Many people are so preoccupied with their fat gut, chubby thighs or flabby arms, they don’t even think about fat in the back as being a problem. The one exception I often encounter is women who are aware that they have unsightly rolls of fat spilling from under their bra straps, and want to do something about it.
Men and women both, though, can improve their looks tremendously by developing a well-toned back. As with excess fat anywhere, reducing back fat will also be good for your health.
There are exercises you can do with inexpensive dumbbells that will help you sculpt an attractive back, one you will be proud to show to the world. You ladies might even be tempted to start wearing that low-backed party dress again.
Before I describe these “dumb” exercises for your back, understand that, technically, fat cannot be spot-reduced. If you have rolls of fat on your back, it means you have too much fat on your body, period. You should combine dieting and cardiovascular exercise to burn off fat all around, then use the dumbbell exercises to strengthen and define your back muscles.
One of the many low-carb diets may work for you. But I prefer for people to adopt a fat-losing diet that takes into account their unique physiology, nutritional requirements, body type and lifestyle. Such an individualized diet plan is not often found in the mass-marketed diet books, but there are resources on the Internet that can help you develop one for yourself.
To educate yourself on what fat is, how you accumulate it, and how to tailor a diet and exercise program that will maximize fat loss for your individual circumstances, there’s a great e-book available you can download from the Web. I’ve reviewed this e-book elsewhere and it gets my highest recommendation.
Now, to those dumbbell exercises for your back …
The “Dumb” Deadlift: You should be standing with your feet a few inches apart from one another. Grasping a dumbbell in each hand, arms at your sides, bend forward from your hips until the dumbbells are in front of your ankles. Tense your lower body, then raise yourself back to a standing position, keeping the weights hanging down at arm’s length. Repeat at least a dozen times. Do two to three sets of this exercise, resting 30 seconds between sets.
The deadlift works the latissimus dorsi muscles, commonly called the lats, the largest muscles of the back. Well developed lats will make your waist appear smaller while creating a tight looking back.
The deadlift also works the erector spinae, a group of muscles supporting the spinal column. Developing the erectors will make your lower back look more attractive.
But wait, there’s more! The deadlift also works the gluteal muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps, trapezius, obliques, abdominals and forearms. It is truly a great all-around exercise.
The “Dumb” Power Clean: Place two dumbbells on the floor next to each other and stand just behind them. Bend your knees and squat, grabbing a dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip. Stand up, bringing the dumbbells off the floor and allowing them to settle near the fronts of your hips. Quickly, “shrug” the dumbbells up to chest height while you rise up on your toes, then bend your knees a little in order to get “below” the weights (the dumbbells should rest across the front of your shoulders). Pause, then perform the same steps in reverse as you return the weights to the floor. Do 12 repetitions, rest 30 seconds, then do 12 more repetitions.
The power clean is another great multiple-muscle exercise, working the lower back along with the thighs, hips, trapezius, abdominals, shoulders, forearms and biceps.
The “Dumb” One-Arm Row: Stand with your right side to an exercise bench or some other low, stable surface. Take a dumbbell in your left hand. Bending at the waist, rest your right hand and knee on the bench and let your left arm (holding the weight) hang straight down. Slowly lift the dumbbell up close to your body until it reaches your chest. Then lower it until your left arm is straight again. Repeat at least 12 times. After this set, switch sides, holding the dumbbell in your right hand to work your right arm.
The one-arm row works the middle back and the lats. It also works the rhomboid muscles, which originate on the spinal column and attach to the middle part of the scapula. The job of the rhomboids is to aid squeezing the shoulder blades together. If you develop them even a little, they will help your back to look fabulous.
The “Dumb” Pullover: Lie flat on an exercise bench with your butt resting on the very end and your feet flat on floor. Take a dumbbell and hold it with both hands as high above your chest as you can. With elbows slightly bent, slowly lower the dumbbell backward over your head until you feel a stretch in your sides. Then slowly bring the dumbbell back up until it’s again high up over your chest. Repeat 12 to 15 times.
The pullover works the upper back. It also works the lower pectorals and triceps.
Denny Waldarmo is a fitness coach who writes on exercise and diet topics. If you are seriously interested in losing fat, you owe it to yourself to read his recent review of one of the best downloadable e-books on the subject:
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