How to Get Rid of Back Fat Permanently (From a Personal Trainer)
Learn how to get rid of back fat for good with my expert lifestyle, exercise and nutrition tips.
Eliminating back fat isn’t as simple as doing a few push-ups and calling it a day. And I know firsthand that as we age, our skin loosens and we notice sagging and bra bulge. Let me give you practical information on how to deal with back fat and the best way to get rid of it.
Here are my favorite tips for how to get rid of back fat after years of training thousands of women and also dealing with my own aging body:
1. Focus on Nutrition
While you might just want to dive into back fat exercises, the truth is: it starts with your diet.
In an editorial by the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers noted that excess sugar and carbs—not physical inactivity—are primarily to blame for the growing obesity epidemic. No matter how much you move, eating poorly is working against you and it will win every time.
Excess calories, especially those in the form of sugar and unhealthy fats end up as fat on your body, and that includes your back. A healthy diet doesn’t mean starving yourself. The key is to choose healthy, whole foods.
Clean eating includes lots of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats. The choices are wide open!
Walk the perimeter of your local grocer or visit a farmers market just to see your options. If you’re not sure how to start, try our Ultimate Guide to Healthy Eating ebook for a little guidance—we’ve got TONS of tips on how to make clean eating a natural part of your daily life.
2. Do Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardio exercise burns calories. And for fat loss, you need to burn off more calories than you take in. Cardio exercise alone can’t tone your back but it can help you create a calorie deficit which is needed to lose fat.
The CDC recommends 150 minutes of heart pumping cardiovascular exercise a week. There are so many great cardio exercise options available, including these 9 cardio workouts for weight loss that don’t include running!
Here are a few forms of cardio exercise, and their benefits for your back muscles:
Cardiovascular ExerciseExercise BenefitsJumping RopeBurns calories
Tones back musclesSwimmingLow-impact exercise
Full-body workout
Targets back musclesPower Walking Improves cardiovascular endurance
Burns calories
Easy to stay consistent RowingEngages entire back and upper body muscles
Provides cardiovascular workoutHigh-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)Burns calories
Boosts metabolism
Reduces overall body fat
Varying your workouts to include both lower intensity and higher intensity activities helps shake up your stubborn metabolism and get things moving in the right direction toward fat loss. And remember, high intensity doesn’t have to be high impact. You can get your heart rate up while keeping your movements low impact!
3. Strength Train Your Entire Body
We all start to lose about a half pound to a pound of muscle a year after the age of 35 if we aren’t actively replacing it. Yup, there is no magic pill to build or maintain muscle. You have to do it through strength training.
So how do you build muscle? Work the muscles, of course! “Without question, exercise is the most powerful intervention to address muscle loss”, explains Nathan K.LeBrasseur, Ph.D. from the Mayo Clinic.
The best weapon against body fat and to tone and firm up is to strength train your whole body and in this case, when talking about back fat, focus on your back.
And if you become sedentary in your mid life, you will notice weaker back muscles, and a slumping posture. Your best defense against this happening is to work your back muscles.
Check out my 9 favorite back fat exercises to tone and firm your back!
A few things about muscle you should know:
Muscle tissue is active. The more muscle you have, the more efficient your body is at burning calories even at a resting heart rate.
While spot-reducing fat doesn’t work, spot sculpting does. When you lose body fat, you shed it all over your body. But you can spot train certain muscle groups to tone that specific area. If you want a stronger more defined back, work the muscles in your back and firm up that bra bulge.
4. Stand Up Tall
Standing tall with your shoulders back and lower abs pulled in tight will make you look both taller and leaner all over. And, if posture is really a problem for you, try Pilates!
Pilates is another form of strength training that is a method. Pilates teaches you to engage your core, strengthen your lower back, practice good posture and keep your back and shoulders stable and strong. Professional athletes everywhere have learned the wonders of Pilates.
Get started with a few of my pilates workouts:
Pilates Exercises for Beginners
5 Pilates Moves to Sculpt Your Core
You can also use postural exercises that specifically target the back muscles and improve posture:
Postural ExerciseExercise BenefitsBird DogStabilizes the core and strengthens the back muscles, promoting good posture.SupermanTones the back muscles and improves overall spinal alignment.Bridge PoseStrengthens the glutes and core, supporting proper posture and reducing back fat.PlankEngages the entire core and back muscles, improving stability and posture.
5. Make Better Lifestyle Choices
Along with nutrition and exercise, there are numerous lifestyle changes you can make to improve your efforts to strengthen and tone your back.
These suggestions will help you follow healthy habits and crush your daily routine:
Get Enough Sleep: Getting enough sleep impacts your overall health and wellbeing. Follow my science-backed tips for getting better sleep to avoid hormonal imbalances that can cause unhealthy cravings and upset your body’s natural fat-burning process.
Manage Your Stress. Chronic stress can negatively impact your body’s ability to lose fat (including back fat). Use my favorite stress reducing strategies like meditation, breathing exercises, daily yoga practice, and regular exercise to minimize the amount or cortisol released into your body.
Avoid Excessive Alcohol. Alcohol drinks are usually high in calories, sugar, and other unhealthy ingredients. Plus, you may not make the best nutrition choices when partaking. Consider reducing your alcohol intake to help your back fat reduction efforts.
Drink More Water. Drinking enough water every day supports your overall health, and your fitness goals. Water helps flush toxins from your body, aids in digestion, and helps control appetite. Use my favorite tips to drink more water every day to get your 8 glasses!
Whether it’s something that’s always bothered you or a new frustration that has appeared with age, doing everything to get rid of back fat can be a serious pain.
If you follow my tips to tone your back, you’ll feel more confident, lose weight, and most importantly, gain strength for more flexibility and mobility to do the things you love to do!