It happened again the other day. I was talking to a friend of mine that has just downloaded this app that is going to help him target and eliminate belly fat and I just rolled my eyes before talking, nicely, to him about how this simply isn't possible.
There are tons of various programs and offerings online about exactly this sort of thing and there is a reason why so many people create bogus products and workouts to this end and that is because so many people, men in particular end up with a bit of a paunch later in their life.
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NO!
There is no system in existence that can target belly fat or any other fat that is anywhere on your body other than invasive surgery to have it disgustingly (but effectively) sucked out via liposuction. That is a harsh reality for a lot of people because I know plenty of people, particularly men, who have a "beer gut." I was one of them for a while and I kind of still have something along those lines.
The reality of the situation is that there is no exercise that can target a specific area of fat and choose to eliminate that fat first. I don't know what the order is that the body decides to go after fat but there doesn't seem to be any specific order that it goes through in order to do this. Trainers and people that have been through this situation tend to say things like "belly fat is always the last to go" and this is almost certainly not true. What is really happening here is that we notice belly fat more prominently than other places on our bodies because we can see it all the time. In reality you have fat areas all over your body if you are overweight and for me, I notice it the most in my belly and my face. Why? Well because these are the parts of my body that I am able to see most frequently because of mirrors and where my eyes are capable of looking.
When I see these programs that keep pushing the lie that if you just do these exercises it will help to eliminate belly fat. How do they get away with these lies? Well for one thing they aren't technically lying. For starters if you are eliminating fat anywhere on your body from forming a caloric deficit (the only way to burn fat) then you are going to be eliminating belly fat as well. The other reason is that the fitness industry isn't overly regulated so people can say whatever they want especially online where there isn't any real governing body that oversees what you can say or do. A particular fitness forum might eliminate these sorts of ads but if the person who owns the ad is paying for it, they will often turn a blind eye because the ultimate objective for any private corporation or individual in the fitness industry is to make money.
When I look at these targeting belly fat exercises they will normally focus on a bunch of situps or ab-related exercises. I think these are great exercises to incorporate into your workout regime but the fact of the matter is that if you aren't regulating your diet, increasing the size of your abdomen muscles is actually going to make your belly fat look more profound. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't do ab exercises, you definitely should as they are a super important core muscle group, but this idea that doing a crapton of situps is somehow going to magically make belly fat go away is utter nonsense.
The only way to lose any fat anywhere on your body without the aid of surgery is by forming a caloric deficit... period.
You CAN grow specific muscle groups by targeting that area but the old belief that fat somehow turns into muscle is pure nonsense. They are completely different aspects of the body and the addition of one has no effect on the existence of the other. I hate to break a bunch of hearts out there but the only way to lose belly fat is to lose overall fat and the only way this can be accomplished is by burning more calories than you take in.
I've said it many times before that you didn't get fat overnight, it likely took many years to get to that point and we all just have to accept the fact that the reverse is also going to be true. When I got up to nearly 250 lbs when my idea weight it 175, it took me 2 years of somewhat dedicated diet and exercise to get even close to my target. I am still around 195 and am very aware of the fact that unless i alter my diet dramatically even more, that I am not ever going to see 175. I am fine at 195 because I believe that life is about balance. The days of 6 pack abs are behind me and have come to terms with that :)
Don't believe the hype: The people that are peddling belly fat-loss programs are lying to you and this is especially true if they are selling some sort of product that aids in this preposterous method.
I didn't go to school for this but I know from my own experience of being really fit in my 20's to a fat ass in my 30's to the strongest I have ever been in my 40's that it can be done using very simple methods. You have to be dedicated though
