Is that pesky lower back fat holding you back from slipping in the trendy super low-cut pant styles? Does the thought of excess fat under your shirt or even worse, hanging over your pants gross you out? Maybe you want to get into that backless dress or shirt, but feel too self conscious because stupid lower back fat.
For a lot of people back fat is very hard to get rid of and is usually that last area to come off, ruining your overall image. Due to poor posture and a sedentary lifestyle low back fat is becoming a problem for more and more people today. It can be so hard to target in your workouts even though our backs are a major muscle group and are worked practically every time we move.
In order to get rid of lower back fat you must reduce your overall body fat. You cannot target fat loss to a specific area, but by reducing your body fat percentage you can get rid of it. The three key ingredients for getting rid of lower back fat are: diet, strength training, and aerobic exercise. This may not be what you wanted to hear, but it is the truth. In order to reduce your body fat you must have a good diet, and do aerobic exercise.
Muscle is the best natural fat burner you have, so by building muscle you will burn fat and define your muscle for a great looking lower back. You can have the body that you want, but it will take some work.
First Step: Diet
The biggest way to control your body fat percentage is your diet. Don?t worry; I?m not going to tell you that you can only eat lettuce and carrots. I?m also not going to ask you to cut everything that tastes good out of your diet. I am however going to tell you to practice moderation! One or two cookies are okay, seven is not and it is possible to eat only one slice of pizza!
The key to a good diet, one that will melt fat, is moderation and counting those calories. Your diet should have about 60% carbohydrates, 35% protein, and no more than 15% fat. Easy ways to do this are to make sure that you are eating foods that have these proportions naturally. Start replacing any white foods (white bread, plain pasta, white rice) with brown foods (whole wheat bread, pasta, and brown rice). Also make sure you are getting plenty of vegetables.
At meals fill your plate 2/3 with vegetables and 1/3 with lean protein (white meat chicken or turkey, and fish). Remember moderation. An 8? or 9? plate is a lot more diet appropriate than a 12? plate. Also, it can take your body 15 minutes to tell your mind you?re full, so wait before you have that second helping.
Second Step: Strength Training
Strength training is important when it comes to getting rid of lower back fat. This is your chance to focus on your lower back and do target exercises to firm up your lower back. A great exercise for you to do is back extensions. You can do these on a stability ball, bench, or extension machine.
Strength training doesn?t have to be done in a gym; it can be done at home. If you are unsure of what to do, there are a lot of great fitness books out there that will guide through exercises and diet. Another reason to do strength training is that a pound of muscle burns 10 more calories than a pound of fat without you doing any extra work! The more muscle you have the more fat you can burn!
Step Three: Aerobic Exercise
The first and second steps are very important, but you are never going to be able to get rid of lower back fat without aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise burns fat; there is no way to get around it. Again, it does not have to be done in a gym.
Find an activity that you like, that elevates your heart rate, and do it for about an hour, five days a week. Walk, run, play tennis, bike, shoot hoops, whatever it takes to get you moving and your heart rate elevated. Another plus to aerobic exercise is, it raises you caloric limit for the day. If you cheated during lunch, and you?re counting the calories, you can make it up during your cardio session.
