How To Lose Back Fat

When people want to lose weight and get the body that they want, one of the first things that comes to mind is how to lose back fat. Once they determine to start the journey, they might search “how to lose back fat”, or “back fat exercises”. They may also start on a new routine and diet that’ll probably last a couple weeks at best. This typically happens due to a crash diet and an unorganized routine of random exercises that they found on the internet. They think that exercises that target the area will help them lose back fat.

However, this strategy never works. First, crash dieting almost never works. It leaves you more hungry and may cause overeating afterward. Secondly, doing exercises to target an area of fat (this is called spot reduction) does not actually make the fat go away in that area. It only builds strength and muscle there, which make it look more “toned,” and can be good for fat loss in the long run, but I will get back to this later. For now, let’s get into why spot reduction doesn’t work and what to do to lose back fat, or any fat that you want to lose.

Spot Reduction Doesn’t Help Lose Back Fat

To beat a dead horse real quick, spot reduction doesn’t work. Anecdotally, you and I both know this. We’ve all tried this tactic. Truly, it is tried and true that you’ll end up frustrated. This leaves you to want to quit fitness altogether. Until the next New Years of course. However, your genetics do determine where the fat distributes around your body, and if it’s in an undesirable place, you’ll have to just lose overall weight and see it go slowly. This brings us to our next point.

What Contributes To Back Fat

Overall Fat and Genetics– As I’ve said before, your genetics will determine the distribution of your body fat. Also, If you have excess body fat in places you don’t want, chances are you probably have more fat lose than you think
Activity Level- If you are overweight and not in the shape that you like, there’s a good chance that your activity levels are low
Diet- This is the main one. You can’t beat physics. You can’t beat the laws of thermodynamics. If you are struggling with excess body fat, then you are consuming more energy than your body is using daily. Thankfully, there are ways to reverse this.

How To Actually Lose Back Fat

Calorie Deficit- The true way on how to lose back fat is to lose overall fat. The best and truest way to do so is to lose the calories. Or take in less energy than your body needs daily. You could also do this with activity. Including activity boosts your metabolism to burn more calories. However, doing a combination of both is what I would recommend. What you’ll need to do is figure out what you’re eating daily and how much. Simply track everything you consume for the next one to three weeks to see any trends in your diet. Then make better decisions with your food. For example, if you find that you like to eat out a lot out of convenience, and you enjoy McDonalds, why not choose Chipotle where you’ll see the calories and have better macros? Better yet, make a simple and delicious meal at home that is lower calories. However, the simplest way is to eliminate most or all processed foods out of your diet. This will cause an automatic reduction of 500-600 calories. There are thousands of lower calorie version recipes online that you can find. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring.
Build Muscle- If you are serious about losing back fat, or overall fat, you should build muscle. Not only does fat look better over muscle, making the area look more “toned,” but building muscle builds up your metabolism. This allows you to eat more calories while maintaining your desired body fat and overall look. However, don’t let this excite you too much. This is a long process. It won’t be days or weeks, or even short months. It takes a long process of months or years to build up your metabolism to help you lose fat quicker, with less effort. But this result is only earned through the hard work of building muscle and getting overall stronger. Case in point, if you want to look your best and lose body fat quicker in the long run, get bigger and stronger. And don’t worry, muscles take a long time to grow and you won’t wake up accidentally jacked, as you behold your hulking body in the mirror when you reach for the toothbrush.
Daily Walks- An easy way to get in some activity is to go for daily walks. Preferably, 5k-10k steps per day. You can do this by pacing your living room while on FaceTime. Parking further away in the parking lot will also be helpful. Maybe walk for 5-10 minutes after meals, go for walks during work break (physical activity is shown to be a good use for breaks). Or just plain old intentionally scheduling walking time into your day. This is an easy way to cut out 200-500 calories per day without raising your appetite.

Summary

To sum up the best way on how to lose back fat, you’ll simply want to lose fat overall and build muscle. Truly, there is nothing magical, no secret pill, no “new and revolutionary” way to lose fat in a particular area. The one and only way is to consume less energy than you need per day and build muscle. If you do this, you will get the result that you want in the long run. However, if you want a full training plan, here is a free guide and easy way to start.