Stubborn fat deposits

Barbie writes:

I have asked many people what to do about that stubborn fat right by your shoulders and armpits. (Girls I'm sure you know what I mean when you're wearing a tank and you put your arms down and it looks like you have mini boobs in your armpits!) Well, I've heard that you're supposed to do push-ups, but when I do then it just seems to make my shoulders larger and do NOTHING for the stubborn fat. Any suggestions?

A few years ago I read a book called the "Miracle Diet"; the author claims that if you follow his technique you can successfully spot reduce fat. Actually, there is no such thing as spot reduction I have read a great deal on the subject and tried it myself. I too have had some fat deposits in the same place you speak of, but so does my dad, yours is probably also hereditary. Doing pushups or any other exercise for the pectoral muscles will only strengthen (and perhaps increase the size of) the muscle underneath.

You are within your healthy weight range, but to get rid of those spots you will need to decrease your body fat percentage. The best way to lose excess fat is by increasing the amount of aerobic exercise you are doing. Probably the easiest way to do this is to buy a pedometer. Measure the amount of steps you take per day, for a more accurate reading, do this over a week and take an average. Try increasing the amount of steps to take per day by 2 to 3000. Walking a mile burns as many calories as running a mile. You can also do exercises with no weight. Lifting your arms over your head as if you were doing shoulder presses will burn calories and you will feel a burn in your muscles as the glycogen stores get depleted. Just keep doing your exercises until you can't do any more.

It may take some time before you start to see results, but try measuring the area with a measuring tape. Try your workout for a week, and then take another measurement, and so on. Let me know if this works for you, we can always add more exercises or turn the heat up a bit, good luck!