DID YOU KNOW…..
YOU CAN SPOT EXERCISE,
BUT YOU CAN’T SPOT REDUCE?
During Jacki’s Fitness Classes we do abdominal work to tone and strengthen our
ab muscles BUT doing ab work does not make the ‘fat’ cells on top of those
muscles go away – only aerobic exercise does that by burning fat evenly
throughout your body!
Here’s how it works…
Your metabolism is similar to the production floor in a factory and runs in a continuous cycle, 24 hours a day.
Tiny structures within the cells, called mitochondria, convert glucose into a fuel called ATP which the body
then uses to run all of its processes, the same way a car uses gasoline. The mitochondria get the glucose from
sugar in the blood stream, which comes from the foods we consume. The amount of ATP you need depends
on how active you are, your body size and gender. The amount of ATP you need also influences how much
food you need to consume in a given day.
Body fat is stored energy. The mitochondria converts most of what you eat into energy but if you consume
more than you need in a day, your body stores the excess for later use. Fat cells are like pouches, which
expand as they fill with fat. If you consistently consume more energy than you need, your fat cells will
continue to enlarge. If you store more fat than the existing cells can hold, your body will make more cells.
Aerobic exercises raise your heart rate for a prolonged period, such as with running or a dance class. As stated
before, the mitochondria in your cells make ATP based on your energy needs. If you are sedentary, you only
need the minimum amount of energy and the mitochondria don't make as much ATP. Aerobic exercise works
your muscles and increases your heart and breathing rate, all of which require more energy. During an aerobic
session, the mitochondria will tap into the blood sugar stores to get the sugar they need to make ATP. When
the sugar stores run low the body breaks down, or burns, body fat and use that to make ATP.
Anaerobic exercise burns calories but it does not consistently raise your heart rate the way aerobic exercise
does. For example, your heart rate may fluctuate during a yoga or weight training session, but it will not stay
consistently high the way it would if you were running. As with aerobic exercise, these exercises will increase
the immediate energy demand and cause you to tap into your fat stores when your sugar stores run low. They
won't, however, burn as much fat per session as aerobic exercises. The benefit of anaerobic exercise is in the
long-term fat burning. These exercises build muscle tissue, which has constant energy needs. The more muscle
mass you have, the more ATP your body needs.*
*WWW.LIVESTRONG.COM