How To Lose Back Fat: Is It Possible? (2024)

“The concept of targeted fat loss—the idea of shedding excess weight from specific areas of the body such as your face, back or arms—is a persistent myth,” says Daryl Gioffre, D.C., a board-certified chiropractor, functional nutritionist and founder of Alkamind. That’s because the body utilizes fat cells uniformly throughout your body, he explains.

Here’s a breakdown on how fat is stored and used by the body:

• Adipocytes: Body fat (adipose) is a loose type of connective tissue that is primarily composed of adipocytes, or fat cells. Visceral fat is stored around the organs, in the breast tissue and inside the bone marrow, and subcutaneous fat is stored under the skin.
• Triglycerides: Most of the fat in your body is stored within adipocytes as triglycerides that can be released when energy is needed. When we lose fat, adipocytes release triglycerides into the bloodstream for energy, causing them to shrink.

Exactly where you store fat varies based on several factors, including:

• Gender: Men typically have more visceral fat (leading to fat storage around the midsection), while women usually store more subcutaneous fat in the butt and thigh region.
• Genetics: Fat storage is thought to be related to genetics, so where you store fat may be similar to your family members.
• Hormones: Testosterone, estrogen and cortisol levels can influence fat storage.
• Age: Body fat tends to increase with age.

“When you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll likely notice the most significant changes where you tend to store the most fat,” says Dr. Gioffre. That’s because those areas house a greater number of fat cells, he explains.

“Engaging in targeted exercises to tone and sculpt particular body regions can be effective for building muscle and enhancing their overall appearance,” says Dr. Gioffre. He notes that losing body fat requires a comprehensive approach.

“A combination of proper nutrition, regular exercise and healthy lifestyle choices can make a significant difference in improving overall body composition,” says Andrew White, a certified personal trainer based in Nevada City, California and owner of Garage Gym Pro.

Like excess body fat in other areas, back fat primarily results from an imbalance between calorie intake and expenditure, says Alex McBrairty, a certified personal trainer based in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, and owner of A-Team Fitness. In other words, consuming more calories than your body needs leads to fat storage.

Other factors that play a role in excess body fat include:

• Genetics
• Hormones
• Inactivity
• Age
• Stress
• Poor sleep
• Certain illnesses and medications

To support fat loss, focus on these specific nutrition goals:

Create a caloric deficit: Eat fewer calories than you burn, advises McBrairty. He recommends a sustainable deficit of 500 to 750 calories per day. “Calorie calculators can help factor in age, current weight and activity levels to give you a starting calorie goal to work with,” he says.

Protein intake: Ensure you’re getting enough protein, ideally around 0.8 to 1 gram per pound of body weight, advises McBrairty. “Protein helps preserve lean muscle mass during weight loss, boosting metabolism and aiding in the process of shedding excess body fat.”

Eat a balanced diet rich in nutrients: Prioritize whole foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains while minimizing processed foods and sugary beverages, recommends White.

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In addition to eating in a caloric deficit to lose body fat, you can perform exercises to tone or strengthen the back muscles. Here are White and McBrairty’s top picks:

1. Pull-Ups

White recommends pull-ups to target the upper back muscles.

1. Start by hanging from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip and hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Engage your shoulder blades and pull your body up until your chin is above the bar.
3. Slowly lower yourself down until your arms are straight.
4. Repeat for three sets of eight to 12 repetitions (reps).

2. LAT Pulldowns

This exercise works the largest muscle in the back, the latissimus dorsi. McBrairty explains how to perform the movement using a lat pulldown machine:

1. Grip the bar above your head with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Pull the bar down to your chest, engaging your lats (the broad muscles under your shoulder blades).
3. Slowly release the bar back up to the starting position.
4. Perform three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

3. Seated Rows

To work your upper back and lats, McBrairty suggests using a cable machine to do seated rows:

1. Sit with your knees slightly bent and your back and neck straight.
2. Grip the handles with your palms facing each other, bracing your core and pulling toward your torso while squeezing your shoulder blades together.
3. With control, return to the starting position.
4. Perform three sets of 12 to 15 reps.

4. Face Pulls

This exercise targets the upper back, says White.

1. Attach a rope handle to a cable machine, positioning the cable slightly above your head.
2. Hold the rope with both hands, palms facing each other and thumbs toward you.
3. Pull the rope toward your face with your toes pointed straight ahead, squeezing your shoulder blades together.
4. Slowly return to the starting position.
5. Repeat for three sets of 12 to 15 reps.

5. Bent-Over Rows

To work the whole back, White suggests doing bent-over rows with dumbbells.

1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
2. With a slight bend in your knees, lean forward from the hips, keeping your back straight.
3. Pull the dumbbells toward your waist (just below the chest), squeezing your shoulder blades together.
4. Lower the dumbbells to the starting position.
5. Repeat for three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

6. Cardio

To maintain your weight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity per week; however, for weight loss, more may be needed^[1]Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed 9/1/23. .

White recommends combining low-intensity steady-state (LISS) cardio and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into your workout routine for best results.

• LISS is consistent, lower-intensity exercise, like jogging or cycling, for an extended period, says White. He recommends performing LISS for 30 to 60 minutes, three to five times a week.
• HIIT is short, intense bursts of exercise followed by lower-intensity periods, says White. He says an example of HIIT is repeating 30-second sprints followed by 30 seconds of walking, recommending 15 to 30 minutes two to three times a week.

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“Everyone suffers stubborn body fat, those areas which, no matter what you do, you can’t seem to get rid of. It’s easy to fall into the trap of targeting specific areas for spot reduction, but unfortunately the process doesn’t work this way,” says McBrairty.

In addition to diet and exercise, McBrairty suggests these lifestyle modifications to lose excess body fat:

• Stress management: Practice stress-reduction techniques like recreational sports, meditation, yoga or journaling to keep cortisol and appetite levels in check.
• Adequate sleep: Aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night to support hormonal balance, exercise recovery and appetite regulation.
• Hydration: Stay hydrated, as water is crucial for metabolic processes and can help control appetite.
• Limit alcohol: Alcohol consumption can hinder fat loss by leading to excessive calorie consumption.

“The good news is this: as long as you have a structured plan and stick with it long enough, you will begin to lose body fat,” says McBrairty. With enough time, you can eventually lose stubborn body fat from any part of the body, including your back