Duane Hoffmann / msnbc.com

I admit, I know what "cankles" are but I have been working out for a long time. What I DON'T like is another body part for women (and yes men) to have to obsess about... like we don't obsess enough already about what we see in the mirror!

MSNBC had a story on how Gold's Gym has designated July as “Cankle Awareness Month,” and Gold's defines it this way: “The word comes from the combination of ‘calf’ and ‘ankle.’ It occurs when the calf merges with an obese or swollen ankle.” Holy crap, really, Cankle Awareness Month! I like Gold's Gym and all but do we really need this!!!! We all have enough to worry about these days as it is PLUS many of us already have picked out way too many things we are trying to "make better" through our workouts. Personally, I don't have cankles so I don't have to worry about this BUT I do know people that have them and the last thing they need to do is feel any worse than they already do if that is one of their pet peeves on their body!

My other problem is that this is a body type! You can't spot reduce your ankles or your calves just like you can't spot reduce any other part on your body. When you lose weight, it just comes off from all over. You can't say, I want that stuff around my knees to be gone so I am going to do "this exercise" and magically it comes off.... NOT! Unfortunately for women, the weight loss typically starts in the face, to the boobs (OH CRAP, I did not need to lose there!) & works it way down. Last to go is usually the area we want to lose the most... our hips/thighs.

Gold's points out: “Cankles are the fastest growing ‘aesthetic affliction’ in the United States … even ahead of other bathing suit killers like Muffin Tops, Saddle Bags and Moobs,” says Gold’s new cankle Web site www.saynotocankles.com. “Millions of people across the country are currently affected by Cankles and millions more are ‘at risk.’ In fact, it is estimated that if current trends continue, by the year 2012 Cankles will surpass Love Handles as the number one aesthetic affliction in the world.”

We are afflicted????!!! We are at risk!!!??? Do those that have cankles have some terrible disease! Jeez, man, this just got to me. I had to throw up my hands & say, DO YOU HAVE TO!!!! Why are you doing this????? Do we really need more of this crap!

This is what ACE, American Council on Exercise had to say: Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise in San Diego, sees the cankle awareness campaign as more of a “marketing ploy” than a surefire fix for chubby ankles. “All they are essentially advocating is weight loss and cardiovascular exercise, which is what we recommend for anyone who needs to lose weight,” he says. Keep in mind, Comana says, that spot reduction is a myth. In other words, no workout will allow you to lose weight just in your ankles — or your thighs or your abs, for that matter.
 
OK, Gold's supposedly has this workout you can do to "reduce your cankles". If you believe that than I have some land to sell you!!! Yes, you can build up other areas & weight train & all that to look better but your cankles are your cankles.

You can read the full article here: Cankles