Figured Id repost an article I submitted a while back, as a guest writer, to the Integrate PerformanceFitness blog. Gary Swenson, heres the remedy for your knee fat. ;) So, Al Painter has been harassing me for months to write an article to which my response is always, Im not a journalist, Im a scientist (turned trainer). Im pretty comfortable putting fingertips to keyboard and cranking out an abstract on the antibiotic resistance patterns of E. coli in urine cultures. Ask me to write an article (that people might actually read) and I completely shut down. Our conversation usually goes a little something like this, Al: Shut the hell up and do it anyway! (shocker, I know...) Me: I dont even know what to write about. Al: Write about what pisses you off. Well, okay. Here goes... The other night, while checking out Pinterest for a couple of minutes before bed (okay, okay... it was actually 3 hours but I swear Im NOT addicted. I can stop anytime I want to), I came across a pin showing a fitness model, lying on her back, legs extended at 90 degrees, doing multidirectional scissor kicks (or something, it doesnt really matter what the movements look like). The caption read: I developed Awesome Legs while living in Paris where slender thighs are not only the object of desire, but anything less is just plain unacceptable. With Awesome Legs, results come quick to reverse bulky thighs, remove fat deposits from the inner thigh, inner knee and above the knee cap. Most see results within 10 days...just 5 minutes a day. (This entire statement is wrong on so many levels but, for this argument, Im just going to focus on the movement and targeted fat reduction parts.) My immediate reaction was why would ANYONE spend even 5 seconds doing this?? Well, since this particular pin had over 1500 repins, there are women out there still buying into this nonsense. You might argue that lying on your back, scissor kicking your legs for 5 minutes a day is better than doing nothing. My answer is, NO. (If you arent moving at all, you probably have bigger issues than slimifying your legs.) Lets take a look at the exercise itself. Remember I how sort of glossed over the movement pattern? Wondering why? Because it doesnt matter how shes moving her legs, THEY ARENT EVEN SUPPORTING HER BODYWEIGHT. (Id argue that walking around my house eating a pint of Hagen Daaz would more effectively target my legs than this garbage!) Last time I checked, the only way to get awesome (or just better than the ones you already have) legs is by actually recruiting the muscles of the legs to overcome some sort of load, either bodyweight or external. (Sounds like a pitch for strength training, doesnt it? You are going to hear a lot of that from me.) So, what about that pesky knee fat? Want to lose the fat around your knees? Your ankles? Your belly? Guess what?? It is not possible without decreasing your overall percentage of body fat. But you probably didnt need me to tell you that. The myth of spot reduction has largely been dispelled, right? (Evidently there are 1500 Pinterest users who, sadly, didnt get that memo.) What you may not know, is that the most effective way to alter body composition is to get your metabolism revving like a supercharged engine. How? By increasing your muscle mass via strength training (please, I beg you, do not automatically assume that increasing muscle mass will make you bulky. Unless you are an extreme genetic outlier, adding that much muscle requires a TON of intense effort) and by consuming adequate calories with proper timing. The two biggest mistakes I see women, with the goal of fat loss, make are (1) spending hours doing steady state cardiovascular exercise and, (2) drastically cutting calories or skipping meals. Both of which actually make your body really, really good at storing fat! If you want awesome legs (abs, arms, whatever) you need to build muscle in order to effectively strip away fat. Period. There is no quick fix. Dont know where/how to start? Find a trainer you trust. Dont be afraid to try something new. Think of food as fuel. Pick up a copy of The New Rules of Lifting for Women (its a great resource and will make you rethink the line of BS we have been fed about how we should exercise). Pick up something heavy and get stronger!
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 00:04:15 +0000
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