The Six Best Skinny Fat Exercises (+Training Program Included)

I’m a huge advocate of weight training as a way to fix the skinny fat look. Lifting weights is the single best way to build muscle, improve your functional capacity, and become more confident.

When coupled with a mild caloric restriction, good sleep, and some patience, lifting weights can transform how your body looks in a matter of months.

All of the above is good, but it begs the question:

“What are the best skinny fat exercises?”

If you’ve been wondering about it, you’re in luck because we’ll be going over that exact question today.

Let’s explore.

But First: Why I Recommend Lifting Weights

Fixing the skinny fat look is about building enough muscle and losing fat. Replacing even a few pounds of body fat with muscle will improve how your body looks, feels, and functions.

Weight training is important for fixing the skinny fat look because it helps you achieve both goals in the most efficient manner. First, lifting weights causes a strong stimulus, promoting muscle growth, so long as you sleep well and eat enough protein (1). Second, weight training helps you maintain more muscle tissue while dieting for fat loss (2). As a result, you achieve a lean and athletic physique.

Cardio can also help during fat loss because it burns calories and helps you achieve the necessary calorie deficit (3). But, the issue with cardio is that it doesn’t cause the same growth stimulus, so we are more likely to lose muscle while dieting. Plus, most cardio activities focus on a specific area of your body and cannot train all major muscles in your body like a good resistance program can. For example, jogging is a perfectly good cardio activity, but it primarily trains your calves and quadriceps.

The Six Best Skinny Fat Exercises (+Solid Alternatives For Each)

1. Barbell Row/Pendlay Row

Barbell and Pendlay rows are two excellent compound exercises for your back. Both activities are similar in many ways, but there are also subtle differences to consider. The objective with the barbell row is to bend forward and hold a barbell, keeping it a few inches off the floor. In contrast, a Pendlay row is about bending forward more and resting the bar on the floor between repetitions.

Both exercises work well, and there is no reason why you shouldn’t experiment with them to see which one you enjoy most. Folks who typically choose the Pendlay row are those struggling with low back issues.

2. Bench Press

The bench press is arguably one of the most popular gym exercises, and for good reasons: it develops your chest, shoulders, and triceps while also building pressing strength and improving your sports performance. Plus, the movement offers an excellent overloading potential, and you can use it for muscle and strength gain for many years. Because of these reasons, many proven strength programs include some form of the bench press. One such example is the 5x5 program.

Your two primary ways of performing the bench press are with a barbell or dumbbells. Both options work well and offer similar benefits. You should pick the one you enjoy more, but keep in mind that only using a barbell might put you at a higher risk of side-to-side muscle imbalances. Including some dumbbell work can be beneficial because that forces both sides of your body to work independently and develop more evenly.

Aside from the equipment type, you can adjust the angle to emphasize different portions of your chest. The flat (horizontal) bench press works your middle and lower chest better, where using an incline of 30 to 60 degrees activates the upper chest (clavicular head).

3. Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups

Pull-ups and chin-ups are two other fantastic skinny fat exercises for muscle and strength gain. Both movements strengthen your entire back, midsection, biceps, and forearms. The only issue with the two exercises is that most beginners can’t perform them. Luckily, you can work your way up to your first rep by performing:

• Inverted rows
• Band-assisted pull-ups
• Slow-eccentric pull-ups

Doing these movements several times per week will strengthen the muscles involved in the pull-up and improve your skills with the exercise. I recommend starting with chin-ups because they involve your biceps more, making it easier to work up to your first rep and progress from there.

Pull-ups and chin-ups are also two of the best movements you can start learning as part of a calisthenics program.

4. Overhead Shoulder Press

The overhead press is a compound exercise that strengthens and develops your deltoids (shoulders), triceps, and upper chest. Performing the movement from a standing position is also fantastic for your midsection because these muscles work extra hard to keep you stable.

Beginner skinny fat trainees can start with seated dumbbell overhead presses or perform the movement on a special gym machine. Once you gain some confidence and strength, you can transition to the standing barbell overhead press.

A notable benefit of the shoulder press is the excellent overloading potential. You can keep overloading your muscles to build strength for many years.

Overhead presses are a big part of CrossFit training and are great but often take longer for trainees to master.

5. Barbell Front Squat

The barbell squat is another amazing movement for any trainee looking to build solid mass in the lower body. I recommend the front squat because the movement offers three distinct advantages:

1. It forces you to maintain a more upright torso, which allows you to develop your back and midsection more effectively.
   
   
2. You can easily drop the barbell in front of yourself if you fail to complete repetition and save yourself from getting pinned.
   
   
3. It strengthens your quadriceps more effectively than back squats because you’re more upright and cannot leverage hip extension as effectively (4). As such, your quadriceps have to work extra hard to get you out of the bottom position.

Like back squats, the front squat offers a fantastic overloading potential, and you can use the movement to keep getting stronger for many years. Plus, being forced to maintain a more upright torso reduces the risk of technique breakdown that can otherwise lead to an injury.

6. Barbell Deadlift

The barbell deadlift is the sixth major exercise I recommend for any skinny fat beginner. Similar to all other movements on this list, deadlifts are a compound exercise that strengthens and develops a range of major muscle groups. Plus, you can pick from many variations, depending on your preferences, abilities, and specific goals.

Sumo and conventional deadlifts are the two most popular variations, both of which are allowed in powerlifting. The primary difference is stance width, which influences muscle activity. Sumo deadlifts are a bit more quad-dominant, whereas conventional deadlifts emphasize your erector spinae a bit more effectively (5). Which one you choose to perform should depend on your comfort and build. Some folks find the conventional deadlift more natural; others prefer to deadlift with a sumo stance.

Aside from the two significant variations, you can also perform:

• Romanian deadlifts - starting from the top and lowering the barbell repeatedly while keeping your legs almost entirely straight.
• Stiff-leg deadlift - similar to Romanian deadlifts, but starting from the bottom and with your hips in a higher position.
• Rack pulls - having the barbell elevated on blocks or inside a squat rack to eliminate the first part of each repetition. The variation is beneficial for emphasizing your back and developing your deadlift lockout strength.

A Simple Training Routine, Based On The Skinny Fat Exercises From Above

Now that we’ve gone over some of the best skinny fat exercises, let’s look at a simple routine you can follow in the first few months of training to build muscle and get stronger. The best part about the routine is that all you need is a squat rack, a bench, a barbell, a pair of adjustable dumbbells, and some weight plates. You can invest a bit of money to get all of these items and put them in a spare room, the garage, or your basement.

Workout A

Flat barbell bench press - 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 8 reps
Barbell front squat - 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps
Standing dumbbell shoulder press - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Barbell rows - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Workout B

Rack pull deadlift - 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps
Standing barbell shoulder press - 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps
Chin-ups - 12 total reps (in as many sets as necessary)
Pendlay rows - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Workout C

Barbell front squat - 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps
Flat dumbbell bench press - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Barbell rows - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Seated dumbbell shoulder press - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

There are countless beginner routines you can follow, but the one you choose should be simple and not too intense. The first few months of training should be challenging but sustainable enough to gain momentum and increase your chances of success.

Three Unique Training Tips That Will Help You Get More Out of Your Program

1. Recover Long Enough Between Sets

Quality strength training resembles a marathon. You conserve your energy to perform better and accumulate more training volume instead of rushing through your workouts. Doing so is vital for maintaining your performance, doing more work, and completing all of your reps properly. Research finds a strong correlation between longer rest periods and better muscle and strength gains (6, 7).

Here are some guidelines to follow:

• 2-6 reps - 3 to 5 minutes of rest
• 6 to 10 reps - 2 to 3 minutes of rest
• 10 to 15 reps - 1.5 to 2 minutes of rest
• 15 to 25 reps - 1 to 1.5 minutes of rest

2. Breathe & Brace

Aside from taking your time to work through each workout, you should also pay careful attention to each repetition you do. Doing so is vital for improving the quality of each set and workout.

Breathing and bracing are two of the simplest things you can implement into your training plan to improve your performance and reduce your risk of potential injuries. Good breathing is also vital for energy production as lacking oxygen would stop your body from creating energy aerobically.

Here is what to do:

Breathe into your belly and brace your midsection before each repetition. Once you’re past the halfway point, exhale as you maintain tightness in your core. Following the simple rule will improve your performance on almost all gym exercises you’ll ever do. A notable exception is the squat, where you should hold your breath until you’re about to finish the repetition.

3. Focus On Good Technique Over Load

Too many trainees become obsessed with the weight they are lifting that they disregard proper form. Often, the transition starts with minor sacrifices in technique: hitching a bit to finish a rep, shortening the range of motion a bit, using slightly more momentum than you should, and such. But, as time passes, these errors grow and worsen your form significantly, increasing your risk of getting injured.

An excellent way to prevent this huge mistake is to remain mindful of the danger and monitor your training form carefully. Filming some of your training sets, especially as you increase the load, can also help. Comparing training footage can give you a great idea of how your technique might be changing and if you should change anything.

Check out this post for more invaluable training tips. 

But Wait, What If I Only Have a Few Kettlebells At My Disposal?

The great thing about strength training is that you can make it work, regardless of what equipment you have available: dumbbells, kettlebells, a bar with some weight plates, and so on.

Everything we’ve discussed so far applies to most exercises you’ll ever do. As such, the principles matter much more than the specific details. So, even if you only have a few kettlebells at your disposal, you can make most skinny fat exercises work and put together an effective kettlebell program.

Here is an example program with some minor tweaks from what we discussed above to make it kettlebell-friendly:

Workout A

Kettlebell floor press - 3 to 4 sets of 5 to 8 reps (Flat barbell bench press)
Kettlebell goblet squat - 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps (Barbell front squat)
Single-arm kettlebell overhead press - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Standing dumbbell shoulder press)
Bent-over kettlebell row - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Barbell rows)

Workout B

Kettlebell deadlift - 3 sets of 5 to 15 reps (Rack pull deadlift)
Single-arm kettlebell overhead press - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Standing barbell shoulder press)
Chin-ups - 12 total reps (in as many sets as necessary)
Bent-over kettlebell row - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Pendlay rows)

Workout C

Kettlebell goblet squat - 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps (Barbell front squat)
Kettlebell floor press - 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Flat dumbbell bench press)
Bent-over kettlebell row - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Barbell rows)
Seated kettlebell overhead press - 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps (Seated dumbbell shoulder press)