Lets talk man-boobs

(George) #1

I’m sure this a topic that most of us guys have dealt with and/or wondered about, so lets discuss the dreaded man boobs ( o )( o ). How long into your keto or exercise journeys did you start noticing a reduction in chest fat? Did they ever go away?

I guess this question is more for the guys that had flabby fat all over (like me), instead of just the big belly. I’ve noticed that most guys that get the big fatty belly but no fat elsewhere tend to turn their chest back into decent looking pecs much quicker than others. ( o )( o ) into [ . ][ . ]

#2

Great questions, George!

Don’t know if this thread will get as much traction as the female boobie threads, though. :slight_smile:

(George) #3

Thanks! I’m sure you’re right, but crossing my fingers for some good info LOL.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #4

Probably 6+ months in. Currently 11+ months and ~54 lbs. Weight loss and upper body resistance training (both volumetric and to failure) weekly. Replacing MBs with pecs. Still have a way to go but I know that my chest will become something that could be admired even as a 65+yo. I’ve seen enough progress to have confidence. I also fast up to 3 days to help with loose skin.

(George) #5

Great info Eric!

I’ve been doing the same thing I just hit the 6 month mark a few days ago, -61 lbs. I fast weekly (IF and EF) and do upper body training a few times per week, but I haven’t really seen any reduction in size, but I do feel a very slight difference in muscle beneath the fat.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #6

A couple of things that might help:

  1. Research resistance training to failure if not part of your training. That has helped a lot. Push your weight you training at.
  2. Once or twice a month for upper body and then again for lower body eat protein within 90 mins of training. Ideally 60 mins. Leucine containing protein. Eggs, red meat, fatty fish. At least 25 grams of protein or 30 to 35 might be better. Whey protein can be used but that is too processed for me.

I’ve seen the best progress in the last two months. Be patient as well.

(George) #7

Thanks, Eric.

I recently switched my routine to hit failure instead of just meeting my predetermined number of reps within a set. I definitely felt a difference in the burn. And yes, absolutely about the protein, I’ve been mainly carnivore for almost a month now so I make sure I get my protein usually within 30 minutes after I finish lifting, except on my fasting days of course.

What sort of exercises do you do? I mainly just stick to bench pressing and chest flys. The others mainly target my arms and back

(Allie) #8

I prefer to increase the load when I can complete my planned reps / sets with the current weight and good form, better progression.

(Todd Allen) #9

Strength training will probably help one carry their man-boobs better and make them less noticeable but in general exercise for spot fat reduction such as targeting belly fat doesn’t seem very effective. But considering even curvy women mostly lose their boobs when they become very lean I expect the most stubborn man-boobs will fade when one gets sufficiently lean.

I’ve got a genetic predisposition to having man-boobs, a mutation in the androgen receptor gene. When I weighed 180 lbs I had generous man-boobs but at 130 lbs they are modest. I expect they will get smaller if I continue getting leaner.

(George) #10

Oh wow even at 180? 185 is my goal, and hoping that with additional fat loss/muscle gain/upper body recomposition I’ll be happy at that weight, but we shall see. I may have to get leaner than that to see a major difference in chest fat

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #11

I agree. My MBs are reducing as up adipose fat decreases. I’m doing resistance training to get stronger and to look better. So “replacing” fat with muscle requires losing fat and gaining muscle mass.

I’m at about 195 and plan to go to at least 175. But if I’m still losing I will go down more. Maybe I can get to 160.

(Todd Allen) #12

Body fat % is much more important than weight. There are plenty of body builders well over 180 lbs with no hint of man-boobs. I wouldn’t mind being 180 lbs again if I could gain the weight as muscle. But for me losing fat has been faster/easier than gaining muscle.

(Scott) #13

I never had MOOBs but one of my kids poked my beer gut and asked “when is it due”. That was the start of my starvation to lose 50 lbs. I am on part two (keto) now and it is so much easier.

(CharleyD) #14

Don’t forget that subcutaneous fat generally appears to diminish from the extremities inwards. Arms and legs will show nice vascularity due to low subQ fat but torso will still hide those veins (and hold onto fat) until you’re probably near 10% body fat.

May be worth it to have your DNA sequenced as well. That at least can give you a heads up as to how tough the fight may be.

(CharleyD) #15

I’d throw in calisthenics: push ups to failure. All types, wide, diamond. And dips too for the lower pecs.

Yes, it won’t burn the fat right there, but there’s no harm in building the muscle under it and maybe stretching it out.

Hey, and then when people look at it, he can flex them and impress the ladies :see_no_evil:

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #16

I’m interested in which SNPs I would look for. I have had my DNA sequenced.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #17

This absolutely George. You are working out doing heavy lifting and lowering the % of body fat at the time now. Who knows where you will be when you finally achieve the build/balance you want. When I started keto I thought if I got to 168-170 I would be like I was 20 years ago. But not the case, I am 163 and because I am not as robust as I was for various reasons I can tell I have another 10 or more to go.

:cowboy_hat_face:

(Little Miss Scare-All) #18

My husband was over 300lbs about 5yrs ago. He lost a little weight, and about 2 years ago he started becoming a gym rat with me, and also better eating, albeit with plenty of carbs–totally non-keto.

He lifts heavy 4 days a week, and does body part days, and he put a lot of effort into his chest. Imma be honest–his boobies were almost about the size of mine and I’m just barely a C-cup. I’m oversharing my boob size for a reason–he had some large moobies going on, and within 2 years of weight training the heck out of his chest, he has barely any fat deposits left and only a little saggy skin, AND THAT’S WITH EATING NON-KETO.

Suffice it to say, with keto, you may get even better results with the autophagy factor. My husband was overall…well…blobby. Not being mean, I love chubby guys tbh, but these are his own words. He had zero upper body tone,his arms were jello, didnt weight lift since football High School and he wqs able to get cuttish, at 40yrs old eating stinkin like 150 of carbs or more per day. Just think how much better it will work for you keto dudes out there! #nevergiveuphope

Here’s the butthead currently: no more moobies. You cant even tell thru his shirt. 2 yrs ago not the case.

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(George) #19

Thanks so much for sharing that Dena!! Definitely gives me hope!

Would you happen to know which exercises he was doing for his chest?

(Karim Wassef) #20

Yes. They go away

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My wife commented on it when I got under 200lbs - I’m 5’10” so ~ 24% bf