We all have parts of our body that we wish we could change or that we are particularly conscious of; we could call them our 'trouble zones.' For women it is usually the thighs, butt, and abs and for men it is the chest and abs. Spot toning is something that is a bit up for debate in the fitness world in that some people will say it doesn't really even exist and others are touting the miracles of the Ab Roller, Thigh Master, and the rest. I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle, as with most other things, but that by obsessing over only one area on your body you are not only going to limit your fitness level (actually you could wind up injured when one muscle group is at such and imbalance to that of others) but it is also not healthy mentally and potentially only setting you up for added angst.

Yes, the reality is every body is different and we are predisposed to get firmer in certain areas and store fat in others. That doesn't mean that by exercising you can't improve your overall muscle tone, reduce body fat levels, and get leaner but it does mean that one person may have to work infinity harder to get flatter abs when another person may never do a crunch and have a six pack. (The same can be said for why one person will naturally excel in one sport over another.) It may not seem fair, we can all throw tantrums and whine, but that's not going to change it; what we can change is our outlook and our fitness routines.

In terms of your workouts the best way to go is to address all the major muscle groups when strength training and then do regular amounts of cardio. Cardio activity will burn calories and reduce your body fat levels; no one will see those muscles if there is a layer of fat over them. At the same time cardio alone will not get you the firmness resistance training will. When in the weight room, or anywhere else if you are using your own body weight for the exercises, you want a total body routine. We've all seen the guys who only do the bench press and focus solely on their massive pecs or biceps but they almost look comical when strutting around on toothpick legs. The same thing can happen on a less drastic level for women who only do sit ups but abstain from any other weight training for fear of bulking up. (This is actually a myth and will be addressed in a later post.)

As with anything else balance is the key and that is how your body will best work and respond. When one muscle group is much stronger than the others the body will overcompensate and that can mean that other muscles will grow even weaker, your stride while running may become offset along with during other activities, and you can end up straining or pulling something. If you make sure to do a total body strength training routine along with ample amounts of cardio you will see the best results; of course you can altar your fitness routine to add more weight or reps to certain exercises which will give your muscles more bulk and could translate into a particularly tight tushie but it doesn't mean that you should neglect your arms or core muscles.

Mentally then, instead of obsessing over your trouble zones' look at what positives there are about your body. This can be a specific body part like that your arms have not a single jiggle or instead what your body can do for you like achieving a faster time in your last race or being able to complete a certain amount of time on the elliptical. It is human nature to compare ourselves to others and to be hypercritical of ourselves; but the next time you see someone with the abs you would kill for remember that perhaps that person would die to be able to have your long, lean, and fast legs.