If you have suddenly seen yourself from behind and have noticed unsightly back fat, then you will be wanting to get rid of it. Back fat is a sign that you are carrying too much extra weight all over your body and recent studies have shown that this middle fat can been linked to diabetes and heart disease. So, not only is back fat unattractive, it is unhealthy. Lets look at ways of getting rid of it!
Diet
In order to reduce back fat, you need to reduce all over body fat. If you have back fat, then chances are that you need to burn fat from your stomach and thighs too. So let’s start with diets for quick weight loss. People with a build up of fat in certain areas can often have a very healthy diet but are eating all of the wrong foods. The best diets that work fast involve metabolic typing.
This means choosing foods which your body metabolises quickly so that the food is not turned into fat. There are 3 different metabolism types: Protein Types, Carbohydrate types and Mixed Type. If you are a Protein Type, but most of your daily food intake is carbohydrate (no matter how healthy) then you will store fat. When looking for diets that work fast, choose one which takes into account metabolic typing.
Also, choose a plan which will change your eating for life. Fad diets like the Special k diet, yoplait diet or the Hollywood Cookie Diet are short term fixes which will not reduce back fat long term. Diets which educate you about food, and make eating healthy easy are the best. See below for the diet plans for women that I personally recommend.
Back Fat Exercises
If you are looking for quick fix back fat exercises, sadly you are wasting your
time. Just as you cannot choose where your body stores excess fat, nor can you spot reduce fat from any particular area. You could spend hours in the gym doing numerous back exercises, but if your back has a covering of fat, you will not even get to see the lovely muscles which lay beneath the covering of back fat.
The back fat exercises that you need to focus on are general calorie burning exercises. If you work hard enough, fat will come off your whole body leaving you leaner all over. As a personal trainer I am always being asked about back fat exercises, and I always have the same answer. First, reduce the fat from your body, and then focus on toning up the muscles.
In order to burn back fat and all over body fat, I recommend a mixture of cardio workouts and weight bearing exercise. Cardio means anything that increases your heart rate, whether it be brisk walking, jogging, swimming, running or aerobics classes. Weight training exercises are an excellent way to reduce fat,
because weight training boosts your metabolism and you continue to burn calories long after your workout has finished. The best mixture of weight training and cardio exercises can be found here (Truth about Abs).
Back Fat Bra
Back fat bra fat can be a problem for women. While you are on your quest for reducing back fat with diet and exercise, consider what you are wearing. If you have back fat bra fat don’t wear tight fitting stretch fabric tops. Choose linen tops which do not cling and make sure that they are not too tight. Vest are also available with ‘shelf bras’ which support the breasts from the front keeping the back of the vest streamlined. These vests are excellent to wear as an undergarment.
Back Fat Workouts
Once you have reduced your overall body fat by using one of the diets for quick weight loss which I recommend, then you will be ready to tone up and create a muscular back by doing back fat workouts. I really recommend that you a join a gym from this point, so that you can use good quality weight training equipment, or also get the advice of a qualified personal trainer.
It is easy to injure yourself while weight training if you don’t know what you are
doing and back fat work outs can be technical. As I mentioned earlier, fitness expert Mike Geary has written a brilliant book with an exercise plan which comes complete with colour pictures detailing how to execute weight bearing exercises. His exercises are also designed to increase the heart rate, giving a weight training AND aerobic workout. It is awesome and has a money back guarantee!
Exercises That I recommend as Back Fat Workouts
Barbell Bent Over Dead Row
Bend knees slightly and bend over the bar with your the back straight. Grasp bar with shoulder width overhand grip. Pull the bar up towards your waist. Return until arms are extended and shoulders are stretched forward. Repeat ten times.
Inverted Row
Lay on your back under fixed horizontal bar. Grasp the bar with a wide overhand grip. Keeping body straight, pull body up to bar. Return until arms are extended and shoulders are stretched forward. Repeat ten times.
Dumbbell Bent Over Row
Kneel over side of bench by placing knee and hand of supporting arm on a bench. Position the foot of your opposite leg slightly back to side. Pick up dumbbell from the floor. Pull dumbbell to up to your side until it makes contact with your ribs or until your upper arm is just beyond horizontal. Return until your arm is extended and your shoulder is stretched downward. Repeat and continue with opposite arm. Do ten reps on each side.
As you can tell, these exercises would work best with the help of a trainer. Be careful not to load your weights too high and keep the movements slow.
Finally, remember, back fat will only come off if you use diets that work fast combined with good exercise. The two together will have you in shape in no time, while improving your health and well being. Good luck.
