Reducing lower body fat.

[j814wong]

I am a 17 year old Asian who has a BMI of around 20.8 give or take 0.1 (As of 2/1). I understand that I am within healthy BMI range for a person of age, height, and weight.

upper body is perhaps sllim-average with very subtle protrusion of the stomache that disappears when I take a proper posture of "chest out". lower body, however, is larger then I would like. The posterior protrudes outwards more than average (Average is determined based on what I've seen in other students of age and ethnicity for reference because I don't have any actual numbers to make reference to).

Therefore, goal is to reduce fat in teh lower extremities with emphasis on the posterior and thights eventually followed by the calves. Once volume of fat in those areas are reduced, I plan to begin or increase muscle buildign activity to increase muscles a bit in those areas. However, the net goal is an overall net loss of volume or in other words, resulting in a loss of more volume of fat than I gain volume of muscle for an overall slimmer lower body. Following this but not relevant or a goal at the moment is an effort to increase muscle in the upper body perhaps resulting a 0 net loss of weight since today (But this is for another time).

Would biking be a good exercise or would it simply bulld up lower body muscle and add bulk there? What of running? What exercises will help me achieve goals exactly as I've intended? What types of exercise would counter efforts?

Does mountain biking and road biking target different muscles? I currently participate in very beginner mountain biking (Still more fat than muscle down there) but eventually plan to do road biking instead.

Other future fitness goals:
Dexterity and control: Speed and precision (I value speed and precision over strength and force)
Endurance

Thank you for your time and help.
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"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." - Genesis 4:7 (KJV)

[Boss Man]

Would biking be a good exercise or would it simply bulld up lower body muscle and add bulk there? What of running? What exercises will help me achieve goals exactly as I've intended? What types of exercise would counter efforts?

(Biking is good for enduranc,e but as for building muscle, it would have more of an effect if you were choosing a fast pace and using quite a hilly course, as opposed to using a moderate pace and a flat course, but it wouldn't bulk you up too much.

However it should help you do what you intend.)

Does mountain biking and road biking target different muscles? I currently participate in very beginner mountain biking (Still more fat than muscle down there) but eventually plan to do road biking instead.

(I've never seen any science on this, but I doubt it has much difference, it's almost certainly mainly about the factors I described above. The speed and the undulation of the course chosen.)

[j814wong]

Thanks for the reply Bossman. Lossing fat and slimming down overall is the intended goal so I'll start doing more cycling these days, more so once I get into college.

I just read somewhere that large, powerful muscles are gained with shorter time heavy exercise to an area while smaller muscles but ones with more endurance are gained with longer time mdoerate exercise.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 247AAoUjEZ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't want any mistakes and end up with muscular, and bulky lower body rather than a slim, fit one.

[ultimatehlth]

First off let me say that spot reducing is deemed impossible which means your body will decide where to take the fat off from based on your genetics. That being said a study done out of NSW University in Australia found HIIT on a cycle did just that. Essentially, 1 group did 40 minutes on a bike 3 times a week for 6 weeks at a moderate pace. The second group did 20 minutes of sprint training 8 seconds fast/12 seconds slow 3 times a week. At the end of the study the sprints group lost 3 times as much fat with the majority of it coming from their abdomen and lower extremities. So, focusing on High intensity training would be your best bet.

Personal Trainer Los Angeles

[Boss Man]

A former female bodybuilder told me once, she'd managed it doing giant sets on her Arms and then with additionla cardio to back it up and got spot reduction on the Arms.

Someone came on here once and said it was possible in a hormonal context, that by somehow manipulating the hormones, I forget exactly what was said, it could work, I would assume possibly in the opposite manner to the actions of cortisol.

Having said that, your reported study findings are quite intruiging, although it still indicates reduction in the lower extremities and not one specific area, like abs, or glutes or thighs, so it's probably what could be called semi-spot reducing and the study obviously didn't indicate a way, to create a spot reduction type effect in the upper body I presume.

[Tallgirll22T]

Biking is a great exercise as it is cardio, good for the back, helps stabilize the core, honestly works the whole body. However, you need to workout your whole body when you train with weights too. I would lift as heavy as you can when you workout your chest, shoulders, back, arms. If you can manage to increase your muscle and bulk in your upper body, it will help balance out your overall physique. At least that is what I think and is what I am trying to do because like you, I tend to have big legs and a ghetto booty haha