Can you just exercise the area you want to lose fat in?

That is not the case.

When you reduce body fat through diet control and exercise, the fat reduction is usually systemic, not just in the specific part you exercise. Local exercise can enhance muscle strength and endurance in a specific part, but it cannot directly reduce fat in that part. For example, if you only want to reduce fat in your legs and only do leg exercises, you will find that although the leg muscles become stronger, the fat reduction effect is not obvious. In order to effectively reduce fat, especially fat in specific parts, you need to do systemic exercise. For example, jogging, swimming, cycling, etc. can consume a lot of energy and promote the decomposition and metabolism of fat throughout the body. At the same time, combined with reasonable diet control, it can be more effective to reduce fat accumulation. Although you cannot directly reduce fat in a specific part by exercising there, you can improve your body shape and appearance through local muscle exercise, making that part look tighter. The distribution of fat on people's bodies is affected by genetic factors, and some people tend to store more fat in specific areas such as the abdomen, buttocks or thighs. When formulating a weight loss plan, you need to take individual differences into account. Although local exercise cannot directly reduce fat, you can shape the body lines through targeted training to make specific parts look tighter and more beautiful. In short, fat consumption is a systemic process that needs to be achieved through systemic exercise and reasonable diet control. There is no such thing as "training where you want to lose fat". But it is true that targeted training can shape the body lines and make specific parts look tighter and more beautiful.

Author | Master of Doubao Food Processing and Safety

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center