# Exercise question: How do I shift this bloody spare tyre? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-question-how-do-i-shift-this-bloody-spare-tyre/314226 "2005-07-26T14:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-question-how-do-i-shift-this-bloody-spare-tyre/314226/1 "2005-07-26T14:30:52Z")
About a month ago I resolved to get in shape and started running or swimming 5-6 days a week. So far, so good. I’ve lost nearly half a stone and I’m able to see my abs for the first time in about 4 years. However, I’ve still got this lingering spare tyre around my midriff. My upper abs are getting more visible all the time but this little ring of fat covering my lower abs hasn’t shrunk one single iota as far as I can tell. My question is simply: Are there any exercises which I can do to eradicate that paunch? Should I just train extra hard, or is there some technique I can employ to get rid of the paunch? Any and all help is gratefully appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-question-how-do-i-shift-this-bloody-spare-tyre/314226/2 "2005-07-26T15:15:48Z")
There’s no such thing as spot reducing. No exercise you do will guarantee that fat will be lost from the midriff. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-question-how-do-i-shift-this-bloody-spare-tyre/314226/3 "2005-07-26T15:22:42Z")
When you exercize and burn more calories every day than you take in your body will burn fat reserves. However, the fat is taken from the whole body and made available for the use of the whole body, your muscles don’t burn fat from fat deposits close to them. When you exercise your stomach muscles you can burn fat, but you aren’t burning fat from your stomach fat. Some people deposit fat preferntially in different places, and generally your fattest areas are the ones that are going to be the last areas to be burned. So there’s no way to spot reduce. However, if your stomach muscles are toned your stomach is going to look better even if you still have the same amount of fat on your stomach. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-question-how-do-i-shift-this-bloody-spare-tyre/314226/4 "2005-07-27T05:45:50Z")
Just keep exercising as you have been doing. It’ll go away. But note that the maximum rate you can burn fat off is about 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. It looks like you are doing about 1.5 lbs/week, so you’re not going to be able to significantly increase the rate you’re losing weight. If you exercised 7 days a week, you might get it off a bit faster, but that’s all. Last summer, I changed my exercise regimen from cycling 4 days a week to 7. I kept it up until about New Years by which time I’d lost about 40 lbs. Since then, I can no longer maintain that regimen but I’ve been able to exercise enough to maintain my lower weight. ---
**Author:** ![Thin\_Lizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Thin\_Lizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Lizzy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-question-how-do-i-shift-this-bloody-spare-tyre/314226/5 "2005-07-27T06:18:25Z")
As has been said , no such thing as spot reduction, your body using fat from your body pretty uniformly. Some people have to get their body fat down very low to lose fat in certain places. curious, do you know your body fat percentage?