Pilates guide
Back fat, around your shoulder blades and along your bra line, is ordinary fat under the skin, and it's normal at any size. No Pilates move burns it: no study has found that back exercises take fat off the back, and it changes with your total body fat, through moving more and eating a little less.
What Pilates does well is build the back of your body. Swimming, the swan and planks work the muscles under the fat, and a band row adds the pull the mat lacks. Posture and a bra that fits change how a back looks; neither changes how much fat it holds.
This guide covers what back fat is and why folds sit where they do, what posture and bra fit change, what the evidence shows, the moves worth doing, the lumps and humps that need a GP rather than a workout, and a week built from our classes. Nothing here promises a particular shape.
It's fat under the skin of your upper back and along your bra line, normal at any size, and where your body keeps fat is largely inherited. Fat under the skin of the trunk falls as total body fat falls, through moving more and eating a little less.
No trial has tested back exercises or Pilates for upper back fat. When adults trained one arm, fat came off both arms equally on MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, and in a Pilates study where skinfolds fell, they fell at the arms and trunk together.
The tissue under the skin is anchored more loosely just below the shoulder blades, which is where back rolls form, and surgeons describe them in slim women too.
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In one study, 85% of 104 women wore a bra that didn't fit, and all 102 UK women referred for breast reduction in another wore the wrong size. A fitting is worth trying before any exercise plan (our suggestion).
Strengthening, not stretching, improved upper-back posture in a review of 23 studies. Pilates helps posture a little, most clearly in teenagers, and no study links posture to back fat.
Swimming, the swan and the double leg kick work the back muscles, and back endurance rose from about 12 to 19 seconds in 8 weeks of reformer classes. The classical mat has no move that pulls against resistance, so add a band row.
Back fat is fat under the skin of the upper back, around the shoulder blades and along the bra line, and above the hips at the back, which joins the love handles. No exercise study has measured back fat by that name: our searches found farm animal, food science and plastic surgery records.
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In dissections for back liposuction, the tissue under the skin was denser over the shoulder blades and lower back and looser just below the shoulder blades, which is where back rolls form; the paper shows severe back rolls in a slim woman with a BMI (body mass index) of 19.2. Surgeons describe folds hanging from places where the skin is anchored, more visible with age or after weight loss, and after a large weight loss back rolls can be loose skin rather than fat.
These are cadaver and surgical studies: they explain where folds sit, not how to change them, and exercise can't change how the skin is anchored (our reading).
The same as fat anywhere: genes, sex, age and hormones. In twins, genes explained 82% to 85% of the differences in trunk fat. At the same BMI, women carried more fat under the skin than men in one MRI study, and in 97 women, more breast fat went with more fat under the skin of the trunk.
A soft lump that moves may be a lipoma, which the NHS says often appears on the shoulders and back and is harmless, but a GP should check any lump. A soft pad of fat at the base of the neck, a rounded upper back and a lipoma can look alike. Fat building up on the neck and upper back while the arms and legs look thin needs a GP: the warning signs are further down.
None of these studies measured back fat. They explain what changes how a back looks.
In 104 Australian women, 85% wore a bra that didn't fit, and trying on several or measuring didn't help them choose. All 102 UK women referred for breast reduction wore the wrong size, nearly all underestimating the band. The traditional tape method overestimated band size in 45 UK women, and in 24 larger-breasted women, 16 still failed a fit check in a professionally fitted bra. The errors run both ways, so check the fit rather than assuming the band is too tight (our reading). These studies are small.
Folds form where the tissue under the skin is loosest, and they happen at many sizes. A band or strap that digs in, or rides up because it doesn't fit, makes them more visible (our reading).
Across 23 studies of 969 healthy people, strengthening improved upper-back and neck posture, and the authors say the evidence doesn't support stretching for it (moderate certainty).
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Across 18 studies, Pilates improved the upper-back curve in children and teenagers at moderate certainty, and the shoulder angle in adults at very low to low certainty. In 103 teenagers with a rounded upper back, 15 minutes of Pilates twice a week for 9 months reduced the curve by 5.6 degrees against a control group. Smaller trials found no change in rounded shoulders in teenage girls or in women's alignment, and only a small change in older adults.
Exercise improved an age-related rounded upper back a little across 24 studies (moderate certainty). In 99 adults over 60, 6 months of spine strengthening reduced the curve by 3 degrees against education, and people felt better about their appearance.
In 48 women, the Pilates stance drew the shoulder blades up to 14 mm closer together than a normal stance. That's a change of position. No study links posture to back fat.
Searches for back fat, bra fat and back rolls in people found plastic surgery and unrelated records, and none tested local training for fat over the shoulder blades. The evidence comes from the limbs: across 13 studies of 1,158 people, training one arm or leg didn't take more fat off it, and in 104 adults who trained one arm, fat came off both arms equally. That review pooled limb studies only, so for the trunk the evidence rests on two small belly trials, which found no local effect.
A circuit study reported a thinner skinfold below the shoulder blade and less fat over the lower back within one group of 14 people, not against the other group, with very wide variation. The one trial that reported more trunk fat loss with ab work measured a DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) trunk region that includes the chest and back, and the waist fell by about 5 cm in both groups, with no difference between them.
The one randomised trial that measured the skinfold below the shoulder blade (8 weeks of Pilates in women with obesity) found changes at the upper arms but not at that site, and its group sizes don't add up: the abstract gives two different numbers. Two uncontrolled studies of experienced women found skinfolds fell at the arms and trunk together. When fat came off with Pilates, it came off everywhere.
Most of these trials are small, several were read only as abstracts, and none measured fat over the back on its own. Our Pilates for love handles guide has the waist trials.
In adult women, body fat percentage didn't change with Pilates (4 studies, 206 women, low certainty). In adults with overweight or obesity, body fat fell against no exercise, at very low to low certainty and with results that varied widely. Mat Pilates was no better than control groups or other exercise in healthy adults, and an umbrella review rated most Pilates meta-analyses low or critically low quality.
Many body-fat results come from bioimpedance scales. In 19 Pilates-trained women, 10 weeks of reformer and Cadillac classes showed less fat on the scales but, on DXA scans, only a rise in arm lean mass.
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In 11 women, swimming, the single leg kick and the double leg kick worked the lower back muscles at 15% to 61% of their maximum, highest in swimming, and swimming worked the latissimus dorsi at about 46% of its maximum in 18 women. Holding the swan worked the upper back more than the basic swan. Face-down arm raises are the best-studied moves for the middle and lower trapezius. All were small lab studies of one session.
Reformer classes 3 times a week for 8 weeks raised back endurance from 11.5 to 18.6 seconds in women with overweight, and 12 reformer sessions raised shoulder-blade and lower-back strength in a pilot study of 24 young women. One trial in the 2026 review of women found more back strength with Pilates. In school pupils, 10 minutes of Pilates twice a week raised back endurance by 19 seconds, which wasn't kept 12 weeks after stopping.
None of the 34 classical mat exercises pulls against resistance (our reading of the list), so a band row adds work for the upper back, as our Pilates for strength and training back fat guides advise.
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Fat under the skin of the trunk falls with total body fat, and no method targets one store. In women losing weight on a diet, breast fat fell along with the fat under the skin of the trunk. Each extra 30 minutes a week of aerobic exercise took about half a kilo off body weight in trials, and more than 150 minutes a week may be needed for a change that matters.
The UK Chief Medical Officers say "Diet is the important factor in weight management". NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) advises against restrictive diets that are nutritionally unbalanced, and the NHS suggests aiming to lose 0.5 to 1 kg a week.
Resistance training trimmed body fat by about 1.5 percentage points across 58 studies, and European obesity experts advise it to keep muscle while you lose weight. The NHS counts Pilates as muscle-strengthening activity: twice a week, with a band row, makes Pilates your strength days.
Back fat is ordinary fat. Nothing about it needs hiding.
In 58 women, 8 weeks of Pilates lowered worry about how others judge your body in women with obesity, and body dissatisfaction fell in an uncontrolled study whose group sizes don't add up. Weak evidence, but strength and how you feel are fair goals.
The NHS lists signs such as spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape, exercising too much, and having very strict habits or routines around food. If that sounds like you, see a GP as soon as you can. You can also talk in confidence to the eating disorder charity Beat: 0808 801 0677 (England), 0808 801 0432 (Scotland), 0808 801 0433 (Wales) or 0808 801 0434 (Northern Ireland), 3pm to 8pm, Monday to Friday.
If you worry a lot about one area of your body, spend a lot of time comparing your looks with other people's, or check or avoid mirrors, it can be body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The NHS says "You should see a GP if you think you might have BDD." You can also refer yourself to NHS talking therapies (our suggestion, from the NHS page).
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In a survey of 2,287 young adults, women who did yoga or Pilates had disordered eating as often as those who didn't, and men who did them reported more extreme weight-control behaviours (18.6% against 6.8%). Set goals for strength, control and how you feel, not calories burned.
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Brisk walk: 20 minutes, at a pace where you can talk but not sing, and marching on the spot: 2 minutes (both our walk and Pilates workout); step jack, with no jumping: "30 to 45 seconds within a circuit, 2 to 3 rounds" (from the move page's dose), keeping your arms to shoulder height with shoulder pain.
Swan: 5 to 6 reps; swimming: 2 to 3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds; single leg kick: 6 to 8 each leg, on your forearms with your breastbone lifting; double leg kick: 4 to 5 each side (all from the move pages' doses); Y-T-W raises: 5 of each shape, forehead on a folded towel (our Pilates arm workout); bird dog: 6 each side (our Pilates for posture class), the all-fours swap for the face-down moves; seated upper-back lift: 3 to 5 repetitions, each held 3 to 5 seconds (from the move page's dose), the chair option.
3D demoSwan (Pilates swan dive)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSwimming (Pilates)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg kick (Pilates one leg kick)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoDouble-leg kick (Pilates double kick)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoProne Y-T-W raisesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBird dogBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSeated upper-back lift (sit tall, shoulders back)Beginner · A bench or boxBand row: "3 sets of 10 to 15, stopping 2 to 3 reps short of failure, with 60 to 90 seconds' rest: an editorial starting point." (from the move page's dose), anchored to something fixed and never a door handle that can open; band pull-apart: 2 sets of 12 to 15 (our Pilates for posture class); external rotation: 2 sets of 12 each arm (our Pilates for shoulders class).
Knee hover and straight-arm plank: 3 holds of 15 to 30 seconds each; leg pull front: 3 to 5 each side, leaving it out with shoulder pain (all from the move pages' doses).
Thoracic rotation: "6 rotations per side, moving with the breath" (the move page's dose); open book: 8 to 10 slow openings each side, and mermaid: 3 each direction, each side (both from the move pages' doses); wall angel: 8 slow reps, and chin tuck: 8 slow reps with a 3 to 5 s hold (both our Pilates for posture class); child's pose: 1 to 3 minutes (from the move page's dose).
Our suggestions, unless a source is given.
Rocking is often on back fat lists, but leave it for later: its move page says "Avoid it with back or knee injuries; master the swan first." and "Not in pregnancy." The swan's page says "Do not try the swan dive rock until the swan is comfortable."
Not needed here. Our training guides to losing back fat and getting a bigger back cover gym back training (our suggestion).
Breathe out as you lift, and don't hold your breath.
Our editorial plan, built from the NHS activity and strength guidelines, the aerobic dose trials, NICE's advice on diets, the NHS weight advice and the bra fit studies. It's a starting point, not a prescription.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Swimming (Pilates)
There's no back fat class on purpose: a class can't burn the fat over the muscles it works. The posture and shoulders classes build the back of your body, our new upper-body class and the strength class add the band row, and the walk and Pilates workout covers the brisk activity.
A 45-minute session for weight loss and health: a 20-minute brisk walk, which does more for the scales, then a short-rest Pilates circuit for strength.
45 minBeginner11 movesCardio machineA 20-minute Pilates routine for posture: breathing, head and shoulder-blade control, back strength and upper-back mobility, with no loaded rounding.
20 minBeginner13 movesWall, bandA 25-minute Pilates class for healthy shoulders: the shoulder blades face down, a light band for the rotator cuff, weight on your hands in steps, and reach.
25 minBeginner20 movesBand, anchor pointA 30-minute Pilates class for your chest, shoulders, upper back and arms: push-ups in steps, a band row and face-down pulls, side support and a band press.
30 minBeginner21 movesBand, anchor pointA 30-minute Pilates strength class with dumbbells or a band: Pilates trunk work plus squats, lunges, rows and push-ups, each set taken until it is hard.
30 minIntermediate15 movesDumbbell, bandA 20-minute Pilates class for your arms: planks and push-ups, side and back support, face-down work and a standing series with light weights or a band.
20 minBeginner16 movesBench or box, dumbbellA 25-minute mat Pilates class for rowers: hip hinging and hip range for the catch, moving trunk endurance, glutes, hamstrings, upper back and shoulder blades.
25 minBeginner19 movesNo equipmentA back workout at home with dumbbells and a band: pull-ups or band-assisted pulls, two rows, face pulls, reverse flys, shrugs and Romanian deadlifts.
40 minIntermediate14 movesBand, pull-up barA 12-minute routine for a stiff upper back and rounded shoulders: chin tucks, wall angels, Y-T-W raises and open books.
12 minBeginner8 movesFoam roller, wallA 25-minute standing cardio circuit with no jumping: marching, step jacks, sit-to-stands, punches, step-ups and wall push-ups, with a seated option for most moves.
25 minBeginner9 movesBench or box, stepThe walking plan builds up your weekly walking; the weight loss plan mixes strength and cardio; the toning and band plans add progressive strength work.
A free 8-week walking plan for beginners: build to 150 minutes of brisk walking a week, with intervals, hills and two short strength sessions.
6 training days40 minBeginner5 days a weekA 12-week workout plan for weight loss: three strength days, two cardio days and daily steps, building to 200 minutes a week, with honest results.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekAn 8-week toning workout plan: three full-body strength sessions and two cardio sessions a week, light and heavier weights, gym or home, without the myths.
3 training days40 minBeginner3 days a weekAn 8-week resistance band workout plan: three full-body sessions a week at home or away, with how to choose bands, add tension and anchor them safely.
3 training days35 minBeginnerStaying active is good for you: the NHS advises 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, including muscle strengthening. This isn't the time to diet for back fat (our view); ask your midwife before starting anything new.
The swan's and swimming's pages say "Do not lie face down in later pregnancy." Our walk and Pilates workout's tip gives the swap:
In pregnancy, ask your midwife or doctor first. From the end of the first trimester, keep moves on your back short, prop your upper body up, or switch to side-lying, all-fours or standing versions, and swap the swimming for the bird dog.
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The swan's page says "Some back pain gets worse with arching: keep it small, or skip it if it pinches. With spinal stenosis, skip it if arching back brings on leg pain." Swimming's page says "If arching makes your back pain worse, use the bird dog instead."
Swimming's page says "With shoulder pain, keep your arms by your sides or bent and lift only your chest and legs (our suggestion)." The double leg kick's page says "If the hand clasp hurts your shoulders, hold a towel between your hands."
Our Pilates for osteoporosis guide covers which moves suit you and which to change, and the seated upper-back lift's page gives the UK osteoporosis consensus dose (our suggestion).
Start where you're comfortable: chair, wall and standing versions all count. Our Pilates for plus-size bodies guide covers getting up and down from the floor and the equipment that helps.
If bands or straps dig in or rub, get your bra fit checked before any exercise plan. Fitting methods, the tape measure included, can get it wrong, so trust how the bra feels too (our suggestion, from the bra fit studies).
These are the warning signs from our back fat, belly fat and Pilates guides, word for word, apart from the lines marked as our suggestion. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999, and use your doctor's urgent line or urgent care for NHS 111.
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
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See a GP if:
A soft pad of fat over the base of the neck, a rounded upper back and a lipoma can look alike. Our neck hump guide explains how to tell them apart.
If you feel bloated regularly, or have bloating with weight loss you can't explain or blood in your poo: the NHS says bloating that doesn't go away can sometimes be a sign of something more serious, such as ovarian cancer, whose symptoms include a swollen tummy or feeling bloated roughly 12 or more times a month. If you're losing weight without trying: it "can be a sign of stress or a serious illness. See a GP just in case." And if fat is building up on your tummy, neck and upper back while your arms and legs look thin, with a red, round face or stretch marks, especially on long-term steroid medicines: this can be Cushing's syndrome.
The NHS lists health conditions that cause weight gain, such as an underactive thyroid, Cushing's syndrome and PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, the new name for polycystic ovary syndrome), and "certain medicines including some steroids, antidepressants and beta blockers". It says: "Speak to a GP for advice if you have a condition that makes it harder to stay a healthy weight." Don't stop a medicine without talking to your doctor (our suggestion).
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The NHS suggests seeing a GP if your BMI is in the overweight or obese range and your waist is more than half your height, and a GP can refer you for support.
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If you take insulin or a sulfonylurea, exercise can bring on a hypo: see our type 2 diabetes guide. If you're on weight loss injections, see the exercise advice in our exercise for weight loss guide.
If you have a heart condition, follow your cardiac team's advice on how hard to work, and stop for the warning signs above. People with long-term conditions may wish to ask their specialist before starting. With uncontrolled high blood pressure, avoid straining against a held breath; the high blood pressure guide has more.
You feel any pain or become unwell, as the NHS advises for its Pilates videos, and especially for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting. If you have a health problem, an injury or any symptoms, get advice from a healthcare professional, such as a GP, before you start.
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The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
If you have a heart, lung or joint condition, are pregnant or have recently been unwell, start gently and read our guide for your condition. Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new exercise is common and fades as you repeat it.
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No study links posture to back fat. Posture changes how a back looks: the Pilates stance drew the shoulder blades up to 14 mm closer together, a change of position, not of fat.
Training one area doesn't take fat off it: when adults trained one arm, fat came off both arms equally. In Pilates studies, fat that fell came off the arms, trunk and legs together.
In adult women, body fat percentage didn't change with Pilates, and Pilates is light work, about 3 METs (metabolic equivalents), like walking slowly.
Most women in the studies wore a bra that didn't fit, and folds form where the tissue under the skin is loosest, in slim women too.
No Pilates study has measured muscle length, and in two reviews static stretching left muscle fibres the same length, or only trivially longer at high volumes.
Stretching didn't change posture in a review of 23 studies, while strengthening the upper back did (moderate certainty).
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It's ordinary fat under the skin, normal at any size. Wear what feels comfortable, and judge your training by what you can do.
Not directly. No trial has found that back exercises or Pilates take fat off the back, and in adult women Pilates didn't change body fat percentage. Back fat changes with your total body fat, through moving more and eating a little less, while Pilates builds the muscle underneath.
For the back muscles: swimming, the swan, the single and double leg kick, face-down arm raises and planks, plus a band row because the mat has no pull. For the fat: brisk activity, such as a walk. No move targets the fat itself.
It's the same fat under the skin, and it falls with the rest of you. Strengthening your upper back changes how it feels and how you hold yourself, not the fat over it.
Check the fit first: in one study, 85% of women wore a bra that didn't fit. Folds where a band presses are normal at many sizes, and they form where the tissue under the skin is loosest. Pilates builds the back muscles, and the fat changes with your overall body fat.
No study shows that. Standing taller changes how your back and clothes look, and strengthening the upper back, not stretching, changes posture over weeks. Our Pilates for posture guide has more.
It builds strength like mat Pilates, but no Pilates style burns back fat. Wall push-ups and wall angels are gentle starting points for the upper back.
Reformer classes raised back endurance from about 12 to 19 seconds in 8 weeks in one trial, and the straps add pulling work. They don't burn back fat, and the body fat in that trial was measured on a bioimpedance scale.
Yes, as part of whole-body fat loss: each extra 30 minutes a week of aerobic exercise took about half a kilo off body weight in trials. Walking plus Pilates twice a week is a good combination, and our walk and Pilates workout does both.
The fat above your hips at the back is part of the same store as love handles and changes the same way. Our Pilates for love handles guide covers it.
Folds depend partly on how the tissue under the skin is anchored, which is loosest just below the shoulder blades, and surgeons describe back rolls in slim women too. A bra or waistband that doesn't fit makes them more visible.
See a GP if fat is building up on your neck, upper back, chest and tummy while your arms and legs look thin, if you find a lump, or if your upper back is newly rounded or hunched. The warning signs above have the details.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
