Spot reduction

[3][4] Over time it has become clear to trainers and health professionals that the idea of working out certain muscle groups, in order to burn fat in that specific area, is not possible.

Fitness professionals say this is false, yet even trainers still use phrases like "burning fat" and targeting "troubled areas" like "muffin tops" to pull people in.

The burning feeling people describe when practicing resistance training is caused by the production and accumulation of lactic acid in muscle during exertion via the process of anaerobic respiration, and has nothing to do with the fat surrounding the area.

This increase in muscle mass will create a larger need for energy that comes from fatty acids in stored fat cells.

[1] Although professionals know spot reduction is a myth, many people still believe that it is possible to choose where fat can be lost on one's body because of the continual misleading information fitness settings and the internet are providing.

This belief has evolved from the idea that gaining muscle increases metabolism, resulting in fat reduction.

[5] In a randomized control study, scientists sought to determine a link between skeletal muscle size and surrounding fat on a specific body part when exposed to strength training.

The method used in this study to examine the amount of subcutaneous fat between the tennis players' arms, was a skinfold caliper.