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The best way to tone loose muscle and decrease fat is by incorporating cardiovascular exercise into strength training. Burning overall body fat is an essential part of training your body. By trying to only spot treat one specific area of the body you will most likely discover that the effort you exert will be greatly hampered by a general excess of body fat.

You can kill two birds with one stone using a combination of fat burning and isolating certain muscle groups. Blending strength and cardio training can trigger a boost to your metabolism and subsequently, fat loss. Typically with back muscles, shoulders, and arms you can start to see toning happen within as little as four weeks of a regular strength training and cardio routine. You may want to make sure your workout includes a range of exercises to train the muscles of your lower, middle and upper back for maximum results.

Rowing - This is a top choice for your back muscles as well as cardio. If you haven't tried rowing before, expect a good challenge with this exercise as it can be quite an intense workout. Rowing can be done on an indoor rowing machine or on a real boat to get an effective work out. You can target your lower or upper back muscles based on the position and angle you're in and as an added benefit rowing will also help to firm up both your shoulders and your arms.

Jogging - The arm motion used while running causes the back muscles to tense and relax, toning them up. Of course jogging also works other body parts; it's more of a complete cardio exercise than rowing. Walking is similar to jogging because the arm movements are the same. However, walking is much less intensive than jogging, so expect slower results. Jogging doesn't place the same strain on the muscles as rowing does but is an effective calorie roaster.

Swimming – Every stroke made while swimming is an excellent cardiovascular workout and targets back fat since it incorporates the upper body muscles. Regardless of the stroke you decide on, swimming tones up the entire upper body and is an effective fat burning activity.

Choosing cardiovascular exercises that engage the arm and shoulder muscles will be an effective combination that will help reduce your overall body fat percentage while toning and firming up the look of your back, arms and shoulders.