For some time now there has been a lot of debate about whether it is possible to lose fat from a particular part of the body. Most times people wonder it is possible to lose fat from their hips, or stomach, or chest; some people even try to melt fat from their faces.

However, the sad but real truth of the matter is that spot reduction of fat from specific areas of the body is not possible for the following reasons:

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1-The origin of the term "spot reduction" is not clear.

The term spot reduction has no scientific basis; no one is quite sure where the term originated from. Those people that talk about spot reduction do so just because by their "normal reasoning" tells them that they should be able to lose fat in a particular part of their body by exercising only that part of the body.

However, it is a well known fact that the way our bodies does not always function according to "normal reasoning" and it is a misconception that if you do exercises like sit up's or crunches you will be able to selectively melt your abdominal fat. It is also for this reason that you cannot selectively burn off abdominal fat by using abdominal exercise equipment.

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2-The type of muscles that are exercised does not determine where fat cells will be burnt during exercise

During prolonged exercise the levels of glycogen in the muscles drop. This muscular glycogen is the main source of energy that our muscles use during contractions.

Once this happens, our body will start to break down triglyceride fat cells in the body to source for glucose which is eventually converted into glycogen by the liver. This breakdown of fat cells to provide glucose is triggered off by the Glucagon hormone which is released from the pancreas once the level of sugar in the blood drops.

The fat cells that are often broken down by the body in response to low blood glycogen levels are usually not the fat cells that surround the exercising muscles so it is not possible to specifically target the burning of the fat cells around the exercising muscles.

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3-Your genetic makeup, and not the type of exercise that you engage in determines to some extent the area of the body that loses fat more quickly

Based on our different genetic makeup, we tend to lose fat more easily from different parts of our bodies; men naturally tend to lose fat more easily from their buttocks when they exercise than women.