Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Health & Body › Back fat
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Back fat

post #1 of 27
5/24/09 at 10:04pm
Thread Starter 
Figured I'd see if anybody's had the same issue and beat it. I'm in pretty good shape, can see the outlines of my abs, not flabby any where but my lower back. I eat healthy (lean protein, high fiber) run 4 mi/day, bike 8 mi/day 5 days a week, do lots of pushups and crunches every day, and lift weights (dumbell stuff) 3 days per week. Question is, how do I get rid of that bit of lower back fat?
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 27
5/25/09 at 12:11am
Repeat after me: "you can't spot reduce fat"

With that said, some exercises to target the muscles in the lower back and better develope your core, will help out. Deadlifts being the #1, but there are a few others.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 27
5/25/09 at 12:19am
Lipo.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 27
5/25/09 at 12:43am
Thread Starter 
Lipo's not for me, and I know you can't spot reduce fat. What are some core exercises I could do? Like I said I do crunches, but the only weights I have access to are some dumbells (20/30 lb). Any bodyweight exercises? I read a lot online, but I don't know what's good info and what's bad, so I was hoping somebody here has the experience. I just recently started running so I think increasing my cardio will help, but any other ideas are appreciated. Thanks!
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 27
5/25/09 at 1:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by justinpba View Post
Lipo's not for me, and I know you can't spot reduce fat. What are some core exercises I could do? Like I said I do crunches, but the only weights I have access to are some dumbells (20/30 lb). Any bodyweight exercises? I read a lot online, but I don't know what's good info and what's bad, so I was hoping somebody here has the experience. I just recently started running so I think increasing my cardio will help, but any other ideas are appreciated. Thanks!

Lift HARD (110%) and your metabolism will get jacked, i.e. lifting to failure every set, muscles screaming in agony at the end of the workout, muscles sore for the next few days regardless of being in condition. Legs and back are the biggest muscle groups of the body, so if you had to pick two muscle groups, weightlifting with those groups will get your metabolism jacked up the most.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 27
5/25/09 at 10:29am
30 pound dumbells aren't heavy enough for the more meaningful exercises, but that's not why you have fat in your lower back. You're doing enough exercise now to burn away fat if you stick to a clean diet with the appropriate balance of calories. Results aren't instantaneous; if you just started, giveit a few weeks. If it's still not working, then you're eating too much, the wrong things, or both.

You need to do about 10 variations of crunches to hit all the different core muscles, and good form is more important than the total number. My favorite core exercise is hanging knee lifts with a 20lb weight between my knees. Uphill sprints also hits the core hard along with everything else.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 27
5/25/09 at 8:49pm
An easy solution would be to intake less calories than you need, but sometimes, especially when you're at the 10-15% bf level, your metabolism slows when intake is less than output. Unfortunately, because of this, that simple solution sometimes just doesn't work (hasn't for me). What seems to work for a lot of people is something called the anabolic diet, where you cycle carbs and fats during specified times. I think Kunk might be able to shed some more light on this.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 27
5/26/09 at 2:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stickshift View Post
Lift HARD (110%) and your metabolism will get jacked, i.e. lifting to failure every set, muscles screaming in agony at the end of the workout, muscles sore for the next few days regardless of being in condition. Legs and back are the biggest muscle groups of the body, so if you had to pick two muscle groups, weightlifting with those groups will get your metabolism jacked up the most.

That seems contrary to most of the stuff I've read. I've heard to only lift to failure occasionally. Truth?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taxler View Post
30 pound dumbells aren't heavy enough for the more meaningful exercises, but that's not why you have fat in your lower back. You're doing enough exercise now to burn away fat if you stick to a clean diet with the appropriate balance of calories. Results are instantaneous; if you just started, giveit a few weeks. If it's still not working, then you're eating too much, the wrong things, or both.
You need to do about 10 variations of crunches to hit all the different core muscles, and good form is more important than the total number. My favorite core exercise is hanging knee lifts with a 20lb weight between my knees. Uphill sprints also hits the core hard along with everything else.

I plan on continuing to work out so we'll se how it goes. I don't have access to a pullup bar (or even anything to do pullups on), but I do have time for crunches. What other variations besides regular and obliques (right elbow to left knee and vice versa) could I do? I run on a treadmill (most of my workouts are done at work when I have spare time or while our baby's napping), does sprinting at an incline on the tread have the same affect? If so recommended incline?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dimshum View Post
An easy solution would be to intake less calories than you need, but sometimes, especially when you're at the 10-15% bf level, your metabolism slows when intake is less than output. Unfortunately, because of this, that simple solution sometimes just doesn't work (hasn't for me).

What seems to work for a lot of people is something called the anabolic diet, where you cycle carbs and fats during specified times. I think Kunk might be able to shed some more light on this.


I've read a little about this. Is the diet sustainable for extended periods of time?

Thanks for the input!
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 27
5/26/09 at 5:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by justinpba View Post
I run on a treadmill (most of my workouts are done at work when I have spare time or while our baby's napping), does sprinting at an incline on the tread have the same affect? If so recommended incline?

I don't thinks it's possible to do sprints on a treadmill. If I were limited to that, I would do intervals- 2 min on 5, 1 min on 6, 2 min 5, 1 min 7, 2 min 5, 1 min 8.... When you get to 10, work back down to 5.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 27
5/26/09 at 5:10pm
either sprinting (properly, outside, doing 4-5 wind sprints at 90% capability for 100 yards, you can read on proper technique, you will get jacked doing this)

or fartlek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek)
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 27
5/26/09 at 6:28pm
I like to serve it with eggs and toast.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 27
5/26/09 at 9:48pm
Incorporate deadlifts into your routine.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 27
5/26/09 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prada_Ferragamo View Post
Incorporate deadlifts into your routine.

Back in the day I used to do deadlifts, but it doesn't seem like it would do much good with only 30lbs in each hand. Or would it?
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 27
5/26/09 at 11:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by justinpba View Post
That seems contrary to most of the stuff I've read. I've heard to only lift to failure occasionally. Truth?
You need to be stimulating muscle growth, and what does that the most is heavy lifting. Lifting to failure stimulates growth even more. More muscle mass = higher metabolism.
Quote:
Originally Posted by justinpba View Post
Back in the day I used to do deadlifts, but it doesn't seem like it would do much good with only 30lbs in each hand. Or would it?
No good.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 27
5/26/09 at 11:44pm
I use the olympic bar when I do deadlifts, that way I can use more weights. You can do either straight leg or the standard Romanian deadlifts depending on the muscle groups you are trying to incorporate. But both will help strengthen your core and enhance your lower back.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Health & Body
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Health & Body › Back fat