Spot reduction *read before comment *

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

Ok so I had a dexa some years ago and it was pretty normal . I was carrying more muscle than most but then I do weights and am generally active
So some months back I had an injury to my left hip which droped my activity for a month including a week of bedrest. Not only did I lose a lot of general condition but my left leg withered . I was advised against doing any heavy powerlifting movements or explosive work going forward . So I got back into general activity and got back to the gym so my left leg is withered so I start training it with step ups and lunges etc get back to the pilates class etc .
So over several months the leg returns to the same size as the right though it seems a little weaker . Lost a bit of size compared to pre injury off the upper body too . While both leg are smaller it's not by that much . Anyway been watching what I eat lost 4 or 5 kg and a bit off the waist measure .
So the question is how much of the weight loss is muscle and how much fat .
So I go and get a dexa done and the answer is all that I lost was muscle .

First thing comes to mind is this says something about the muscle building effect of squats ,powercleans and the like .

But here is the interesting thing I would like comment on . All of a sudden my left leg is noticibly fatter than my right . Similar size but more fat and less muscle .
Now I thought fat was laid down and picked up according to genetics . The thought of geting fat in one leg never crossed my mind . Given that the inactivity was less than a month this effect surprised the hell out of me .

So anyway among other things I am going to be trying to spot reduce in that I hope to reduce the fat on my left leg to similar % as my right as well as gain muscle .

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

More focused training and some chiro work seems to have hardened up the left leg .
What will really tell the story is the next dexa . While i intend to both lose fat and gain muscle before the next test it will be interesting to see if i can lose more fat off the left leg than the right .

[MasterSchlort Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MasterSchlort]

To my knowledge the way the body stores fat is uniform and it is dependant on the gender, hormonal levels and of course genetics. The same principle applies for fat loss, I have yet to see some miraculous non-surgical method to spot reduce fat since it is something that gets loss throughout the whole body. I have seen and I bet you did too so much quackery on this subject, so much false misleading claims of people trying to sell some sort of bullshit abs machine (the kind of BS we used to see in TV ads) or some magical cream to reduce doublechin lol...

How much more % fat do you have on your hurt leg than on your normal? Is it significent? Honestly, I dont know about the precision of dexa scans but I suppose that its pretty solid. Maybe the body stores more fat on parts of the body that are underused but I still think that doing specific exercises for specific body parts will only have the effect of tonifying the muscle or make them hypertrophy depending on reps and intensity so that they look less saggier. I think that if theres spot fat loss it wouldnt be something substantial.

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

To my knowledge the way the body stores fat is uniform and it is dependant on the gender, hormonal levels and of course genetics. The same principle applies for fat loss, I have yet to see some miraculous non-surgical method to spot reduce fat since it is something that gets loss throughout the whole body. I have seen and I bet you did too so much quackery on this subject, so much false misleading claims of people trying to sell some sort of bullshit abs machine (the kind of BS we used to see in TV ads) or some magical cream to reduce doublechin lol...

How much more % fat do you have on your hurt leg than on your normal? Is it significent? Honestly, I dont know about the precision of dexa scans but I suppose that its pretty solid. Maybe the body stores more fat on parts of the body that are underused but I still think that doing specific exercises for specific body parts will only have the effect of tonifying the muscle or make them hypertrophy depending on reps and intensity so that they look less saggier. I think that if theres spot fat loss it wouldnt be something substantial.

Yes the difference is substantial .
Dexa is the gold standard .
Yes there is a lot of quack on the subject .
Yes the science re no to spot reduction has been regarded as solid .

Thing is this science should advance ,if something contradicts the science ,then you should have another look at the science . The experience I have had with this is people want to support the "science "and ignore the evidence in front of them . What you usually find is flawed science and ignoring the flaw is counterproductive.

[MasterSchlort Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MasterSchlort]

Again this might simply be a body's response to a limb being really underused. In the same way that people who suddenly have their legs paralyzed gets throughout the years severe muscle atrophy and loss of bone density. They need to manually get their legs stimulated to not lose them.

I think spot reduction maybe can work if its a case where a person simply for some reason is substantially underusing one part of his body but imo I'm pretty sure the % fat loss would be really minimal and what would be more noticable instead would be the tonicity of the muscles, ie no more sagginess.

The best spot reduction is to reduce all the spots haha. Through diet, exercise and rebalancing of the hormonal system.

What is the difference of % between your legs and how would you spot reduce the area over the shaft for example?

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

My left leg is 17.1 % fat and my right leg 12.9%.

So I do believe that lowered use of the jeft leg caused muscle loss and specific(spot) fat gain . Thing is I have never heard of this previous iin a case where bed rest was less than a week . Now o did have lowered overall function for a month and I would have used my left leg less than my right during this time but I was still active by normal standards .

My intension in the first instance is to gain muscle .
After that I will lose fat through diet exercise and possible hormonal change as I want to lower cortisol levels as well .
As I will be exercising both legs with possibly a set or 2 extra for the left leg I expect the legs will return to their normal balance . That is I will lose more from the left leg than the right in effect spot reduction.

[BBC Action Senior Member Member of the Month August 2019 Find all posts View Profile Close BBC Action]

My left leg is 17.1 % fat and my right leg 12.9%.

So I do believe that lowered use of the jeft leg caused muscle loss and specific(spot) fat gain . Thing is I have never heard of this previous iin a case where bed rest was less than a week . Now o did have lowered overall function for a month and I would have used my left leg less than my right during this time but I was still active by normal standards .

My intension in the first instance is to gain muscle .
After that I will lose fat through diet exercise and possible hormonal change as I want to lower cortisol levels as well .
As I will be exercising both legs with possibly a set or 2 extra for the left leg I expect the legs will return to their normal balance . That is I will lose more from the left leg than the right in effect spot reduction.

Body fat increasing doesn't mean fat gain. You lost lbm on that leg, therefore your body fat percentage went up because your fat mass in that leg didnt change. The ratio of lbm/fat mass is what determines body fat percentage.

[MasterSchlort Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MasterSchlort]

Didn't think about it this way, but it does make sense. You lost muscle but not fat so your fat % is higher. Sooo if you try to spot reduce a bodypart on which you can develop muscular mass on, what you're doing is simply building muscle underneath fat, therefore not reducing the fat.

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

No I have more actual total fat on the left leg . I have regained some muscle on the left leg more to go.

You are trying hard to ignore the evidence and support the "science" this is typical. Anyhow the next dexa will tell a story but that lies some training and some dieting away.

[MasterSchlort Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close MasterSchlort]

Yes I am really stubborn and close-minded. I am trying my hardest to ignore evidence to support the holy "science"....

I just found that what DonaldDuck said would make sense. If your dexa tells you your bodyfat %. It would make sense that it is due to LBM loss on that specific leg because its underused.

[BBC Action Senior Member Member of the Month August 2019 Find all posts View Profile Close BBC Action]

You are trying hard to ignore the evidence and support the "science" this is typical.

Okay.

[Pegasus AdministratorPE Gym EditorPEGym Hero ☺ Admin of the Month Mar 2015 Find all posts View Profile Close Pegasus]

It's all good I find this of interest because it's strange .
In any case me alone doesn't mean much , it just strikes me that given what I have seen it would be normal for many such experiences to be ignored .
I understand in cases of prolonged disuse it is established that fat lays down in that area . So perhaps the time period can be shorter than they thought . I have not seen a lot of info on the localised bf coming back from that though so it will be interesting.

[watersnake Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close watersnake]

Look back on the balance thread...I think balance training would help you. Not to build mass but to tone up.

[bigbob23 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigbob23]

Yes the difference is substantial . Dexa is the gold standard . Yes there is a lot of quack on the subject . Yes the science re no to spot reduction has been regarded as solid . Thing is this science should advance ,if something contradicts the science ,then you should have another look at the science . The experience I have had with this is people want to support the "science "and ignore the evidence in front of them . What you usually find is flawed science and ignoring the flaw is counterproductive.

I agree. In fact I'll take it further. "No spot reduction" is as scientific as: You can't increase your penis size without surgery. Diet drinks are good for you. Vegetable oil is good for you. Don't eat fat Don't eat eggs Don't eat cholesterol You can't survive 3 days without water (I've gone 4 and wasn't even thirsty...I'm not posting from the grave) Fasting is unhealthy Someone show me the scientific evidence that it is impossible, how would you even design that experiment? Failed attempts at spot reduction do not prove it is impossible. Tell that to corsetters who have have been spot reducing for generations: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=corseting+...resdefault.jpg Tim Ferris posted on his ability to spot reduce. Is there less fat, or less water, or less blood flow? Who knows? Spot reduction is possible, just like pe is possible. Just because some have tried and failed doesn't mean we can't climb that mountain. On that note, I think people should think about spot GAINING. Women want the fat in the right places. The easiest way to do that probably is to lose the weight, then belt or corset as you GAIN weight. Spot reduction is difficult, using constriction reduces blood flow which you need to consume the fat. Spot gaining restricts the blood flow to the areas so the fat is deposited elsewhere. That's why a lot of us hang over our belts. Fat growth will take the path of least resistance. That's my 2 cents.

[bigbob23 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bigbob23]

My left leg is 17.1 % fat and my right leg 12.9%.

So I do believe that lowered use of the jeft leg caused muscle loss and specific(spot) fat gain . Thing is I have never heard of this previous iin a case where bed rest was less than a week . Now o did have lowered overall function for a month and I would have used my left leg less than my right during this time but I was still active by normal standards .

My intension in the first instance is to gain muscle .
After that I will lose fat through diet exercise and possible hormonal change as I want to lower cortisol levels as well .
As I will be exercising both legs with possibly a set or 2 extra for the left leg I expect the legs will return to their normal balance . That is I will lose more from the left leg than the right in effect spot reduction.

I experienced something like this when I stopped lifting. It seemed the fat went where there was established blood flow. I put some on my waist, but is showed up all over.