was positive. They trained the abdominal muscles - fat left the abdomen, trained the quadriceps muscle of the thigh - fat left with the quadriceps. And when the fat more or less disappeared, exercises were done to develop muscle mass.
The scientific rationale was primitive: they say that fat is lost because lipolysis is active during low-intensity training. The idea is correct, but when practicing shaping, local strength exercises are performed at a high pace for 1-2 minutes. to exhaustion, up to a heart rate of more than 160 beats / min., sometimes up to 200 beats / min. What kind of lipolysis can we talk about after that, but local weight loss occurs!
J. M.: How can this be explained from the point of view of classical physiology?
Victor Seluyanov: We have a sympathetic nervous system. And when we start practicing physical exercise, it is activated. Under the action of signals passing along the sympathetic nerves, excitation comes not only to the muscles, but also to the fat above the muscle. These signals also come to the adrenal glands, to their medulla, and from there adrenaline and norepinephrine begin to be released. These hormones are released into the general bloodstream and are absorbed from it by those tissues that are active. That is, if an athlete trains one muscle group, then adrenaline will flow there. And in the muscle group, and in the adipose tissue located above this muscle group.
J. M.: Should the load be stressful?
Victor Seluyanov: As a rule, these are the so-called gymnastic strength exercises, which are done for 20-30 repetitions per set and cause strong acidification, a burning sensation, which leads to painful stress.
When performing aerobic exercise that involves many muscle groups, adrenaline and norepinephrine are distributed throughout the body and contribute to overall weight loss. But the most interesting thing in the mechanism of local weight loss is different. A neurotransmitter is released from the endings of the sympathetic nervous system. And if acetylcholine serves as a mediator in the muscles, then in the sympathetic NS, which activates adipose tissue, norepinephrine is released as a mediator.
J. M.: What exercises are most effective for local fat burning?
Victor Seluyanov: The most effective exercises are performed in statodynamics. We have already talked about this training regimen when we described the technique aimed at myofibril hyperplasia in the OMV. They cause severe pain stress, while the weight of the burden is insignificant, which allows you not to strain the articular-ligamentous apparatus. The endocrine system is energized, activating the sympathetic NN, it sends signals to where the source of stress comes from. When the muscle is tense, the blood flow is difficult there, but the blood flow does not stop in the adipose tissue, and hormones come there during the exercise. The exercise time depends on the endurance of a particular person, but should be within 20-40 seconds. You need to be guided so that there is a strong burning sensation from 4 to 8 seconds in each approach. This is enough to activate hormones. Another important point: when exercising in this mode, due to the activation of hormones, metabolism is intensified by 1.5 times, which lasts for 12-24 hours.
J. M.: Does the process of fat breakdown occur during work or after it ends?
Victor Seluyanov: If we are talking about norepinephrine and adrenaline, then lipolysis occurs directly during work and in the next five minutes after its end. These hormones easily attach to the outer membrane and do not enter the cell. Their main role is to activate cell metabolism. Anabolic hormones, such as growth hormone, can already enter the active cell. But growth hormone has a much more prolonged action. It enters the fat cell and remains there for several days until it is disposed of. And he expels fat into the general bloodstream all night. If you have not used up the reserves of glycogen and fat, then he has nowhere to go, he can return to another segment of the body, and if energy was consumed during training, then this fat will be used to restore the energy potential of muscles and to plastic processes. We lose weight and build muscle mainly at night, during sleep. And not under the influence of adrenaline and norepinephrine, but under the influence of growth hormone and testosterone. But if we talk about women, then they have little testosterone, and the main factor that stimulates the release of fatty acids into the blood is growth hormone. In men and women, this hormone is secreted in equal amounts.
J. M.: On a number of forums devoted to strength sports, in topics about local fat burning, they often quote from the book "Health training according to the IZOTON system": "Unfortunately, the distribution of fat is under strong genetic control. Therefore, "locally" fat can only be removed by surgery - liposuction. " And they ask, how can Professor Seluyanov talk about local fat burning, if he himself writes the opposite in his book?
Victor Seluyanov: This book was written by me in co-authorship with Evgeny Myakinchenko, and he wrote the quoted section. At that time he intensively studied aerobics, collaborated with Russian and foreign experts, wrote a book on aerobics. Perhaps, he inserted the text for aerobics inadvertently into the book about the IZOTON system. I did not correct the text before printing, because I could not admit that my students, who experimentally showed the possibility of local weight loss, could write such an incorrect text. My opinion about local fat burning is unequivocal. This is a scientifically established fact.
J. M.: What can you tell us about dietary recommendations during fat loss period?
Victor Seluyanov: There is a training day when we do static-dynamic training. Low calorie content is associated with hunger, and hunger is associated with brain function. To turn the brain off from a hunger strike, it is necessary to constantly introduce small doses of carbohydrates before and during training sessions, as well as immediately after them. Isotonic drinks can be used, they do not cause the release of insulin, but a slight increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood contributes to the normal functioning of the brain. There are other foods that help normalize brain activity on reduced calorie intake. For example, we recommend eating lean meat at night.
J. M.: To increase the concentration of amino acids in the blood during sleep?
Victor Seluyanov: Not only. In addition to the building material itself, lean meat contains a number of ingredients that can be absorbed in the brain instead of glucose. For example, ketones.
J. M.: What Should We Take After Fat Burning Workout?
Victor Seluyanov: After training, be sure to take a small portion of carbohydrates, which does not lead to the release of insulin. For example, eat one candy and wash it down with an isotonic drink. The principle is very simple. Eating large amounts of carbohydrates or carbohydrates with a high glycemic index leads to a significant increase in blood sugar levels. This leads to a reactive release of insulin, the hormone responsible for fat deposition. If you regularly stimulate the release of insulin, then the adipose tissue will become accustomed to this condition. Receptors will be formed that will bind to insulin, and the cell will begin to consume carbohydrates to convert them into fat. And if you stimulate receptors that will bind to somatotropin and conduct it inside the cell, then adipose tissue will be built on a completely different principle. She will be ready to donate fat, and insulin is poorly perceived, because she will have few such receptors that bind to it. Therefore, people who are hungry stimulate the development of receptors that bind to insulin, and under the influence of our isotonic exercises, the opposite is true. Adipose tissue is being rebuilt. If a person was starving or on a strict diet, then as soon as he switches to a regular diet, the amount of fat mass in him immediately begins to increase and returns to the initial level, or even exceeds it. And this does not happen for people who study according to our method. In our country, women who train according to the IZOTON system go on vacation for two or three months in the summer, stopping training, and returning to the gym in the fall, having quite a decent shape, despite the absence of exertion and the absence of any diet. Of course, when practicing this system, clients receive theoretical information about the correct methods of training and diet, therefore, during rest, as a rule, they behave in a civilized manner. Naturally, in order to train such adipose tissue in oneself, it is necessary to regularly induce the release of growth hormone. That is, regularly do local strength exercises before burning in order to cause stress.
J. M.: Let's get down to specific practical guidelines. For example, the goal is to remove abdominal fat as quickly as possible. How often should you exercise?
Victor Seluyanov A: Well, first of all, of course, you need to cut back on your carbohydrate intake, especially in the afternoon, to redo your adipose tissue and make it less insulin sensitive. Secondly, you need to perform static-dynamic exercises on the abdominal muscles daily and several times a day, doing in the approach from 30 to 90 seconds, depending on the level of training.
J. M.: And from such frequent training, the endocrine system will not be overloaded?
Victor Seluyanov: If work is done on only one muscle, then it will not. A man, without overloading the endocrine system, can perform up to 30 approaches per day. Naturally, not all at once in a row.
J. M.: That is, if we usually do three sets in a series at 30-second rest intervals, then during the day we can perform up to 10 such series, evenly distributing them throughout the day?
Victor Seluyanov: Yes, but in this mode - 10 episodes a day - you can work for two weeks. Then all the same, the endocrine system will begin to overload. But in these two weeks the result will be visible! However, 10 episodes is, of course, too tough regime, when it is very necessary to remove the stomach in two weeks. We usually recommend doing a series of abdominal exercises 30 minutes after each meal.
J. M.: But with this mode of work, you can quickly get used to the load, and the exercise will not cause pain enough for stress. Maybe it makes sense, after the pain during the exercise has decreased, to perform another exercise in statodynamics, for example, squatting, before the abdominal exercises? There will always be pain when doing this exercise.
Victor Seluyanov: Yes, this is a fairly competent approach. For the release of hormones, basic exercise is always preferable. This is observed, for example, when training hands. When working with your hands, hormones do not want to be released - a muscle group is not large enough. Therefore, for the best effect, you must first do one approach to your feet. The hormones will be released, and with subsequent approaches to the trained muscles, we will force the hormones to be assimilated by these muscle groups. Moreover, one approach to your feet a day is quite enough. You don't have to do it before every episode.
J. M.: Can we always clearly monitor progress by anthropometric testing?
Victor Seluyanov: Mostly yes. But there is one aspect not described in the literature. In addition to subcutaneous and visceral fat, there is also fat between the muscles. Like bacon fat layers. Especially a lot of this fat accumulates in the elderly, and this fat needs to be removed. I personally had to face this problem. I went to Malta to train. I was then 45 years old, and I had not trained for a long time. I bought myself a bicycle and rode it two or three times every day, including on mountainous terrain. Typed good shape, but when I did anthropometric testing after a month and a half, I was somewhat puzzled. Before training, the thigh circumference was 60 cm. After it became 56. And this despite the fact that the strength and, accordingly, muscle mass grew, and the loss of subcutaneous fat could not lead to such a decrease in the circumference of the thigh. And I realized that in this case there was getting rid of intermuscular fat. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the amount of intermuscular fat with modern testing methods. Often, former athletes who have retained their muscle volume and come to the gym are surprised at the dramatic decline in performance. It seems like a little fat on the arm (leg). The girth is only 2-3 cm less than it was. Why did the strength indicators fall so much? And because the muscles are less than it seems. Intermuscular fat retains the external shape of the muscles, and the real picture of how much muscle and how much fat is impossible to see. This point must be known and taken into account in training and testing. It is especially pronounced in women and the elderly.
There are a lot of examples of local weight loss, the classic ones are a quick release of body fat from the hands of those who are engaged in armwrestling and reduction of body fat on the legs of cyclists. However, speaking about the arms of armwrestlers and the legs of cyclists, it is important to understand that these people have been performing increased sports loads for years, which are not comparable to the load of ordinary people. Low body fat is often accompanied by increased local muscle volume. The idea that by developing more of one muscle (or muscle group), you can achieve a noticeable result in losing weight in this part of the body, has existed for more than a dozen years, but how realistic is it?
In order for it to begin, it is necessary that hormones with lipolytic abilities (calorizer) are released into the blood. This happens both under the influence of external and internal factors.
The process of burning fat in the body consists of three stages:
- Fat breakdown (lipolysis);
- Transport of fat cells to body tissues for subsequent "burning";
- Oxidation (so-called "burning") of fat cells in body tissues - muscles and liver.
According to some experts, local fat burning is possible if there is an increased amount of blood in a given area of the body or a specific muscle. It is achieved during stressful loads that cause a strong burning sensation and pain. For example, static-dynamic exercises performed for 20-30 repetitions in one approach.
Interesting scientific research has been carried out on this topic by many scientists around the world. Russian professor V. Seluyanov summed up the scientific evidence base for the statement that local fat burning is quite possible. Citing examples of not only professional bodybuilders, but also ordinary women who are engaged in shaping in the gym or at home swinging abdominal muscles, he showed examples of the so-called point fat reduction.
Body fat is distributed under the skin as well as under each muscle group. It is this "axillary" fat that is removed when blood flow to a particular muscle increases, thereby accelerating the process of lipolysis. This can be achieved either by exercises or by special vacuum apparatus.
Other studies disprove this idea. For example, a 2007 study by Stallknecht B et. al., during which the subjects did extension of one leg in the simulator with intensities of 85%, 55% and 25% of the maximum. Indeed, the subjects showed an increase in blood flow in the working leg during low-intensity (multi-repetitive) work - 25% and 55%, which did not occur at high intensity of 85%.
The results of the study showed that in half an hour of local muscle work, it was possible to mobilize only 0.6-2.1 milligrams of fat from 100 g of adipose tissue.
That is, suppose that you have accumulated as much as 3 kg of fat on your belly: 0.6-2.1 mg / 100 g * 1000 g / kg * 3 kg = 18-63 milligrams of fat you will burn in 30 minutes of abdominal exercise. And one milligram is equal to one thousandth of a gram.
Losing weight locally is not easy. Therefore, we advise you to lose weight first everywhere, and only then work out problem areas. Physical training, carried out three times a week for 1.5 hours, is not as effective for local weight loss than daily 15-20 minute exercises. After a while, as soon as the body gets used to the loads, they must be increased so that the process does not stop.
An alternative to static-dynamic exercises for burning fat will become. During the time you spend about 5 calories per minute, which in half an hour will allow you to burn 150 calories, which is about 15 g of fat. However, this fat will be mobilized from different parts of the body (calorizator). Choose which is best for you - 18-63 milligrams locally or 15 grams from the whole body.
It is worth remembering that the processes of losing weight and muscle growth are most active during sleep, so do not neglect, as well, consisting of complex carbohydrates or a portion of lean meat, which will help restore strength.
Local weight loss or point reduction of fat is a very controversial issue. Moreover, almost everyone who is somehow connected with fitness, bodybuilding or the sports field argues about him. Almost everyone, from fitness instructors who have just recently completed fitness courses to science luminaries, laboratory directors and professors, consider it their duty to join the discussion about local fat burning. However, it is not surprising that this topic causes such a resonance. After all, if the possibility of local fat burning exists, then any splits aimed at losing weight, general cardio and power loads, performing the "base" of bodybuilding for those who want to lose weight lose their meaning.
Sharing opinions
We are used to paying attention to the opinion of authorities. That is, if a big uncle-trainer in our gym tells us that local fat burning does not exist, then we tend to believe him, because, in principle, he is an authority for us. But the problem is that his authority is based solely on the fact that we do not have other authorities. But, after walking even through our domestic scientists, you can find a lot of scientific works and studies confirming that local fat burning exists. Moreover, some even develop training systems that are able to provide local fat burning and which, by the way, are widely used in the West and for some reason are completely ignored by our athletes.By the way, most fitness trainers and trainers in the gym are literally foaming at the mouth to prove that local fat burning does not exist and all these exercises are "for slimming legs", "for toned buttocks," etc. nothing more than a marketing ploy. Here two questions immediately arise quite naturally: and training for all muscle groups, which, by the way, is recommended for beginners to perform exclusively under the supervision of the very same coach - is this not a marketing ploy? And the second question: on what basis do you declare the impossibility of local fat burning? Most often, the coach is not able to give an exhaustive answer to either the first or the second question. Moreover, there are very few published and well-known studies regarding local fat loss. That is, we can conclude that the opinion of the majority of coaches is formed by the “elders”: coaches, teachers and mentors from whom they once studied.
A huge layer of people specializing in "home training" does not at all think about the issue of local fat burning and stubbornly does all these "exercises for slender legs" and "exercises from breeches" every day. And, based on my own experience, I can say that some of them really achieve noticeable results if the workout performed is at least close to the conditions in which local fat burning occurs.
Fat Burning Physiology
Let's take a quick look at the mechanism of fat elimination itself. Fat in the human body is stored in specially designed cells - lipocytes. When released from the lipocyte, the fat is broken down into fatty acids and glycerol. Further, fatty acids need to get into the mitochondria of the muscle cell, where the oxidation process takes place with the release of energy. Each lipocyte has receptors that respond to hormones that have lipolytic properties. These hormones are secreted by the endocrine glands. There are several types of lipolytic hormones, respectively, the same number of types of receptors interacting with one or another hormone. Hormones with which lipocyte receptors interact: adrenaline, adrenocorticotropic hormone, glucagon, norepinephrine, thyroid stimulating hormone, vasopressin, α and β-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, growth hormoneSo, a full-fledged process of fat burning looks like this: as a result of exposure to external and / or internal factors, hormones with lipolytic ability are released into the blood. Moving along the bloodstream, they interact with lipocyte receptors, as a result of which fatty acids and glycerol are released from lipocytes into the bloodstream. Fatty acids are transported in a special way to the mitochondria, where the long-awaited fat burning takes place.
Local fat burning
The considered physiology of the fat burning process allows us to analyze the arguments of both sides: those who argue that local fat burning is impossible and their opponents. So, the most weighty arguments of the former:1. The blood moves throughout the body, accordingly, it is impossible to "lose weight" in any one place;
2. The activity of cellular receptors that respond to hormones with lipolytic ability is much lower in the areas of the body that are physiologically intended for storing fat reserves (buttocks, abdomen). Accordingly, these zones "lose weight" in the last turn, so all massages, wraps, etc., designed to stimulate fat burning in these areas, are completely useless.
Consider the opposite point of view. The first counterargument: despite the fact that blood flows evenly throughout the body, it is quite possible to increase its volume in a specific area of the body. In bodybuilding, there is even such a technique, called pumping. It consists in "pumping" a huge amount of blood into one specific muscle. Interestingly, bodybuilders use pumping everywhere, they are perfectly familiar with the physiology of this process, but at the same time they argue that blood circulates evenly throughout the body, so local weight loss is impossible.
In addition, the body's ability to enlarge the vascular network is well known. Simply put, if a lot of blood is constantly in one place, new vessels are formed, designed to normalize its circulation. This involuntary attempt by the body to interfere with local fat burning requires an increased load to maintain the concentration of hormones in the blood.
The second counterargument: if the receptors of certain cells are capable of decreasing the sensitivity to hormones over time, then why is it not possible to reverse the process? It is quite possible that with the right approach, the receptors of the body zones, physiologically intended for storing fat, will increase their sensitivity to hormonal effects, or the number of receptors itself will increase.
So, we have substantiated the fact that it is possible to multiply the volume of blood in a specific area of the body. The only caveat is that this blood should be saturated with hormones with lipolytic ability. And this can be easily achieved with the help of appropriate training or pharmacological preparations.
Scientific evidence
The issue of local fat burning was scrupulously considered by our compatriot Viktor Nikolaevich Seluyanov. This topic interested him, since he noticed that in athletes engaged in armwrestling, fat deposits on the arms disappear much faster than on any other area of the body. Well, and then it started ... As a result, a number of studies and analyzes were carried out, a patent was issued "A method for changing the proportion of the composition of tissues of the whole human body and in its individual segments" and a training system was developed. Interestingly, the studies carried out by V.N. Seluyanov, confirmed the possibility of not only point reduction of fat, but also local hypertrophy. Simply put, in order to form a bulky gluteus muscle, it is not necessary to work with all the muscles of the muscle group that it belongs to. It is enough to work correctly with one specific muscle.Further, the professor developed a training program aimed at changing body composition, and a nutritional program corresponding to this training. It is little known in Russia, but it is widely used in the West. This program was later adapted for local fat burning or hypertrophy and is now quite actively used in the training of wrestlers. Unfortunately, almost none of the modern trainers of fitness clubs and gyms tell their clients about the possibility of local weight loss, forcing them to perform long training splits for all muscle groups over and over again.
From theory to practice
And finally, the most interesting thing is how to organize local fat burning. As you remember, it is necessary to comply with two conditions - a large volume of blood in the "problem area" and a high concentration of hormones with lipolytic ability. And, of course, ensure the utilization of fatty acids, that is, create an energy deficit. For this, a diet is used that, in general, corresponds to a standard diet for weight loss, combined with appropriate training.The easiest way to ensure synthesis of the hormone adrenaline is to do interval cardio (HIIT). After that, without interruption for rest, we begin to fill the muscle located in the problem area with blood. In parallel, the blood will enter the adipose tissue, respectively, the lipocyte receptors will react to the presence of the hormone. Spruce muscle training regimen - 30 seconds of intense work, then 30 seconds of rest. This is one approach. Three such approaches must be performed, and then interrupted for 1-5 minutes for active rest. Three approaches make up a set. It is optimal to perform 10 such sets, the minimum number is 5 sets. Then the workout can be considered complete. This system should be trained twice a week, interspersed with regular cardio. The result will be noticeable after two weeks.
I would like to note that the effectiveness of the training was verified by me personally, so I can assure you that this is not just another marketing move like “buy a program from Seluyanov”, etc., but a really really working training system. The result is a significant improvement in the appearance of the fifth point (in two weeks!) And an almost broken bench press machine.
If you want to reduce the amount of fat in a specific area of your body, then you want to exercise local fat burning... Some say it is possible, others say the opposite. Who is right?
Local fat burning has long been discussed in books, magazines, videos and more. It seems logical to ordinary people that "which muscle group works, this one loses weight."
However, as early as 1971, a study was conducted on tennis players at the University of California. Each of the athletes had a “dominant” hand to serve, and therefore received a lot of stress over the years. One would expect that the layer of subcutaneous fat on this arm will be less than in other areas. However, when measurements were made, it turned out that this was not at all the case. That on the left, that on the right hand, the layer of subcutaneous fat was the same.
But there is workout for slender hips, and there is workout for a flat stomach. Pick up any fitness magazine, you will surely find workouts for six cubes and the like. Does any of this work at all? Can we really influence where the fat burns? Answer: You cannot directly influence the fat burning site through exercise.
Studies have shown that blood flow or polysis increases in the trained muscle (which means that fat cells are used for energy), but this does not happen in a large enough volume.
The impossibility of local fat burning has real physiological reasons. The fat found in fat cells exists in a form known as triglycerides. Muscle cells, in turn, cannot use triglycerides directly for energy (for the same reason that cars use gasoline as fuel instead of crude oil). Fats are broken down into glycerin and free fatty acids, which are released into the bloodstream. As a result, the fat used for energy during exercise can be from any area of the body, not just the part that receives the load.
In reality, training of any muscle group, firstly, burns calories, and secondly, it leads to the growth of this very muscle group, and both contributes to fat loss, but does not directly lead to the process of fat burning in a particular place.
Many of the exercises that people associate with localized fat burning do not actually consume that many calories, and if the calorie expenditure is low, you will not be able to lose a significant amount of fat. Doing it for a long time, in this regard, will be more effective than strength training with iron.
Fat loss occurs throughout the body, provided that you are in a calorie deficit.
You can at least give your abs with exercise, but you will not see six cubes without reducing the amount of fat throughout the body, and this in turn contributes to the diet.
Local fat burning is possible!
An interview with a permanent scientific consultant, an outstanding scientist Professor Viktor Nikolaevich Seluyanov, who developed in detail the method of local fat burning.
IRON WORLD: Hello, Victor Nikolaevich! What facts can you cite confirming the possibility of local fat burning?
Victor Seluyanov: Hello! In fact, there is a lot of evidence in the practice of physical culture and sports. We often have to test players. So, the players of the Caucasian republics are very much concerned about their appearance. And having a raised press for them is a very important goal. As a result, even the laziest player on the team does abdominal strength exercises every workout. As a result, every single player has clearly defined abs cubes. And the players of other clubs do not have this. But at the same time, the thickness of the skin and fat folds in other areas practically does not differ from the thickness of the folds of Caucasians.
At the end of the 50s of the last century, the so-called athletic (better to say, artistic) female gymnastics appeared in the USSR, originally invented for people who finished playing sports. Even before coming to the country of aerobics. Exercising this gymnastics and following a ballet diet (two apples and a glass of kefir per day) gave excellent results.
And about local weight loss, you can cite Mokhova's data. The dissertation was defended at the State Center for Physical Culture and Sports (80s). The tested women were divided into groups, depending on the type of physical activity. One group trained on skis, the other ran, the third did rhythmic gymnastics, the fourth did swimming, and the control group did something like general physical training. Six months after classes, anthropometric testing was carried out for all participants in the experiment. It turned out that the one who ran, lost fat mainly from the legs, and the one who swam - from the hands, since the experiment involved women who did not go in for sports, who did not know how to use their legs correctly in swimming and stayed on the water mainly due to the muscles of the arms. In rhythmic gymnastics and skiing, fat went away evenly. And then it became clear that, depending on the types of exercises performed, fat withdrawal from the body segments will also depend.
Later, a new type of physical exercise appeared in the country - shaping (from the English shaping - shaping), and in shaping they dealt directly with the shape of the body. The trainees first did circular exercises for all muscle groups, then for problem areas, that is, for certain muscle groups, so that fat would go there (and this is local weight loss). The first circle was done for all 12 muscle groups, and the second, third and fourth - for those groups where there was excess fat. And the result was positive. They trained the abdominal muscles - fat left the abdomen, trained the quadriceps muscle of the thigh - fat left with the quadriceps. And when the fat more or less disappeared, exercises were done to develop muscle mass.
The scientific rationale was primitive: they say that fat is lost because lipolysis is active during low-intensity training. The idea is correct, but when practicing shaping, local strength exercises are performed at a high pace for 1-2 minutes. to exhaustion, up to a heart rate of more than 160 beats / min., sometimes up to 200 beats / min. What kind of lipolysis can we talk about after that, but local weight loss occurs!
J. M.: How can this be explained from the point of view of classical physiology?
Victor Seluyanov: We have a sympathetic nervous system. And when we start to exercise, it becomes more active. Under the action of signals passing along the sympathetic nerves, excitation comes not only to the muscles, but also to the fat above the muscle. These signals also come to the adrenal glands, to their medulla, and from there adrenaline and norepinephrine begin to be released. These hormones are released into the general bloodstream and are absorbed from it by those tissues that are active. That is, if an athlete trains one muscle group, then adrenaline will flow there. And in the muscle group, and in the adipose tissue located above this muscle group.
J. M.: Should the load be stressful?
Victor Seluyanov: As a rule, these are the so-called gymnastic strength exercises, which are done for 20-30 repetitions per set and cause strong acidification, a burning sensation, which leads to painful stress.
When performing aerobic exercise that involves many muscle groups, adrenaline and norepinephrine are distributed throughout the body and contribute to overall weight loss. But the most interesting thing in the mechanism of local weight loss is different. A neurotransmitter is released from the endings of the sympathetic nervous system. And if acetylcholine serves as a mediator in the muscles, then in the sympathetic NS, which activates adipose tissue, norepinephrine is released as a mediator.
J. M.: What exercises are most effective for local fat burning?
Victor Seluyanov: The most effective exercises are performed in statodynamics. We have already talked about this training regimen when we described the technique aimed at myofibril hyperplasia in the OMV. They cause severe pain stress, while the weight of the burden is insignificant, which allows you not to strain the articular-ligamentous apparatus. The endocrine system is energized, activating the sympathetic NN, it sends signals to where the source of stress comes from. When the muscle is tense, the blood flow is difficult there, but the blood flow does not stop in the adipose tissue, and hormones come there during the exercise. The exercise time depends on the endurance of a particular person, but should be within 20-40 seconds. You need to be guided so that there is a strong burning sensation from 4 to 8 seconds in each approach. This is enough to activate hormones. Another important point: when exercising in this mode, due to the activation of hormones, metabolism is intensified by 1.5 times, which lasts for 12-24 hours.
J. M.: Does the process of fat breakdown occur during work or after it ends?
Victor Seluyanov: If we are talking about norepinephrine and adrenaline, then lipolysis occurs directly during work and in the next five minutes after its end. These hormones easily attach to the outer membrane and do not enter the cell. Their main role is to activate cell metabolism. Anabolic hormones, such as growth hormone, can already enter the active cell. But growth hormone has a much more prolonged action. It enters the fat cell and remains there for several days until it is disposed of. And he expels fat into the general bloodstream all night. If you have not used up the reserves of glycogen and fat, then he has nowhere to go, he can return to another segment of the body, and if energy was consumed during training, then this fat will be used to restore the energy potential of muscles and to plastic processes. We lose weight and build muscle mainly at night, during sleep. And not under the influence of adrenaline and norepinephrine, but under the influence of growth hormone and testosterone. But if we talk about women, then they have little testosterone, and the main factor that stimulates the release of fatty acids into the blood is growth hormone. In men and women, this hormone is secreted in equal amounts.
J. M.: On a number of forums devoted to strength sports, in topics about local fat burning, they often quote from the book "Health training according to the IZOTON system": "Unfortunately, the distribution of fat is under strong genetic control. Therefore, "locally" fat can only be removed by surgery - liposuction. " And they ask, how can Professor Seluyanov talk about local fat burning, if he himself writes the opposite in his book?
Victor Seluyanov: This book was written by me in co-authorship with Evgeny Myakinchenko, and he wrote the quoted section. At that time he intensively studied aerobics, collaborated with Russian and foreign experts, wrote a book on aerobics. Perhaps, he inserted the text for aerobics inadvertently into the book about the IZOTON system. I did not correct the text before printing, because I could not admit that my students, who experimentally showed the possibility of local weight loss, could write such an incorrect text. My opinion about local fat burning is unequivocal. This is a scientifically established fact.
J. M.: What can you tell us about dietary recommendations during fat loss period?
Victor Seluyanov: There is a training day when we do static-dynamic training. Low calorie content is associated with hunger, and hunger is associated with brain function. To turn the brain off from a hunger strike, it is necessary to constantly introduce small doses of carbohydrates before and during training sessions, as well as immediately after them. Isotonic drinks can be used, they do not cause the release of insulin, but a slight increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood contributes to the normal functioning of the brain. There are other foods that help normalize brain activity on reduced calorie intake. For example, we recommend eating lean meat at night.
J. M.: To increase the concentration of amino acids in the blood during sleep?
Victor Seluyanov: Not only. In addition to the building material itself, lean meat contains a number of ingredients that can be absorbed in the brain instead of glucose. For example, ketones.
J. M.: What Should We Take After Fat Burning Workout?
Victor Seluyanov: After training, be sure to take a small portion of carbohydrates, which does not lead to the release of insulin. For example, eat one candy and wash it down with an isotonic drink. The principle is very simple. Eating large amounts of carbohydrates or carbohydrates with a high glycemic index leads to a significant increase in blood sugar levels. This leads to a reactive release of insulin, the hormone responsible for fat deposition. If you regularly stimulate the release of insulin, then the adipose tissue will become accustomed to this condition. Receptors will be formed that will bind to insulin, and the cell will begin to consume carbohydrates to convert them into fat. And if you stimulate receptors that will bind to somatotropin and conduct it inside the cell, then adipose tissue will be built on a completely different principle. She will be ready to donate fat, and insulin is poorly perceived, because she will have few such receptors that bind to it. Therefore, people who are hungry stimulate the development of receptors that bind to insulin, and under the influence of our isotonic exercises, the opposite is true. Adipose tissue is being rebuilt. If a person was starving or on a strict diet, then as soon as he switches to a regular diet, the amount of fat mass in him immediately begins to increase and returns to the initial level, or even exceeds it. And this does not happen for people who study according to our method. In our country, women who train according to the IZOTON system go on vacation for two or three months in the summer, stopping training, and returning to the gym in the fall, having quite a decent shape, despite the absence of exertion and the absence of any diet. Of course, when practicing this system, clients receive theoretical information about the correct methods of training and diet, therefore, during rest, as a rule, they behave in a civilized manner. Naturally, in order to train such adipose tissue in oneself, it is necessary to regularly induce the release of growth hormone. That is, regularly do local strength exercises before burning in order to cause stress.
J. M.: Let's get down to specific practical guidelines. For example, the goal is to remove abdominal fat as quickly as possible. How often should you exercise?
Victor Seluyanov A: Well, first of all, of course, you need to cut back on your carbohydrate intake, especially in the afternoon, to redo your adipose tissue and make it less insulin sensitive. Secondly, you need to perform static-dynamic exercises on the abdominal muscles daily and several times a day, doing in the approach from 30 to 90 seconds, depending on the level of training.
J. M.: And from such frequent training, the endocrine system will not be overloaded?
Victor Seluyanov: If work is done on only one muscle, then it will not. A man, without overloading the endocrine system, can perform up to 30 approaches per day. Naturally, not all at once in a row.
J. M.: That is, if we usually do three sets in a series at 30-second rest intervals, then during the day we can perform up to 10 such series, evenly distributing them throughout the day?
Victor Seluyanov: Yes, but in this mode - 10 episodes a day - you can work for two weeks. Then all the same, the endocrine system will begin to overload. But in these two weeks the result will be visible! However, 10 episodes is, of course, too tough regime, when it is very necessary to remove the stomach in two weeks. We usually recommend doing a series of abdominal exercises 30 minutes after each meal.
J. M.: But with this mode of work, you can quickly get used to the load, and the exercise will not cause pain enough for stress. Maybe it makes sense, after the pain during the exercise has decreased, to perform another exercise in statodynamics, for example, squatting, before the abdominal exercises? There will always be pain when doing this exercise.
Victor Seluyanov: Yes, this is a fairly competent approach. For the release of hormones, basic exercise is always preferable. This is observed, for example, when training hands. When working with your hands, hormones do not want to be released - a muscle group is not large enough. Therefore, for the best effect, you must first do one approach to your feet. The hormones will be released, and with subsequent approaches to the trained muscles, we will force the hormones to be assimilated by these muscle groups. Moreover, one approach to your feet a day is quite enough. You don't have to do it before every episode.
J. M.: Can we always clearly monitor progress by anthropometric testing?
Victor Seluyanov: Mostly yes. But there is one aspect not described in the literature. In addition to subcutaneous and visceral fat, there is also fat between the muscles. Like bacon fat layers. Especially a lot of this fat accumulates in the elderly, and this fat needs to be removed. I personally had to face this problem. I went to Malta to train. I was then 45 years old, and I had not trained for a long time. I bought myself a bicycle and rode it two or three times every day, including in mountainous areas. I got in good shape, but when I did anthropometric testing after a month and a half, I was somewhat puzzled. Before training, the thigh circumference was 60 cm. After it became 56. And this despite the fact that strength and, accordingly, muscle mass increased, and the loss of subcutaneous fat could not lead to such a decrease in thigh circumference. And I realized that in this case there was getting rid of intermuscular fat. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine the amount of intermuscular fat with modern testing methods. Often, former athletes who have retained their muscle volume and come to the gym are surprised at the dramatic decline in performance. It seems like a little fat on the arm (leg). The girth is only 2-3 cm less than it was. Why did the strength indicators fall so much? And because the muscles are less than it seems. Intermuscular fat retains the external shape of the muscles, and the real picture of how much muscle and how much fat is impossible to see. This point must be known and taken into account in training and testing. It is especially pronounced in women and the elderly.
"I'm losing weight by the summer - I started to pump the press." Surely you have heard or even said this phrase more than once. Coaches keep repeating that this simply does not happen, because it cannot be. But, nevertheless, there are no fewer - as well as those who are confident that they have succeeded in achieving their goal.
Let's say right away: we are not going to doubt that someone has succeeded. Because they are sure: the one who rocked the press probably measured only the waist, and not all the parameters of the body. And the load, albeit small, still speeds up metabolism, energy costs grow, a person, without paying attention to that, refuses to use buns and cookies (and it's true: is he in vain, perhaps, does he pump the press?), Etc.
Local fat burning is the dream of those who want to lose a little weight in the waist
In short, it is losing weight, but not only, but everywhere. And a flatter tummy does not mean that all the fat has melted on it - toned muscles work wonders! In short, we readily believe that the tummy has become flat. But the fact that the fat burned only on it, and in other places everything remained as it was - no. And that's why.
How do we lose weight?
Before moving on to the arguments as to why this is not possible, let's remember how weight loss occurs in general. So what is body fat made of? This is body tissue, the bulk of which is made up of fat cells - lipocytes.
It is normal for a person to have body fat. It protects the body from the cold and creates an "emergency reserve" in case of a cold snap (therefore, by the way, by winter we get fat, and by the spring we lose weight), hunger or nuclear winter. The layer is the result of evolution, an archaic defense mechanism of the body, so important that for the millennia that have passed since the construction of the first dwelling and the manufacture of the first clothing, it has not died out.
That is why the body continues to store even now, when there is no need for it. People move little, they are warm, there is a lot of food and it is available. But the body is a super effective system aimed at preserving and increasing the wealth received. Therefore, the excess energy is not utilized, but packed into lipocytes and sent to warehouses, the locations of which are familiar to everyone - in the area of the thighs, buttocks, abdomen, upper arms, etc. - wait for a nuclear winter.
To get rid of body fat, you need to increase energy expenditure
And since, fortunately, it has not yet arrived, stocks from warehouses are not used, and their volumes are growing. The only way to get rid of stocks is to finally spend them on something. There are two ways you can take it.
- The first is to cut down on the supply of energy from the outside and force the body to serve itself only from reserves. This is the wrong way. As we remember, the body is aimed at preserving and multiplying, so it will give away the accumulated with a creak and learn to save on literally everything. So fast weight loss will stop just as quickly, and the very first piece of food will be transformed into reserves - and so on for a long time. The result is a yo-yo effect and a few more kilograms over the original weight. So, just in case.
- The second way is to increase energy consumption. That is, start moving more and perform the most energy-intensive operations. At first, of course, the body will be greedy, but if you eat normally, it will understand that it is possible to fork out - no threat from the outside seems to be expected. An increase in energy expenditure in combination with a reasonable cuts in calorie intake will ultimately lead to the fact that a reserve from warehouses will be thrown to cover the resulting energy deficit, and you will begin to lose weight.
Then everything is simple. The fat in the cell breaks down into fatty acids and glycerin. Acids, along with the blood, are sent to muscle tissue, where they are oxidized and converted into energy. Production waste is removed from the cell. This is how the process of losing weight looks like from the point of view of physiology. Now let's see why you can't get thinner in just one place.
Local weight loss: two arguments against
Argument # 1. The entire human body is covered with fat. Its division into zones is rather arbitrary. Blood and lymphatic vessels, skin and all the same subcutaneous fat are unified systems that work throughout the entire area of the human body. It is impossible to lose weight only at the waist - because it simply does not exist, but there is all the fiber.
In addition, the key concept of weight loss is not “subcutaneous fat”, but “energy deficit”. From which warehouse the body will order to roll out the barrel of fat is unknown. He has a supply distributed throughout his body. It is quite reasonable not to gut one warehouse, but to take a little from everywhere, so that in case of an unforeseen situation in each of them there is something left for a rainy day.
Perhaps, the first on the diet will "leave" not the "ears" on the hips, but the volume of the breast!
Argument number 2. By the way, about warehouses. Not all of them are equally dear to the body. There are no unimportant ones among them - there are important and very important ones. Take the female body as an example - it is more revealing in this regard. Usually women are unhappy with deposits on the thighs and abdomen. Whatever is done, these zones will still want to be improved, because it is not so easy to bring them to an ideal state. And this is no coincidence. The body takes fat from these stores very reluctantly.
Deposits in the abdomen and thighs are a strategic reserve aimed at preserving the ability to reproduce, protecting the fetus and maintaining the vitality of the woman during the period of breastfeeding, when she cannot efficiently obtain food. To force the body to give up its supply from this very place is an attempt to replay evolution. This is impossible. It’s easier to start up increased energy consumption and start withdrawing supplies from all warehouses - including strategically important ones.
Argument "for"
However, it is believed that losing weight in only one place is possible. For this it is necessary to provide two conditions - a high concentration of fat-destroying adrenaline in the blood and the flow of a large amount of blood to the area that is planned to be "dried".
For example, you can start your workout with an interval cardio session, and then work on the desired muscle: 30 seconds of vigorous activity plus 30 seconds of rest. This is one episode. There are three episodes in one set. During the day, you should perform at least 10 sets, you can several times. In general, this method is similar to the pumping technique, which has been used for a long time and successfully.
Sports will help to correct weight loss in a particular area
This method has a significant drawback. To succeed, you should strictly adhere to all the details (and there are a lot of them). A person who does not have special education is unlikely to be able to do this. And due to the fact that in our country this approach is not very popular, not all coaches know the peculiarities of its application.
However, there is another way to get rid of fat in a specific area of the body. It involves training all muscles with special emphasis on working out the muscles in the problem area. The shock load on the abs, performed against the background of working out the muscles of the whole body, will allow you to quickly get rid of belly fat. Of course, this is not exactly local fat burning. But if you are not lazy and provide your muscles with a good load, the result will not be long in coming.
