Saggy chest tissue or chest fat can lower self-confidence for many men. But with the right diet, cardio, bodyweight exercises, and resistance training, it’s possible to strengthen the core and get rid of so-called “pseudogynecomastia”.
What are man boobs, moobs, or gynecomastia?
Man boobs, “moobs” or, medically termed, gynecomastia is defined by the National Institute of Health as the benign growth of male breast glandular tissue, usually caused by an increase of estrogen, decrease in testosterone, or the use of numerous medications. Gynecomastia can affect men of all ages, from infants to grown men.
Another type of man boobs, which we will focus on in this post as it’s most common, is known as pseudogynecomastia and is caused by an increase in fat deposits.
What is pseudogynecomastia?
Pseudogynecomastia is breast fat most commonly seen in overweight and obese men. The symptoms of hormone imbalance and being overweight might not be pleasant, and getting a checkup with your doctor is always recommended.
But before we start, let’s talk about something serious: While “man boobs” might sound like a funny name and something to chuckle at, those with them can actually feel really self-conscious about their physical appearance.
If you or someone you know has man boobs due to an increase in fat deposits, here are some tips on how you can increase muscle mass (especially in the chest), lose body fat, and thus minimize the appearance of moobs.
Table of contents:
- 5 Tips to Get in Shape & Lose Man Boobs
- 1. Get a Medical Checkup
- 2. You Can’t Out-Train a Bad Diet
- 3. Focus on Cardio For Weight Loss
- 4. Strengthen Your Body With Bodyweight Training
- 5. Do Strength Training With Weights
- Pseudogynecomastia Exercises ► Top 7 Chest Exercises to Get Rid of Man Boobs
- 1. Inclined Wall Push-ups
- 2. High Plank Walk
- 3. Triceps Dip
- 4. Superman Pull
- 5. Low Plank Twists
- 6. Plyo Push-ups
- 7. Hindu Push-ups
- Myth or Fact: Is It Really Possible to Fully Get Rid of Man Boobs?
5 Tips to Get in Shape & Lose Man Boobs
1. Get a Medical Checkup
We mentioned this before, and we’ll say it again: You can never go wrong with a checkup with your doctor, and it’s always a good idea to do so before beginning any new diet or workout regimen. Let them know your concerns and goals and get approval that your plan is safe for you.
Tip:
Ask your doc to check out your hormone levels to identify the cause of your man boobs, too.
2. You Can’t Out-Train a Bad Diet
It’s no secret that a balanced diet and caloric deficit play a major role in weight loss and therefore getting rid of chest fat or pseudogynecomastia. The first step to lose weight is to set your goal and start tracking your daily food intake. Most people are not aware of how much they are really eating, and food tracking can be a real eye-opener. And, you might want to reduce your consumption of these 5 food groups if you want to lose weight.
All about healthy weight loss:
If you want to achieve lasting, healthy weight loss, it’s all about eating right. Learn more about healthy weight loss on our blog.
3. Focus on Cardio For Weight Loss
As moobs or pseudogynecomastia come from breast fat, cardio training is an essential tool to get rid of it.
Fat burning cardio activities are:
- Running:
Helpful tips on running for weight loss
Three best 15-minute running workouts
How to burn calories after running - Walking:
How to walk for weight loss - Swimming:
Swimming workouts as a perfect cardio alternative
- Biking:
Biking as an effective total-body workout - Jumping Rope:
How to jump rope for weight loss
How often should you do cardio training for weight loss?
For best results, do 20-40 minutes of cardio a day. Try to work out four times a week.
4. Strengthen Your Body With Bodyweight Training
If you have man boobs or pseudogynecomastia, doing bodyweight training is perfect because a lot of the exercises recruit multiple muscle groups, resulting in more calories burned. So, don’t just focus on chest exercises alone to get rid of man boobs: Yes, push-ups are an excellent example of a bodyweight exercise for the chest! But did you know that push-ups also work your arms, shoulders, back, core and require activation from the glutes and legs as well?
Tip:
The wider your hand placement during a push-up, the more your chest is working. And, you don’t have to go super-fast. Play with the tempo of the push-up and try doing some really slowly as well. Feel the burn?
5. Do Strength Training With Weights
You really want to focus on building muscle rather than doing cardio alone to burn fat. Plus, muscle is a very energy-demanding tissue, meaning the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn at rest. Chest press, dumbbell flys, machine dips, and cable chest flys are great examples of muscle-building exercises for the chest.
Tip:
Don’t focus only on chest exercises. A total-body approach is key (when it comes to training) to lose the fat. Plus, exercise can boost testosterone levels in men which (among many other things) helps build and sustain muscle mass.
Pseudogynecomastia Exercises ► Top 7 Chest Exercises to Get Rid of Man Boobs
Chest exercises alone won’t help you get rid of man boobs. Focusing on cardio, the right nutrition, and bodyweight exercises all together is a holistic approach to losing chest fat, toning your chest and core, and with that, reducing moobs. Besides the above-mentioned cardio workouts, try incorporating the following chest exercises into your training routine.
How should you work out to get rid of man boobs?
To start, choose three of the following exercises and do three sets three times a week (plus cardio) for four weeks to strengthen your core and reduce pseudogynecomastia. If you’re choosing harder exercises, eight to ten repetitions are ideal. If you’re focusing on easier exercises, do 15 to 20 repetitions.
You’ve followed this training plan, and you’re wondering what comes in week four? Increase the number of sets you do, change the exercises to continue stimulating the muscles differently, or increase the repetitions.
1. Inclined Wall Push-ups
An inclined wall push-up is a variation of the classic push-up, where your upper body is at an incline against a wall. The benefit is that this takes some pressure off your arms and shoulders. This bodyweight exercise strengthens your chest muscles but also engages all your core muscles, and is ideal if you want to gain strength in general.
How can you make the inclined wall push-ups more challenging?
The farther your feet are away from the wall, the harder the inclined wall push-up will be. Additionally, you only can use one hand instead of both, or do an inclined push-up with your hands on a chair, bench, or couch.
2. High Plank Walk
Planks, such as high plank walks, not only help build muscle in your core but also activate your chest muscles and therefore can help get rid of man boobs. This exercise also ensures that your arms get an intense workout. Moreover, it improves overall body stability and mobility.
3. Triceps Dip
The triceps dip is a great exercise to strengthen and tone your arms. By lifting your hips off the ground, the dips also engage your core.
How can you modify a triceps dip?
Bring in some variety by executing the triceps dip on a chair, bench, or stairs.
4. Superman Pull
No matter what fitness level, the superman pull is for you! Not only does it help you strengthen your core, but it also targets your abs, back muscles, glutes, and hamstrings.
Why is a superman pull effective if you want to get rid of moobs?
If you want to fight moobs, you need to lose weight to reduce chest fat. An exercise like the superman pull recruits multiple muscle groups, resulting in more calories and therefore fat burned. Moreover, the exercise helps you with your upper body posture and while that alone might not cure man boobs, having a better posture helps with the overall appearance of the chest.
5. Low Plank Twists
Low plank twists are super versatile: The exercise improves your body balance and posture, builds core muscles, and strengthens your shoulders and abs. As you twist, you will feel your chest muscles contracting, and therefore – you guessed it! – this can help fight man boobs.
6. Plyo Push-ups
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Plyo push-ups, an advanced bodyweight exercise, will help you burn fat and build muscle in your chest, triceps, abs, and shoulders. As a jumping element is added to this push-up exercise, it’s quite challenging. That’s why it might be too intense for beginners.
Are you a beginner and still want to give plyo push-ups a try?
You can do this same movement from your knees until you get stronger. Another option between the easy and the advanced plyo is to start on your knees and slowly lower your chest to the ground, followed by the plyo push up into the air. This increases time under tension for the chest muscle and helps it fatigue faster than the normal tempo plyo push up from knees.
7. Hindu Push-ups
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While a standard push-up builds upper body strength, a Hindu push-up is the more advanced form. It targets the same muscle groups like chest and core muscles, triceps and biceps, and shoulders, but the main benefit is that it adds a flow to the push-up movement as yoga exercises do.
What can these yoga-like flow movements do for you?
In addition to building strength, a Hindu push-up will support body and spine mobility, as well as flexibility.
Looking for more bodyweight exercises to get rid of man boobs? Download the adidas Training app and create your very own workout with the Workout Creator:
Myth or Fact: Is It Really Possible to Fully Get Rid of Man Boobs?
This really depends on how much fat tissue and what the elasticity of the skin is like. It could be that after you lose weight, you also lose your man boobs. But it could also be the case that when there is a lot of fat to lose, the skin then hangs loosely.
While there are treatments to get rid of (pseudo)gynecomastia via surgery or operations to eliminate excess body skin after weight loss, try starting by being proud of your weight loss accomplishment!
Weight loss isn’t easy. It takes dedication and commitment to yourself and your health.
So as you can see, in the case of pseudogynecomastia, increasing your activity level and cleaning up your diet, leading to overall weight loss, is really the way to lose so called moobs!
Want to begin your weight-loss journey but not sure where to start? Here are 8 tips to get started towards a healthier lifestyle.
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