OPENING REMARKS
Getting the body weight to its health promoting weight range or HPWR (see Archives of Obesity simplex series) is hard for many. It is harder still to keep it there over a meaningful length of time.
However to slim down (by reducing fat depot size of) specific parts is impossible.
The following two topics are introduced here to illustrate that fact.
PASSIVE EXERCISE (PE)
The term PE is in itself problematic. It refers to the body’s activity (mostly in the form of localised muscular contractions) induced by an electric stimulator (generator of short bursts / ‘pulses’ of electric current).
The passive (‘involuntary’) aspect of PE refers to the fact that the command (stimulus) for the contraction comes not from the brain of the individual connected to the stimulator but from the latter (in the form of an electric current).
However, of greater significance (and more especially in the context of weight management) is the amount of energy expended during PE.
In the Wellness Encyclopedia (University of California, Berkley) it is quoted that a research team at Northeastern University (Boston) recorded an expenditure of no more than six Calories during 35 minutes of PE of such areas as the abdomen, buttocks and thighs (popular sites for such treatment among women).
[Note: The 6 Calories are additional to the amount of energy the body expends whilst in the resting state].
It can only be concluded PE cannot make any serious contribution in the fight against obesity simplex.
Perhaps if pushed one could make a case for PE as a reward (or a form of pampering) after a proper bout of active / normal (true) exercise.
However, a massage would serve that purpose much better (but would obviously require more work from the masseur or masseuse).
SPOT REDUCTION (SR)
SR is a problematic aim (more of a dream than reality). It refers to (which is impossible) a reduction in fat depot size by exercising specifically (by natural or artificial means) the muscles that are located nearby (the abdominals for example).
Moreover it should be noted that in women certain fat depots (those on the thighs and buttocks) are ear marked for milk production.
Consequently they may remain (largely untouched) whilst other depots are used up (to varying degrees depending on the extent of the energy deficit produced and its duration) through a combination of raised energy expenditure and lowered energy intake (to be recommended) or by dieting alone (not to be recommended).
