I was sitting down reading a womens health magazine while i was waiting for a client the other day and happened to overhear one of our trainers talking with one of their clients. I often people watch and listen to conversations. What i heard was a common question amongst clients. "How do I get rid of this?"(pointing to the tummy). What sparked my curiosity was two things. First this person did not need to lose "this" She was in phenominal shape. In her 40's and working full time, she had a physique most would aspire to have. Not too skinny, and deffinately not fat. She had great muscle tone. Regardless of all this she had it in her head that she needed to lose 10 to 15 pounds. Insane! But, this a common problem that reflects our(womens) morbid obsession with weight loss.

The second thing that caught my ear was the trainers response. I overheard a plethora of muscle groups named. The transverse abdominus, the rectus abdominus, the serratus. Pushing fat to the front with muuscle gain. Only this exercise can help spot reduce. WOW! What impressed me the most was not this verbal regurgitation of muscles , but the fact that the client bought it. Hook, line and sinker.

For the record there are NO exercise that spot reduce. Fat can be taken off your body one of two ways. Either control what you consume(your diet) so you don't overstuff yourself. Or increase the intensity of how you burn your calories. So hear are my suggestions:

5 small meals a day

10 glasses of water a day

Cardio 3 to 4 days a week(no more than 20-30 min)

resistance training 3 days a week

One complete day off

ANd do th circuit above