How to Lose Upper Back Fat with Exercise And Diet

Losing body fat from just specific parts of the body is not possible. It’s necessary to lose overall fat to lose back fat (1).

Several reasons for obesity include genetics, lack of exercise, etc. In this article, we have described the different causes of upper back fat and how to lose upper back fat through exercise and diet. Various exercises can help tone your upper back;  however, the approach that uses a combination of diet and exercise to reduce overall body fat also reduces the fat around the back.

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There are also lifestyle changes, like getting enough sleep, preparing your food ahead of time, and increasing the amount of cardio you do during each workout session, that can make losing your back fat a lot easier. To lose upper body fat you should follow a diet that is calorie deficient, has low sodium content, and is rich in fiber and combine it with exercise.

In overweight individuals, it is necessary to add dietary changes as well with exercises to get desired effects and significant weight loss (2).

What Causes Upper Back Fat?

Upper body fat distribution in obesity is closely linked with metabolic complexities (3).  A lack of cardio exercise or a sedentary lifestyle can also contribute to back fat. Inactivity is the main cause of obesity rather than overeating. There is a study from Uppsala University that has found that genetic factors have a great influence on where you store fat in your body (4). Genes affect weight fluctuation in many ways. Genes can contribute to obesity by affecting appetite, metabolism, body-fat distribution, and the individual's tendency to use eating as a way to manage stress. Study shows that being overweight and obese is closely linked with genetics and environmental factors (5).

The intake of excess sodium can also cause weight gain by retaining water in the body. Besides this, stress, lack of sleep, and medications also cause bloating and weight gain. Also, drastic changes in diet patterns like taking meals at different times that are out of your daily routine may disturb your food metabolism and lead to obesity (6).

How to Lose Upper Back Fat with Exercise?

The fat that accumulates on the chest and back (also referred to as upper trunk fat) is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance, and poor glucose tolerance (7), (8). Therefore it’s necessary to get rid of it. Fat loss occurs when the amount of energy you are expending is greater than the energy consumed (9). Performing back fat workouts will help you lose upper back fat as exercising can promote weight loss. This in turn decreases insulin resistance, which is characteristic of obesity (10). A sufficient amount of evidence from randomized clinical trials is also present that shows that adding an exercise program to your weight loss program will result in extra weight loss (11).

A systematic review also shows that if you increase the level of your physical activity, it will have a positive effect on your fat loss (12). When the body is under exercise training, fatty acid oxidation is increased, and the fatty acid is converted to carbon dioxide in the consumption of oxygen. Therefore, the body burns fat with exercise (13). Suitable exercises for upper body fat include cardio workouts as well as strength training programs which help build and tone muscles in the upper trunk.