Diet & Fitness Blog
Ask Raphael: Reduce Back Flab
Thursday, August 27, 2009
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Have a question about your routine or anything fitness-related? Send it Raphael's way at askraphael@ediets.com.
Hi Raphael,
I have been going to the gym for 3 days a week for about 11 months now. My back fat has not really gone down. What exercise can I do to eliminate my back fat?
It looks ugly and seems like I have breast on my back. I am a 49-year-old woman that wants to slim down totally. I am 5’3” and weigh 160 pounds. I tend to carry all of my fat on my upper body.
What exercises are best for my type of body? I want to go down to 145 pounds before I hit 50 years. I understand it is a lot harder the older you get. Please advise. Thanks -- Terry C.
Terry,
Your back flab will reduce as your overall body fat reduces. There isn’t an exercise in and of itself that will eliminate flab on your back. As your weight reduces from 160 to 150 to 140 and so on, you'll see your back fat reduce as well. That’s the way it works.
Part of what you require is someone to explain how the process works. The key components that will assist you are the following:
- Strength training
- Cardiovascular exercise
- Nutritional consistency that places you in a slight calorie deficit.
Strength training with weights will help stimulate your metabolism and accelerate fat loss. However, the weights must be challenging. A lot of people think they can walk into the gym and use light weights. This is a mistake if someone is interested in turning their metabolism into a fat-burning machine.
I’m not suggesting you need to use impossibly heavy weights. I recommend only that the weight be heavy enough that you can't perform more than 12 reps but not so heavy that you perform fewer than 8. Let that be your guideline.
I assume you’re working with weights three days per week using a total body workout. If so, that would be ideal for you based on your goals and experience. I also recommend that your strength-training workout take no more than 40-45 brisk minutes.
As far as cardiovascular exercise, I recommend increasing to four days per week for 35-40 minutes. If you're using a heart rate monitor, work in the 70%-75% target heart rate range. If you don’t use a monitor, then after a 5-minute warm up, work at an intensity where you could have a conversation but would choose not to because it would be slightly uncomfortable. Then cool down for 5-10 minutes.
The last and very important part of the plan is nutritional consistency, and this cannot be overemphasized. It’s not just about eating healthy foods -- it’s also about a specific calorie amount per day and making sure that amount is in a slight calorie deficit (less than maintenance calories) to help you to lose 1-2 pounds per week.
You didn’t mention if you’ve lost body fat over the last 11 months. If you haven’t, then I suspect something needs to be revised with your nutrition plan or eating patterns. If you have not been successful, then please consider eDiets as a solution. We have registered dietitians who can assist you, and I can also help you on my Exercise and Fitness support board.
You made a point about it being harder to lose fat as one gets older. The reason this happens is that people generally lose about 1 percent of their lean muscle mass per year after age 40.
However, that loss will slow down if someone is working out with weights! Losing muscle mass slows the rate of the metabolism and that’s a part of what makes losing fat more difficult as people age. So that’s why I always recommend using challenging weights no matter what your age.
As you can see, I haven't provided you one specific exercise to reduce back flab. Nor have I provided exercises based on your body type. If I did, I’d be lying to you. The key to your success is the system I outline above. There’s no secret about it and no magical exercise. It’s all about being consistent with the parameters above and looking for a 1-2 pound loss per week.
Some weeks will be a little slower with respect to fat loss and some a little faster. Again though, I encourage you to join eDiets or use a nutrition plan designed by a professional. This will take the guess work out of it.
As far as the muscles of the back, I recommend including a vast array of exercises such as dumbbell rows, lat pulldowns, machine rows and back extensions. However, these exercises will impact the muscle of the back and not the fat. Once your total body fat is reduced, you’ll see a firmer look to your back because of these exercises.
Teri, the important thing to remember is that you can reduce back flab. It can be done with consistency of effort and a solid plan. Good luck and don’t give up!
Have a fitness question you want answered? Email Raphael at askraphael@ediets.com and you could have your question picked! And if you missed a previous column, see the archive here.
Make NOW your time to do something about your weight. eDiets can help make weight loss a little easier. Let our nutritionists and fitness pros guide you! Click here to find out more and save big!
Hi Raphael,
I have been going to the gym for 3 days a week for about 11 months now. My back fat has not really gone down. What exercise can I do to eliminate my back fat?
It looks ugly and seems like I have breast on my back. I am a 49-year-old woman that wants to slim down totally. I am 5’3” and weigh 160 pounds. I tend to carry all of my fat on my upper body.
What exercises are best for my type of body? I want to go down to 145 pounds before I hit 50 years. I understand it is a lot harder the older you get. Please advise. Thanks -- Terry C.
Terry,
Your back flab will reduce as your overall body fat reduces. There isn’t an exercise in and of itself that will eliminate flab on your back. As your weight reduces from 160 to 150 to 140 and so on, you'll see your back fat reduce as well. That’s the way it works.
Part of what you require is someone to explain how the process works. The key components that will assist you are the following:
- Strength training
- Cardiovascular exercise
- Nutritional consistency that places you in a slight calorie deficit.
Strength training with weights will help stimulate your metabolism and accelerate fat loss. However, the weights must be challenging. A lot of people think they can walk into the gym and use light weights. This is a mistake if someone is interested in turning their metabolism into a fat-burning machine.
I’m not suggesting you need to use impossibly heavy weights. I recommend only that the weight be heavy enough that you can't perform more than 12 reps but not so heavy that you perform fewer than 8. Let that be your guideline.
I assume you’re working with weights three days per week using a total body workout. If so, that would be ideal for you based on your goals and experience. I also recommend that your strength-training workout take no more than 40-45 brisk minutes.
As far as cardiovascular exercise, I recommend increasing to four days per week for 35-40 minutes. If you're using a heart rate monitor, work in the 70%-75% target heart rate range. If you don’t use a monitor, then after a 5-minute warm up, work at an intensity where you could have a conversation but would choose not to because it would be slightly uncomfortable. Then cool down for 5-10 minutes.
The last and very important part of the plan is nutritional consistency, and this cannot be overemphasized. It’s not just about eating healthy foods -- it’s also about a specific calorie amount per day and making sure that amount is in a slight calorie deficit (less than maintenance calories) to help you to lose 1-2 pounds per week.
You didn’t mention if you’ve lost body fat over the last 11 months. If you haven’t, then I suspect something needs to be revised with your nutrition plan or eating patterns. If you have not been successful, then please consider eDiets as a solution. We have registered dietitians who can assist you, and I can also help you on my Exercise and Fitness support board.
You made a point about it being harder to lose fat as one gets older. The reason this happens is that people generally lose about 1 percent of their lean muscle mass per year after age 40.
However, that loss will slow down if someone is working out with weights! Losing muscle mass slows the rate of the metabolism and that’s a part of what makes losing fat more difficult as people age. So that’s why I always recommend using challenging weights no matter what your age.
As you can see, I haven't provided you one specific exercise to reduce back flab. Nor have I provided exercises based on your body type. If I did, I’d be lying to you. The key to your success is the system I outline above. There’s no secret about it and no magical exercise. It’s all about being consistent with the parameters above and looking for a 1-2 pound loss per week.
Some weeks will be a little slower with respect to fat loss and some a little faster. Again though, I encourage you to join eDiets or use a nutrition plan designed by a professional. This will take the guess work out of it.
As far as the muscles of the back, I recommend including a vast array of exercises such as dumbbell rows, lat pulldowns, machine rows and back extensions. However, these exercises will impact the muscle of the back and not the fat. Once your total body fat is reduced, you’ll see a firmer look to your back because of these exercises.
Teri, the important thing to remember is that you can reduce back flab. It can be done with consistency of effort and a solid plan. Good luck and don’t give up!
Have a fitness question you want answered? Email Raphael at askraphael@ediets.com and you could have your question picked! And if you missed a previous column, see the archive here.
Make NOW your time to do something about your weight. eDiets can help make weight loss a little easier. Let our nutritionists and fitness pros guide you! Click here to find out more and save big!
Labels: ask raphael, back flab, dieting, fitness, nutrition, workout
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