What are some exercises to strengthen the posterior chain & core?

Hi Cathal,

Of course much of where you hold fat is genetic. Some people carry a lot of fat on their extremities and some carry most of it around their waists and others carry it in the hips, etc.

The best solution is watching your diet consistently and the fat will eventually come off regardless of where you store it.

Second best thing you can do is HIIT (high-intensity interval training).

Working the muscle in the region where the fat is stored will not alter from where the fat on your body is shed but working that muscle may make it look better when a good diet and overall exercise program has helped you shed most of your fat.

So best exercises for your problem areas are deadlifts, power cleans, lunges and core movements like planks.

Some other exercises to go along with the ones already mentioned above, Kettlebell swings, Single leg deadlift and woodchops.

Thanks rich,

My current workout is a twice a week compound lifts
Squats- 5 set of 5. Lifting lighter than before and for less reps but using a far greater range of motion.
Barbell press/military-3 set of 8
Dumbell row-3 set of 12

Then I do a few sets of circuits consisting of kettlebell swing, kb press up, reverse lunges and hammer curls.

Aim is to increase muscle definition and lower body fat to single figures. Can you comment on this and any improvements I can make?

Circuit training is a great way to help reduce the body fat (alongside watching the diet as Mark said), Mix up compound exercises such as squats, clean and press, pull ups etc with high intensity aerobic exercises such as burpees, squat thrusts, box jumps etc. Try a 8-10 exercise circuit doing 4-5 compounds and 4-5 aerobic exercises alternating between the 2.
8-12 reps for the resistance exercises and 30-40 seconds for the aerobic exercises and complete 3 circuits.