How to Lose Stubborn Fat in Problem Areas?

You made the decision to lose weight and get in shape. The way you had to walk was long and difficult, but you have made great efforts and the result is visible: looking in the mirror, you understand that you got rid of almost all the excess weight. You are now at the last stage, a step away from the sporty form and then there’s the so called "Stubborn fat" standing in your way and removing them proved to be mission impossible. You eat healthy, continuing to train as you did it to this time, but whatever you can’t fight them.

But Why?

What distinguishes the last remaining fat from others? What makes them so stubborn and intractable? To answer this question, we must look deeper, what is the process of burning fat in our body.

As each of you knows fat is stored in fat cells. So, to begin the process of burning them, they must first be mobilized (to be released from the cells) through a process called lipolysis.

Various receptors are found in the fat cells and depending on what enzymes and hormones influence these receptors it is determined whether the fat will be stored in fat cells or released from them.

The enzyme, whose function is to release fatty acids from the cell is referred to as hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), and the enzyme responsible for stocking them - lipoprotein lipase (LPL). Hormones involved in lipolysis are catecholamines - adrenaline and noradrenaline. They are helping you mobilize fat from fat cells. They bind with the two most important receptors in fat cells - alpha-2 and beta-2 receptors.

Beta-2 receptors are allies of anyone who has excess fat, because they activate the process of burning fat. Alpha-2 receptors do the opposite - they stop the mobilization of fat. Since biochemical processes are very complicated, and maybe for some of you - boring, imagine that the fat cell is a safe, alpha-2 receptors are the mechanism that locks the safe and beta-2 receptors are the mechanism to unlock it.

To activate the mechanism, it needs password – the password is the catecholamines we talked about (adrenaline and noradrenaline). Interestingly, they may bind to both types of receptors. In other words, the code to unlock the safe is the same, simultaneously activating both processes.

Translated into plain language, this means that whether fat in a certain area of the body will be stubborn and intractable, depends on the ratio of the two types of receptors in the fat tissue. This is the factor which determines the rate at which fat is burned from an area. The more alpha-2 receptors there are, the more difficult to melt fat and conversely, the larger the number of beta-2 receptors in fat tissue, the easier it will be to part with it.

And here is the answer to the question:

How Is Stubborn Fat Different from Normal Fat?

As you probably learned, the so-called "tenacious fat" differ on a purely physiological level from the ordinary and the difference is that the alpha-2 receptors in them predominate at the expense of the beta-2 receptors. This difference in structure makes them so unsusceptible to treatment.

In summary:

• Alpha-2 receptors + LPL (lipoprotein lipase) = storage of fat in fat cells
• Beta-2 receptors + HSL (hormone sensitive lipase) = Release of fat from fat cells 

Here Are Some Interesting Facts…

• Men tend to accumulate more "stubborn" fat in the abdominal (tummy) area, while women have problems especially in the gluteal region (hips and thighs).
• The amount of alpha-2 receptors in the problem areas for women is greater than that of the men in their problem areas.
• While for women the presence of moderate amounts of fat in the hips and thighs is a sign of good health in men it is quite the contrary, their presence becomes a risk factor for health.
• In addition to predominant presence of alpha receptors problem areas are also characterized by reduced blood flow (up to 67%).

Moving from Theory to Practice

As we learned adrenaline and noradrenaline are hormones that give a "signal" of the beta-2 receptors to release fat from fat cells. Therefore, the first thing you should do if you want to burn stubborn fat is to raise the levels of catecholamines in blood. But how?

1. Start Training

Our body produces catecholamines in response to any type of exercise, but the more intense it is, the higher the levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. So, the most appropriate are short, intense workouts.

However, as you learned, the problem is that adrenaline and noradrenaline influence not only beta-2 receptors but alpha-2 receptors as well.

The key to solving this problem is: while activating the beta-2 receptors we have to suppress alpha-2 receptors. How could this happen? 

2. Maintain Low Insulin Levels

Insulin decreases activity of the enzyme HSL, which is responsible for the mobilization of fat from fat cells and increases the activity of the enzyme LPL, which stops the burning of fat.

As you understand, when it comes to stubborn fat, insulin is not welcome. Moreover stubborn fat are not well supplied with blood, which makes them less susceptible to the hormone as compared with normal fat. So this naturally raises the question:

"How to control insulin levels?”

3. Temporarily Limit Carbohydrate Intake

In many of my articles I have spoken contradictory for low-carbohydrate diets (LCD). And I really think that this regime would not be healthy if you keep it 365 days a year. But it can become your secret weapon if you know how to use it properly. During the low-carb diet carbohydrate intake should not exceed 20% of the total calorie per day and the diet itself can be applied for 3-5 days, then you have a carb loading day. The formula is as follows:

Low-carb diet >>> Low levels of insulin >>> Reduced lipogenesis / lipolysis >>> Increased burning of stubborn fat

Once you are able to activate lipolysis process, you must remember that this is only the first stage of burning fat. Fatty acids are mobilized from the cells and circulate in the blood and what has to happen is to be transported to the mitochondria of the cells where to place lipid oxidation in other words - so much desired fat burning.

At this stage, you no longer need to train intensely, it is enough just to stimulate circulation. You can achieve this by doing 20-30 minutes of cardio after an intense resistance training.

In Conclusion

After looking closely on stubborn fat, acquainted in detail with their physiology and learned how they can be overcome, there is nothing left but to be more stubborn than them and say "goodbye" forever!