I'm confused. I've heard over and over again that you cannot spot tone. For example, you can't do 500 crunches daily to get rid of belly fat.

I've been working out 3/ per week and doing cardio 5/ per week. I also do 50-75 squats daily. I know that everyone says you can't spot tone, but I can tell a huge difference in my legs and butt from the squats. This is why I'm confused, is it difference with the belly vs. the legs?

Can anyone clarify for me?

Spot TONING works great. It tones the MUSCLES, makes them bigger and more shapely.

Spot FAT LOSS does not work. Fat is lost all over, in whatever order your body decides to lose it.

For some, they can tone the muscles underneath to death, but they are covered with too much fat to make a visible difference. For others, you can see the increased muscle tone even with overlying fat.

For everyone, building muscle increases metabolism and makes you feel better. So your squats AREN'T without purpose. They have many purposes, but the one thing they WON'T do is help you lose FAT on your thighs.

That's a good question. I also have heard that you cannot spot train. Maybe it's the combination of cardio AND squats that's allowing you to see the definition. I think that if you were simply doing squats over and over the difference you see/feel wouldn't be so big.? not totally sure- any training experts out there wanna help?

Excellent answer Mandalinn...you saved me a bunch of typing and said it much better

Ok. I am not an exercise expert. But as far as I know you can’t burn the fat from one spot by exercising, but you can tone it.
Burn fat (cardio) is one thing and build/tone muscle (weight training) is another.
Girls correct me if I am wrong...

Sounds good, I think that's what all my Woman's Health Mags have been telling me
Maybe this is why you sometimes see those guys at the gym who look like they're chubby weight trainers. They are very strong but they don't really have that definition. Maybe not enough cardio?

That makes sense, because my legs have less fat than my belly. Also, my outer thighs looks great and inner thighs not so much. So basically continue doing cardio and squats and I'll eventually lose fat and tone muscle?

Ooof. I hate to disagree with Manda, cause I really respect her ... but ...
There's no such thing as toning a muscle.

When you do squats or crunches or bicep curls or whatever .. you're building or strengthening or working THAT muscle. If you're doing it right, you're not just working the primary muscle or muscle group, you're also working a bunch of secondary muscles and muscle groups.

So when Manda says you can't spot reduce - she's 100% right. Doing 500 crunches will not remove belly fat. Doing 500 squats will not remove butt fat. Doing 500 bicep curls will not remove arm fat.

Doing all those things *will* build beautiful, strong muscles - in your core, your butt, your thighs, your back, your shoulders, your arms. That means that when you lose all the weight you want to lose, all those gorgeous, strong, defined BUILT muscles will show through your skin and you'll get that fit look that most people define (incorrectly) as "toned".

.

Doing squats is actually really good for you, besides the obvious benefit of working out. Your legs are a really large muscle group, so you can burn a lot more calories by working them simply because they are so big; the same goes for the back. As for the bodybuilders who look chubby, it could be because they're intentionally trying to gain weight and not doing cardio and eating a ton of food. Bodybuilder's hate cardio, mainly because they're not moving massive amounts of weight. But there's also a lot of bigger guys who don't care about how they look simply because they have huge muscles and no one's stupid enough to mess with them

Should have specified..."tone" is common vernacular, used widely, to refer to what actually "built" muscles look like in women. I don't even distinguish between the two, at this point, because when you hear someone refer to a photo of someone as "toned", almost invariably it means they have built muscle up.

The only time I'd ever really make the distinction is if someone said "I'd really like to TONE my muscles, but I'm afraid of weight lifting because I don't want to get bulky", at which point I'd point out the difference. Otherwise, I use the terms that are common vernacular among laypeople, which for women, is "toned". I'm assuming that's what the OP meant, anyway.