The Truth About Spot Training - Why It Doesn’t Work

RAH! Power people! Check out this awesome RAHsome text I got from a RAH! Power person this past weekend…

A couple of things about it that I love - I always love receiving more communication (not less) from the RAH! Power people (aka our clients). It shows they’re engaged. It shows they’re thinking about their health, and in this case it’s an opportunity for me to gain insight into how this person is looking at their fitness and their workouts. Major bonus points for cut and pasting a part of the anatomy, too!

Have you ever had a similar thought process as this person? You know -  “let me do hundreds of crunches so I can get abs or burn belly fat”? Let me do more bicep curls to get bigger biceps, more squats to get a bigger butt, and the list goes on and on. 

Spot training  - the idea that you can target fat loss in specific areas- has been a long held myth. The truth is fat loss happens across your entire body, not just where you focus your workouts. Fat loss is mainly driven by honing in on calories and macronutrients and other aspects of proper nutrition and working out.  Fat loss happens systematically, not locally or only in certain spots or parts of your body. 

However, I’ve got great news for you, RAH! Power people! You’re already in the game with the full-body strength training you’re doing as part of RAH! That’s a POWERful foundation to build on.

If you’re part of Renew, Reset, RAH!, our 7-week Nutrition Coaching program, your foundation is even stronger thanks to the personalized nutrition coaching you receive.

Just like with many things in life, consistency is key. The more consistently you:

• Strength train with intention

• Track your nutrition and align it with your goals

• Apply progressive overload by gradually increasing weight

...the more likely you are to reach your goals.

Your body is smart—it needs new challenges to grow. For instance, if you started RAH! with 12-lb dumbbells and have stuck with that weight for a couple of months, your body has likely adapted. To keep progressing, increase the weight, adjust calories and macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats, fiber), and stay consistent.

Fat loss happens as much in the kitchen as it does at our workouts.

Don’t fall for the spot training myth. Fat loss is like melting an iceberg*. The visible ice above the surface is what people who believe this myth often focus on. But the real work happens below the surface. Intentional muscle growth with consistent fitness and nutrition routines aligned to your goals determine how fast the iceberg melts. Spot training only chips away at the surface; true results come from building a strong foundation of [R]outines, [A]ccountability, and [H]ealth [R-A-H!]. *No icebergs were hurt in the writing of this blog post.