How to Eat and Train Like a Vegan Pro Football Player?

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

VEGAN PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER WHO PRACTICES YOGA

“Since going vegan, I have seen dramatic improvements in my overall health. I’m heavier, stronger, faster, and healthier. ”

Name: David Carter
Profession: Chicago Bears Defensive Lineman
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Height: 6’6’’
Weight: 305lbs.
Website: http://www.the300poundvegan.com

Chicago Bears defensive lineman David Carter suffered from tendonitis and fatigue in the first few years of his NFL career, and in 2014, he decided to switch to a vegan diet.

Carter lost 40 “unhealthy” pounds on his new plant-based diet and then gained lean muscle and eventually got back up to 305 pounds.

Now, Carter says he’s stronger than ever.

Q: Tell us a little about your childhood/life and how you eventually found the vegan lifestyle.

After being released from both the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, I knew I needed to make a change. My old injuries from college were resurfacing, I was losing weight, and things like nerve damage, tendonitis, high blood pressure, and early onset arthritis were finally taking their toll on me.

“I wanted to heal myself from the inside out, and I didn’t want to be on prescription medication, so I started doing some research about veganism.”

I was no stranger to the concept of a plant-based lifestyle; my wife has been vegan for six years. So after binge-watching all the vegan documentaries, I decided I was going to go vegan.

Q: What are you up to these days besides playing ball? What else would you like to be known for?

I would like to be known for my activism. I hope to be known as someone who helped people to open their minds to the possibility of positive change for everyone: animals, the planet, and people.

There is no reason we can’t all co-exist. As far as what I’m doing right now, I’m currently in training camp with the Chicago Bears, so right now my life is all football, all the time.

Q: Do you meditate?

Yes, I do. Most of the time, I do my meditation at the end of my yoga practice. So it’s really easy for me to just flow into, since the yoga puts me in a calm, peaceful space.

But when I’m sitting down to meditate without having done yoga prior, it’s a little different.

“When I need to feel centered or clear my mind, I just sit, close my eyes, and start to focus on my breath.”

Doing that for 15-30 minutes really helps me clear my head and recharge.

Q: What has been the hardest obstacle for you to overcome in your life?

I’m always working on evolving. Growing constantly is a challenge, so it’s important to me. In football, in my activism, and in my personal life, I try and keep myself open to learning. Sometimes, people get in a place where they feel like they know enough to be the one teaching.

“I think we should all work on just being the student first.”

Q: What advice would you give your 13-year-old self?

Never, ever quit, because sometimes, when you’re standing for what’s right, it means you’ll be standing alone.

“So no matter what or how big the mountain is, just start climbing.”

Q: What are the dirty little secrets of Pro Ball?

There are no dirty little secrets in the league! Everybody’s business, good and bad, is unfortunately aired for the public, and the show “Hard Knocks” is as close to the truth as it gets. So there’s nothing really for me to give away.

Q: What exercises would you choose if you could only do three?

1. Push-ups
2. Burpies
3. Squats

Push-ups: They are so versatile, there are hundreds of types you can do.
Burpies: They’re an awesome full body workout.
Squats: You can’t forget about working your lower body; plus, they are extremely effective and help with explosiveness.

Q: What does your daily meal plan look like?

Ha! It looks like a lot of food! I’m taking in 10,000 cals/day and around 300g of protein.

“I try to eat 1.2 grams of protein per pound [of bodyweight]; otherwise, it’s hard to gain weight.”

• Breakfast: I mainly have a shake in the morning, then a large amount of rolled oats or millet with nuts and fruit for breakfast. I like having hearty grains in the morning.
• Lunch: Most of the time, it’s lots of veggies and a grain. I love Mexican food, so I eat a lot of rice and beans and cashew cheese.
• Dinner: I also like stir-frys, so for dinner, sometimes I eat a noddle stir-fry with veggies and spring rolls. There is so much variety in my food, I can’t give a specific look into what I eat. It’s different every single day.
• Snacks: I have a big snack or shake in between each meal.

Q: What advice about fitness in general would you give that you don’t commonly see in magazines? Your “secret sauce”?

Come on now, Chris, I can’t give away everything.

Q: What uncommon activity do you schedule into your daily routine?

Well, it’s not uncommon for me, but I like to add a little martial arts and yoga to my routine.

“It’s important for me to be a well-rounded athlete. Martial arts helps with my hands, and yoga is great for flexibility and distressing and resetting the body.”

Q: What are some common misconceptions about veganism?

One of the biggest misconceptions people have about vegans is that they believe removing animal products will make you weak. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Since going vegan, I have seen dramatic improvements in my overall health. I’m heavier, stronger, faster, and healthier.”

My recovery time and endurance have improved after becoming vegan, so I actually train even harder than before.

Q: What advice do you have for people who are thinking of becoming vegetarian?

The best advice I can give is to take it easy on yourself. Set yourself up for success. Preparation has been really important for me. I did my research, so I knew what I was getting myself into, and kept it simple.

“Making the switch to vegan or vegetarian shouldn’t be complicated.”

Q: Best piece of advice for people just trying to live a good life?

Being true to yourself is so important. Having peace and happiness for yourself first is the only way you can bring peace and happiness to others.

So working on being the best you is the first step to living your best life.

“The more real and honest you are with yourself, the easier life becomes.”

To find out how to eat and train like a vegan pro football player, watch this video – I Ate Like Cristiano Ronaldo For A Day

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – How to Eat and Train Like a Vegan Pro Football Player

Fitness Model Secrets from Katarina Van Derham on How to Stay Healthy

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

MODEL, ACTRESS, ENTREPRENEUR, PHILANTHROPIST, AND VEGAN

“A vegan diet will make you feel invincible, and you will start attracting more positive events. Your whole life will change. You are what you eat on a physical, mental, and spiritual level.”

As a model, Katarina Van Derham has landed on the cover of over 60 magazines worldwide and appeared in over 600 major media outlets. She appeared in 21 national and international print and TV commercials and has been voted one of the 100 sexiest women in the world by magazines on three different continents.

Katarina is a Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of classic, glamour lifestyle magazine VIVA GLAM established in 2012. VIVA GLAM offers alternative approaches to traditional lifestyle, with a strong focus on vegan, organic and cruelty free brands.

Being a vegan of 20 years and passionate about animals and nature inspired her to launch her own cruelty-free line of eyelashes KAT lash.

Traveling the world, Katarina hopes to start a foundation to build small vet clinics in the rural parts of the world and islands, where hurt animals are left to die without any chance of getting help. She believes the clinics are also very important due to a need to spay and neuter.

Katarina supports great charities such as SCIL, Peace4Animals and PETA. She has also worked with RedLightChildren.org to help end child slavery and exploitation.

Q: Tell us the story of arriving in the US with only $500 in your pocket at the age of 22. 

I grew up in Slovakia during the ’70s-90s socialistic system.

My upbringing was very humble but beyond beautiful and loving.

Until I was 10 years old, we didn’t have plumbing in the one-bedroom house by the train tracks.

We had to use an outhouse, which had magazine tear sheets plastered all over its inside as an isolation.

I remember always staring at James Dean’s cover of Life magazine. I remember thinking how good he looked and that we didn’t have men looking like that in Slovakia. I learned to be happy with having very little. I learned the value of life and family and the importance of staying humble and real.

But as did many Europeans during those years, I also got influenced by the Western culture. The music, the movies, and the fashion world became very fascinating to me. I started to realize I didn’t really fit in Slovakia and its people’s mindset. As a teen, I was very active and always searched for information about the Western world.

My first job was very lucrative. I worked for a French company in the office as a secretary and in accounting and marketing. It was then when I started to feel I was hitting a dead end in my life. For four years, I had a good job, a nice and simple boyfriend, and a daily routine, which was okay.

“Everyone would be asking me the same questions: When are you getting married, and when are you going to have kids? I started to feel as if I was choking.”

One day, someone from California came to my work to talk some potential business with my boss. His business card was my ticket out of my situation. I started to think about my options. In the ’90s, it was almost impossible to get any type of U.S. visa. Everyone’s application was getting turned down.

But not to bore you with all the details, I found a way to get my business visa. Once I did, I called the guy from California to see if he could somehow help me; in 1998, I was on my way to AMERICA. The currency rate exchange was brutal at that time, so I was able to collect only $500 from my family after I paid for my plane ticket.

Once I arrived to California, I was able to start working right away, passing out flyers for a cleaning company for $6/hour, working only four hours a day. That was enough money to buy food and pay for rent, which I shared with another six people in a three-bedroom apartment. I even had to share the bed.

“Looking back now, I don’t know how my parents even let me leave. But I know one thing: I owe them big time and am forever grateful they did.”

The ’90s were so different than now, so the advice I would have for someone who is 22 years old and wants to come to the U.S. now is this: whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Q: With all of the success you have had (VIVA GLAM, KAT Lash, modeling, acting, etc.), what is your greatest professional achievement? 

I feel my biggest success in life is my life journey itself. I reflect on the past a lot, and to be honest, I don’t have any regrets.

“I was able to maintain my values, integrity, and never sold myself even when I was broke and had no roof above my head, even when I spent Thanksgiving among the homeless people at the Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard or had to sleep in the car.”

As a young girl, I was offered many shortcuts to “success and money.” I had men getting naked in front of me, trying to take advantage because they knew I had no rights in this country as an immigrant. Somehow I still managed to look at the sun, breathe the California air, and be happy.

Q: Tell us about the charity work you’re involved with.

I try to support charities as much as I can, but in life, I’ve learned you have to choose and focus on one cause because you simply can’t be everywhere and help everyone. Since my roots are deeply in nature and being a vegan, I choose to support animal charities.

I believe we need to start with changing and enforcing laws, and that’s why my favorite charity is SCIL (Social Compassion in Legislation) and of course, PETA.

Love them or hate them, PETA has changed laws in many countries and positively influenced millions of people around the world.

“I believe if everyone chose and focused on helping one cause, the world would be a much better place. You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”

Q: Tell us the story of how you became a vegetarian and how in 2009 after reading Skinny Bitch, you became a vegan.

One beautiful day while taking a train ride with two of my best friends in Slovakia, I got to sit next to a vegetarian. We exchanged a couple of words, and I got really intrigued by this man. I asked him if he really believes people can live without eating meat.

He said, “absolutely,” and added that he hadn’t eaten meat for over 20 years. I observed his physique; he was lean and had a wrinkle-free face clean of any acne. He was calm. At that time, I was 18 and a big meat eater.

Everyone around me had diabetes, was overweight, and had some kind of illness. I also remember people not being too attractive, and somehow I linked it to eating high amounts of cholesterol and meat.

“So that day, I came home and asked my mom, who had type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, to make me my last meat dinner. It was a beef stew with cooked potatoes.”

I wasn’t sure how long I would last as a vegetarian, but I am happy to say that after 22 years, it is still my last meat dinner. My mom was very supportive of it. Four years later, I relocated to the U.S. and enjoyed eating all the American dairy products.

However, as years went by, I learned more and more about the quality of American foods, as well as the animal abuse that goes into it. Someone suggested the book “Skinny Bitch” to me, and that was it for me. I became vegan.

Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting out on this path?

First, it is important to know what a vegan diet and lifestyle does to people.

Becoming vegan will clarify your mind, and you will find answers to questions you’ve always had and couldn’t find.

A vegan diet will make you feel invincible, and you will start attracting more positive events. Your whole life will change.

You are what you eat on a physical, mental, and spiritual level.

Q: What did you eat yesterday?

Yesterday, I ate two slices of bread with Kite Hill vegan cheese, tofurky, and tomatoes for breakfast.

For lunch, I had a chopped salad from PitFire pizza with Daiya cheese, tomatoes, avocado, corn, and all the good stuff that comes with it. For dinner, I had a vegan margherita pizza from the same place.

Q: What does the first 60 minutes of your morning look like?

My first 60 minutes of every morning consists of drinking coffee, catching up on social media, and posting new content while still in bed.

Q: Favorite three exercises and why?

In general, I like to do body resistance training, circuit training, and weight training. I love doing squats because it is the best exercise for my lower body, which is naturally built thicker. I love doing crunches because my mid-section is long and strong and this exercise is pretty easy for me yet very effective. I also love doing push-ups because they make me feel like a superhero.

Q: Fun fact most people don’t know about you?

I am double-jointed.

I have a removable tooth in my mouth.

I’m a true Sagittarius woman. That is to say, Sagittarius Archers are fun-loving, free spirits. They are forgiving and have a great sense of humor. But if wronged, watch out! Archers can zero in on an enemy’s weakness and retaliate quickly. Energetic Sagittarius loves to travel and has a talent for gambling. Archers don’t like deceit or pretension. Their standards are high; they are loyal, intelligent, and honest.

Q: What is the biggest personal challenge you have had to overcome in your life?

My biggest challenge always has been my speech. Growing up I had a speech problem where I couldn’t pronounce the letter “r.” It is almost in every word. I was made fun of, and eventually, I developed a way of speaking where I was able to completely eliminate words including “r.”

As a teenager, I became so good at that, even my boyfriend of six years never knew I had this problem. When I was already living in the U.S., I’d developed very large polyps on my vocal cords. They got so bad that in 2008, I had to have them paralyzed for six weeks.

All that time, I had to walk around with a pen and paper and communicate that way. I still have to be very careful and not overuse my vocal cords. And the last but not the least is the fact English is my fourth language. Especially being a publisher, I struggle with the proper grammar all the time.

“But I work on it every day, and in a way, I find it a good challenge because I’m learning and growing and that always makes me feel alive and human.”

To get more fitness model secrets , watch this video – What we EAT in a DAY as Victoria’s Secret Models

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Fitness Model Secrets on How to Stay Healthy

5 Mindful Eating Tips for Weight Loss

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

MINDFUL EATING TIPS (IT HELPS WEIGHT LOSS)

What is mindful eating?

Mindful eating is the act of bringing your attention to what you are doing in the moment: eating.

Too often, we use meal time to watch a TV show, get some work done, or engage in mindless conversation. You know the feeling when you sit down for a meal, and you get up ten minutes later, not remembering what you ate or how you ate it all so fast? That is mindless eating. Where is the mind-body connection or even enjoyment in all that?

Mindful eating is connecting to our food as we eat by fully engaging our awareness to the process. 

I never quite thought about the positive health implications of this beyond the fact that I began to feel more energized when I ate mindfully. But a plethora of recent research has shown that the benefits are much more than just emotional.

Mindful eating has a practical application when it comes to weight maintenance, treating obesity, weight loss, and even diabetes self-management.

In the April 2013 edition of the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,” researchers reviewed 24 studies conducted on mindful, or attentive, eating to see what impact it had on diverse population groups. The researchers concluded that incorporating mindful eating into our diets provides an accessible and reliable way to monitor our food intake, maintain our weight, and aid in weight loss without the need for dreaded calorie counting. 

One main area that mindful eating seems to be affecting is our self-control with how much we eat.

One main area that mindful eating seems to affect is our self-control with how much we eat.

Through mindful eating, subjects seem to be more able to listen to their body’s physiological cues as far as how much food is needed, rather than just eating whatever is put in front of them. A study conducted on mindful eating in Australia found that mindful eaters end up eating smaller serving sizes of energy-dense foods, which is reputed by nearly every diet to be an effective way to manage our weight and metabolism.

Mindful eating allows us to observe our emotions during meal times and not have them override our physical needs. Another study found similar results in university students. 86 percent of students who engaged in mindful eating ended up eating healthier diets, and showed an ability to avoid overconsumption and weight gain (and presumably late night pizza runs). Through mindful eating, we become more aware of what we are actually eating, and are more likely to monitor our diets.

When it comes to treating obesity, mindful eating is also showing promising benefits.

Though obesity is a complex issue and highly individualized, researchers have found that individuals with obesity tend to be more impulsive when it comes diet choices. In this study, the impulsivity of individuals’ food choices was first tested in a control run before training individuals in mindfulness and mindful eating.

Participants who completed the mindful eating session showed to have more self-control and to make less risk-averse decisions when it came to choosing food. These findings illustrate that mindful eating can change behavior in a way that leads to long-term weight loss.

Even in other serious chronic conditions, mindful eating could help in treatment.

In diabetes self-management research conducted at Ohio State University, mindful eating was studied in conjunction with diabetes self-management education (DSME), which focuses on educating patients about their food choices. Participants were split into two groups: one practiced mindful eating for three months, and the other practiced DSME for three months.

Researchers found that both groups showed nearly identical outcomes when it came to weight-management, lessened depressive symptoms, and resulted in higher energy. Researchers hope that this study can lead to further use of mindful eating as a part of diabetes management as it would be a “treatment” that is minimally expensive (you can do it on your own), and perhaps equally effective. Though more studies need to be conducted, these results are intriguing and promising. 

In summary, these studies are proving what mindfulness practitioners have sensed for generations: mindful eating allows us to actually listen to what our bodies are telling us about what we are eating and how much we need.

You may be thinking to yourself:

• “Does this mean I have to eat by myself all the time?”
• “Do I have to change my diet? This is nice and all, but really, my schedule is too busy to set aside a long chunk of time to eat slowly every day.”
• “How is this practical?”

Mindful eating is not just another dietary fad. It isn’t asking you to change your food choices. Mindful eating will allow you to listen to your body to find the diet that’s actually best for you, whether that’s vegetarian, vegan, flexitarian, or something much more suitable for your lifestyle.

Mindful eating can be adapted to any diet effectively.

It does not ask you to eat as a hermit, either.

Communal eating is one of the best ways to connect with each other. What’s better than sharing a meal with family or close friends? By bringing mindfulness to eating with each other, we come back to the present moment.

Our phones are away, and our mind is on the people around us when talking and the food we are eating each time we take a bite. Our conversations have more depth, and we appreciate the meal much more.

Mindful eating does not have to be slow or take forever.

You can eat mindfully without moving at a sloth’s pace. Just pay attention to chewing the food. Put away your computer for a moment. I swear, you will still get your work done on time. After you finish eating, you will realize you weren’t only eating, but also meditating and recharging.

While eating slowly may help you ease into eating mindfully, you will soon see that it has more to do with focusing on eating when you’re eating, versus multi-tasking, which is what most of us tend to do.

Mindful Eating Tips

Here are a few suggestions on getting started:

1. Set aside a meal time when you have some flexibility in your schedule. For the first mindful meal, you’ll want to be able to take your time. Make sure you are free from distractions: TV off, computer put away, smartphone on silent and out of reach, etc.
2. Before you eat, take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Remind yourself to appreciate the good fortune that you have nourishment sitting in front of you (many don’t).
3. Process the food through your senses. Appreciate what it looks like. Think about what the food feels like in your hand. How does it smell? What is the texture as you bite through? What flavors are coming through and at which parts of your tongue? By doing this, you’ll engage your attention on the present moment and the food at hand.
4. Chew slowly, thoroughly, and mindfully. Remember, you’re not in a hurry and have all the time in the world right this minute. Put your fork/spoon down between bites.
5. Journal the experience. This helps crystallize the positive experience in your mind, and reinforces the behavior. Next time you sit down to eat, remember this mindfulness practice and simply be fully present with your food.

To get mindful eating tips for weight loss, watch these 2 videos below –

Diabetes Matters: Mindless vs Mindful Eating

How to Change Eating Habits with Mindful Eating

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Mindful Eating Tips for Weight Loss

Spot Reduction Exercises: How to Reduce Fat in Your Most Troublesome Spots?

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants 

FAT LOSS: CAN WE TARGET JUST THE BELLY?

Spot Reduction: Is It Possible and How Can You Do It?

Legendary bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, and Frank Zane did hundreds of sit-ups because they believed they could target an area with exercise and lose fat in that area (i.e. “spot reduction”).

In the fitness industry, the concept of spot reduction has been passionately debated and argued on both sides.

First, let me say that no one will argue that calorie intake in relation to how many calories are burned matters when it comes to fat loss.

However, new research seems to support what the bodybuilding legends used to practice.

The Case FOR Spot Reduction

Medical researchers and fitness professionals have yet to fully agree on whether spot reduction is possible or little more than a myth. But there is compelling and promising evidence that suggests targeted exercise can actually help you reduce fat in your most troublesome spots.

A study published in the American Journal of Physiologytested 10 healthy men while doing one-legged knee extension exercises at 25 percent of their max for 30 minutes, followed by exercise at 55 percent max for 120 minutes with the other leg and then at 85 percent max for 30 minutes with the first leg.

According to the researchers’ conclusion, “Blood flow and lipolysis are generally higher in SCAT [subcutaneous adipose tissue] adjacent to contracting than adjacent to resting muscle irrespective of exercise intensity.” Thus, specific exercises can induce “spot lipolysis” in adipose tissue.

Another study conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark required men to perform single leg extensions with light weight for 30 consecutive minutes. The researchers discovered increases in blood flow in the men’s subcutaneous fat cells in the exercising leg when compared to the other leg.

Ultimately, they concluded that body fat is disproportionately used from the specific part being trained. In their application statement, the researchers hypothesized that this effect would be replicated in other muscles and body parts as well.

The Case AGAINST Spot Reduction

However, some fitness experts are convinced (and some studies have shown) that it’s not possible to reduce fat in just one single area of the body. This argument points out that fat can only be lost from the body collectively as a whole by way of proper diet and exercise.

The American College of Sports Medicine states that believing spot reduction is possible is one of the top 10 most common mistakes people make while trying to lose weight. In an ACSM Health & Fitness Journal article, James A. Peterson Ph.D., FACSM writes, “No exercise will eliminate fat from a specific area of the body, just as no change in your level of caloric intake will guarantee that the fat will melt away in the area of the body you most want to address. As a rule, the pattern in which you lose body fat is genetically predetermined.”

Back in 1971, the University of California, Irvine conducted a study on tennis players because their arms see a disproportionate amount of exercise based on the nature of the sport.

According to the researchers’ experiment, there was “no significant difference in the thickness of subcutaneous fat over the muscles of the arm receiving more exercise as compared to the arm receiving less exercise.” These studies provide direct evidence against the validity of the concept of “spot reduction.”

More recently, researchers at the University of Connecticut studied 104 adults during a 12-week resistance training program to assess fat in their non-dominant arms before and after the program. The conclusion was that fat loss was generalized but not significantly more noticeable in the arm that was targeted. Their results were published in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Spot Reduction Strategies

But despite the skeptics and naysayers, I’ve found that spot reduction is an integral part of any holistic bodybuilding training regimen. There are so many different aspects involved in training, and spot training has its place in helping you achieve the shape and form you’ve been working towards.

First, let’s take a quick look at how the body burns fat:

• Resting metabolism (fuelled by your heart beat, breathing, and cell division)
• Digestive metabolism (as your body turns food into amino acids)
• Exercise metabolism (from physical activity)
• The liver stores energy as glucose and releases it into the bloodstream
• The brain receives signals to use stored fat as energy
• Hormones activate an enzyme in the blood vessels of fat tissue
• Energy is delivered to working muscles, using fat cells as fuel
• Fat tissue shrinks when exercised and muscle grows

Spot reduction exercises work by increasing blood flow and putting fat to use in the fat tissues closest to working muscles. The key is to contract the muscles adjacent to your targeted fatty area and schedule your aerobic activity and midsection workouts properly in your gym routine.

The results are often subtle and only measurable in small increments, which is why so many fitness buffs are quick to write off spot reduction as a myth. It can also take many months for spot reduction work to make a visible appearance on your body.

This means you’ll need an extra dose of dedication to stick with it. Medical researchers often only follow subjects for a few weeks or months, which may indicate why scientific results have been inconclusive.

Spot Reduction Exercises

The most effective spot reduction exercises are ones that involve high reps and combine those reps with high-intensity cardio workouts. Adding variety to your routine and interval training go a long way in targeting your problem areas.

Here are a few targeted exercises to try for your trouble spots:

Abs:

• Cable crunch
• Captain’s chair leg raise
• Air bicycle
• Planks

Glutes:

• Glute bridge
• Barbell hip thrusts
• Walking dumbbell lunge

Thighs:

Squats (stick with these and lunges)

Abduction machine (waste of time)

Love handles:

• Side plank crunch
• Medicine ball figure-eights
• Deadlifts

Observations & Conclusions

Spot reduction is always a popular weight loss topic because it seems logical and appeals to our intuition. When you target a specific body part with your training, you won’t exclusively lose fat in that one part; you’ll lose it everywhere. However, spot training helps you work more of the fat in your target area than anywhere else.

It’s easier to see the results of spot reduction training in athletes and bodybuilders who are already fit, while more casual exercisers should start off with a more general approach to getting in shape. This is particularly important to remember for abs workouts, which increase blood flow to the midsection to chip away at fat covering up the muscles underneath.

Remember that gender and genetics play a big part in where your fat accumulates and where you’ll lose it from first. Target the muscles around your fatty areas for the best results, and be patient with your progress. Spot reduction works to mobilize fat next to working muscles, but it takes time and is just one piece of the complex puzzle of body sculpting.

To get more ideas on how to reduce fat in your most troublesome spots, watch this video – 5 At​-​Home Exercises ​to ​Lose Belly Fat (CRAZY FAST)

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Plant-Based Recipes for Athletes