Master Class
The Knee Slide exercise is tougher than it looks.
Localized body fat loss, otherwise known as “spot reduction,” is a concept those of us in the fitness industry are all too familiar with. The truth is, spot reduction is a physiological impossibility.
However, you can target specific muscle groups with specialized training methods designed to increase their strength and endurance.
This week, I’ll explain this approach and present an exercise aimed at a commonly cited trouble spot — the lower abdominal section.
Genetics play an important role in the volume and location of our subcutaneous fat deposits. Chances are, your body type is similar to one or both of your parents. Whether you tend to deposit fat around the hips or the waistline, there are some strategies you can use to attack these areas.
Since we know it’s impossible to lose body fat in one specific body part at a time, you must embrace the idea that proper nutrition and exercise will result in “global” body fat loss. On the bright side, the areas where you have the largest fat deposits also have the greatest
Connie Fails potential for improvement.
You’ll want to select exercises that give you the most bang for your buck with regard to caloric burn and metabolic level increases.
If body fat loss is your primary goal, I recommend three primary strategies. First, reduce the amount of fat in your diet. The body needs some fat, especially the type of dietary fats now believed to convey health benefits. But a diet composed of more than 30 percent fat almost certainly includes a caloric surplus at the end of the day.
If you can get your daily intake of fat down to 20 percent of your day’s nutrition, you’ve made a great start.
The second key area of focus for those of you interested in losing fat is varied cardiovascular activity. Choose four different methods of cardiovascular endurance exercise and perform each of them once per week for 30 minutes within your target heart zone. The American Heart Association has information about target zones at heart.org/HEARTORG under “Getting Healthy.”
Your cardiovascular activity along with dietary fat reduction should help you achieve a small caloric deficit each day. You’ll likely lose a few pounds, but a wise approach to body fat reduction should also include preserving and even increasing lean body mass.
Increasing lean body mass is most effectively accomplished through resistance training, which is Step 3 of the plan for body fat reduction.
Lifting weights two or three days per week for 20 to 30 minutes will help you build muscle and increase your metabolic rate. This is the step that many people fail to include, which usually makes it difficult for them to experienced sustained success. They lose weight and then gain it back.
Muscle sticks with you, while cardiovascular activity is more like a single-serving helping of fitness.
This week’s exercise is a fantastic option to add to your strength training program and it targets a popular area — the lower abdominals. The Knee Slide will challenge even the most seasoned fitness enthusiast.
1. Get a soft towel that has some thickness to it and find a spot on a wood floor.
2. Position yourself on your hands and knees with the towel underneath your knees.
3. Get into a knee plank position with your abdominals tight and torso and hips lined up.
4. Slide your knees forward underneath you by tightening the lower abdominals.
5. Reverse the direction very slowly until you reach the fully extended knee plank starting position.
6. Continue for two sets of 12 slides.
Remember to initiate this movement from the abdominals rather than the legs. You want to visualize your back moving toward the ceiling as you pull your legs inward. This will activate the core muscles and enhance the efficiency of the move. Enjoy!