What Your Trouble Spots Say About Your Health

If you’re apple-shaped — which is to say, you carry your weight in the form of a tummy tire — you may have heard that you’re at an increased risk for having a heart attack and developing diabetes. But before you think you’re doomed, know that new research has cast doubt on that theory. Researchers at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom followed more than 220,000 people over 10 years and concluded that waist circumference was no better an indicator of future heart attacks than any other fat measurement. Still, the researchers say, no matter how it is measured, fat is bad for your heart, and you should try to lose it.

A study at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston showed that a big belly does in fact increase the likelihood of restless legs syndrome (RLS), a disorder that can affect your sleep and quality of life. The researchers questioned more than 65,000 male and female health professionals and found that people whose waists measured in the top 20 percent had a 1.5 times greater chance of developing RLS than those who measured in the bottom 20 percent. Scientists theorized that people with larger waists have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain, which plays a role in the condition.

To Blast That Belly Fat Sit-ups and other ab exercises can help build muscle, but cardio is the most effective way to shrink belly fat, research has found. Reducing stress may help as well — stress causes a hormonal chain reaction that leads to belly fat accumulation, says Mark Allen, coauthor of Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You.

If you have a little junk in the trunk, it may be time to embrace your booty. A study conducted at Oxford University suggests that having an apple bottom may help protect you from diabetes and heart disease. The idea is that lower-body fat in your thighs, hips, and buttocks traps fatty acids from the foods you eat, so they don’t float through your bloodstream and get deposited in organs, where they can do harm. Lower-body fat also may release more beneficial hormones, the researchers theorize, whereas fat in your upper body triggers the release of chemicals that can cause harmful inflammation.

To Shape Your Butt Adopt a lower-body strength-training routine that includes squats, leg presses, leg curls, and calf raises.

To the chagrin of many women, a recent study found that menopausal “fog” could be tied to a little extra padding on your hips. In the study, researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago analyzed the body types and memory test scores of nearly 8,750 postmenopausal women between the ages of 65 and 79. The women whose body types were considered pear-shaped — carrying excess weight around the hips — scored lower than those with an apple body type. More research is needed to explain any possible connection.

To Hone Your Hips Unfortunately, the only real way to lose weight from your hips is to lose weight all over, says Brian Quebbemann, MD, of the Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness Program in Newport Beach, California. You’ll probably first notice weight loss in your face and neck, but as you slim down, you’ll see fat disappearing from your hips (and other body parts), too.

Wondering how to lose weight in your thighs? If jiggly thighs are the bane of your existence, take heart — Danish researchers found that the thinner a person’s thighs, the greater the risk for heart disease and premature death. The scientists followed more than 2,800 men and women between the ages of 35 and 65 for an average of 12.5 years. They measured their body composition, including their thigh circumference where the thigh and butt meet. Even after researchers adjusted for other risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol use, high blood pressure, and cholesterol, they found that people with thinner thighs had a progressively higher heart disease risk. What’s still unclear is whether the bigger thighs were more protective because they had more muscle, more fat, or both.

Similarly, after analyzing the body composition in 1,604 people over age 50 who had less belly fat but more leg fat, researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia found that heavier legs meant better metabolic function and less diabetes risk for obese women, though the finding didn’t hold true for men.

To Tone Your Legs The best aerobic activities for your legs and thighs are walking, jogging, cycling, and swimming. The best strength-training exercises to add muscle definition include squats, leg presses, leg curls, and calf raises. But Allen says that if you are heavy and choose running as your exercise, you should proceed with caution and not try to run too far too fast. “The impact can lead to injury,” he says.

The voluptuous breasts some women want may not actually be the best bust for your health. A study of more than 92,000 women by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Toronto showed that the bigger a woman’s chest, the greater her risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. In the study, those who reported having had a D cup at age 20 were about three times more likely to develop diabetes as they aged.

To Tone Your Chest Building chest muscle won’t reduce your breast size, but strength training your chest and upper back will help tone the area. And often when women start diet and exercise programs, they lose weight from their breasts first.

Do your ankles look fat? Although that could really be fat weighing your ankle down, it could also be a sign of a larger medical condition. Enlarged ankles could mean an infection or even a blood clot, which is a serious health threat. Swollen legs, ankles, and feet could also be an indication of poor circulation, which can be helped through exercise.

To Trim Ankles Talk to your doctor to better identify the problem and determine whether weight loss would help.

Puzzled on how to lose weight in your arms? Although researchers haven’t investigated a connection between fat arms and overall health, a study at the University College London Medical School evaluated the health consequences for men whose arms lacked muscle but whose waists showed excess fat. After studying 4,107 men between the ages of 60 and 79 over six years, the British researchers found that the combination of low mid-arm muscle circumference and high waist circumference led to higher mortality rates, signaling that a lack of muscle can be as much of a health risk as an arm fat.

To Build Arm Muscle Adopt a regular strength-training routine that includes exercises for your biceps, triceps, and upper back. Remember that the key to adding arm muscle is to use progressively heavier weights, not necessarily to increase repetitions. It’s also best to supplement any weight-training plan with aerobic exercise to increase your fat-burning power.