Back fat is benign when it comes to your overall well-being, but it can cause moments of embarrassment and self-consciousness. This is compounded when the fat hangs over the bra strap area. Losing this fat takes the right medley of exercises combined with a slight adjustment to your diet. Cardio and toning exercises will allow you to drop weight and strengthen your back.
Step 1
Reduce your caloric intake to make your body burn fat for energy. As a rule of thumb, a daily reduction of 500 to 1,000 calories will produce about 1 to 2 lbs. of weight loss every week. This will be seen in your back and throughout the rest of your body. Find your starting average by tracking your calories for three days, add up the total and divide by three.
Step 2
Step onto an elliptical machine to do cardio. Ellipticals offer a good one-two punch because they burn calories while working the muscles in your bra strap area. Start your workouts with a light warmup, then interval train by alternating back and forth from high to low intensity for 30 to 45 minutes. Finish with a light cooldown and work out three days a week on alternating days. Interval training boosts your caloric expenditure and promotes faster progress. Choose another form of cardio if you do not have access to an elliptical machine, such as running, biking, swimming, rowing, kickboxing or jumping rope. All forms of cardio are effective as long as you work out on a regular basis.
Step 3
Sit on the seat of a lat pulldown machine to do lat pulldowns. These work the upper latissimus dorsi muscles and rhomboids which sit between the shoulder blades. Adjust the padded support so it sits tightly on your thighs and grab the bar overhead with a wide, overhand grip. Lean back slightly and keep your back still as you pull the bar down to your chest. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold for a second. Raise the bar back up and repeat.
Step 4
Grab a set of dumbbells to do bent over rows. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the weights in front of your thighs with palms facing your body. Bend forward at the waist, slightly bend your knees and let the weights hang straight down. Keep your back still as you pull the weights up to your lower stomach. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold for a second. Lower the dumbbells back down and repeat.
Step 5
Perform a set of reverse flys with dumbbells. Lie face-down across a stability ball and hold dumbbells in your hands with your palms facing the ball. Lift your torso up to form a straight line from your shoulders to your heels and move the weights out at your sides with your palms facing down. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold this position for a second. Lower yourself back down as you move the weights to the starting point and repeat.
Step 6
Lie face-down on the floor to do a "T" raise. Move your arms out to your sides so your body forms a "T" shape, make fists and extend your thumbs up in the air. Raise your arms up to your sides as high as possible and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Hold for a second, slowly lower your arms and repeat.
Tips and Warnings
- Perform 10 to 12 reps and do four five sets of your back exercises. Work out three days a week on noncardio days.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Interval Training: Can it Boost Your Calorie Burning Power? Mayo Clinic staff; February, 2010
- "Women's Health" Magazine: Lat Pulldown
- ShapeFit: Middle Back Exercises -- Two Arm Dumbbell Rows
- Exercise-X.com: Swiss Ball Lying Dumb-bell Reverse Fly
- Oprah: The Simple. No-Equipment Workout You Can Do at Home: Floor T Raise; Adam Campbell; June, 2010
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