Man Titties/Fat into muscle

RDubb07

RDubb07

New member
It's probably been answered before, but...

Well I've still got man boobs after 50 freaking pounds. Granted they aren't nearly as big and I can hide most of them.

I'm starting to really get into lifting weights at school with the football team and I know I'm going to gain weight off of it.

1) Will doing bench presses flatten out my chest, or just make it bigger (I'm guessing making it bigger...since when does fat magically turn into muscle?). Am I better off just building up my leg muscles doing squats and staying away from the chest exercises?

2) Will I HAVE to be in a calorie surplus to tack on muscle? Can't my body just use energy from "storage" (my fat) and use that to build muscle?
Advice..please...thanks. :)
 
RDubb07 said:
It's probably been answered before, but...

Well I've still got man boobs after 50 freaking pounds. Granted they aren't nearly as big and I can hide most of them.
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What's your current stats? Are you still losing?

I'm starting to really get into lifting weights at school with the football team and I know I'm going to gain weight off of it.
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Not necessarily. Lifting weights doesn't magically build muscle if you aren't eating enough.

1) Will doing bench presses flatten out my chest, or just make it bigger (I'm guessing making it bigger...since when does fat magically turn into muscle?). Am I better off just building up my leg muscles doing squats and staying away from the chest exercises?
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Your best bet is to do a balanced routine working all the major muscle groups.

2) Will I HAVE to be in a calorie surplus to tack on muscle? Can't my body just use energy from "storage" (my fat) and use that to build muscle?
Advice..please...thanks. :)
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Why doesn't our body utilize our existing fat stores as energy, to aid in hypertrophy (muscle building)?

You have to remember this very simple fact. Having an abundance of food at arm's length is a rather new dilemna, in the grand scheme of things. I mean, go back a thousand years and you were not able to eat, how we eat today. And 1000 years isn't that long even. Go back 10,000 years and wow, things were much, much different.

We did not have a continuous foods supply. Excess food was not an issue and humans had to develop the ability to survive periods with low to no energy.

Because of this, our bodies want to store excess energy as fat. It is calorically dense and easily stored. On the flip-side, muscle is energetically costly. This means adding new muscle is not a *cheap* process in terms of energy (calorie) utilization.

Add to this, ultimately, aside from the base level of muscle that each of us has, additional muscle is worthless in our *body's mind.*

When the early man found a huge stash of food, he would gorge until he was full and then some. It doesn't take science to tell us that this will result in a gain of fat. He did this so that when the winter came and everything died or ran for the equator, he had enough energy to maintain life during this period.

Mind you, this went on for more years than you can fathom from your short time here on lovely Earth. Adaptation is an amazing thing. It takes a VERY long time to happen. Extremely slow process.

We adapted for survival during a time when food (energy) was scarce.

Back when, if the body decided to use a ton of energy to make muscle instead of fat, you would have stored less gross energy in a tissue that is harder to extract energy from, and ultimately it would have died during food-scarce periods.

To add to this, this is why we have many systems in place physiologically that ensure we don't under-eat. Stop eating for a few days. See how hungry you become. See how your cravings shoot through the roof. The endocrine system, primarily, is amazingly responsive to under-consumption of food.

Flip this. With over-consumption (something that is commonplace this day in age) not so much. Our bodies are relatively weak at detecting over-consumption due to the times long ago.

So, in a nutshell: Our bodies like storing fat for survival even though we don't need it today. Our bodies don't like storing muscle.

Hence, you will never find a human that is able to convert fat to muscle. At least not in the 21st century. Things might be different in the 31st.
 
Steve, you were just the guy I was asking.

I'm about 5'9 and 189 lbs on a good day. I started at a little above 240 back in the end of January...

I'm still losing even though it's a very, very small amount. Around five pounds a month if I'm lucky.

However...I've got a TON of fat left. I look like I cracked out...basically..:). My ass can't even bench 175lbs. I'd take a picture if I had my digital camera with me (middle fingers up to whoever hates lol).

So you're saying my best bet is to just drop down to...let's say 165 is the magic number...there...then build back up from scratch?

I'm hearing "do benches and situps and you'll tighten up"...but why would I do that if my fat/skin is already hiding that? Fat just doesnt disappear in area X and area W...it's in all places..ya know?
 
Sometimes man boobies are also made up of actual breast tissue, which is not fat or muscle. If that's the case, I believe the breast tissue can only be removed with surgery. I don't know if you have this tissue or just fat, but I've seen it on those plastic surgery shows and its the same tissue women have (when its that dense breast tissue as opposed to fat). However, taking off as much fat as possible is certainly going to make a huge difference. I would take a wild guess that adding some muscle tone would make any breast tissue that one might have feel harder and be more spread out (flatter??)? I would think added muscle on your chest could only benefit your look.
 
"Sometimes man boobies are also made up of actual breast tissue, which is not fat or muscle. If that's the case, I believe the breast tissue can only be removed with surgery"

After seeing female body builders, I know breast tissue can be reduced (in appearance at least) through muscle building. Start doing those pushups and bench presses! I also found wearing a tight undershirt daily for a period of 1 - 2 months caused excess skin to receed. So you could try that too
 
Guar said:
"Sometimes man boobies are also made up of actual breast tissue, which is not fat or muscle. If that's the case, I believe the breast tissue can only be removed with surgery"

After seeing female body builders, I know breast tissue can be reduced (in appearance at least) through muscle building. Start doing those pushups and bench presses! I also found wearing a tight undershirt daily for a period of 1 - 2 months caused excess skin to receed. So you could try that too
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Not especially.

Remember, bodybuilders diet down to extremely lean levels.

Lean = extreme lows in body fat levels.

Breast are comprised of a lot of fatty tissues.

That said, the reduced breast size can probably be traced back to the extreme leanness opposed to the lifting.

That said, to everyone in this thread, resistance training can do nothing but help your situation. Will it "tighten" the fat up. Most likely not.

However, the synergistic effect of adding/maintaining muscle while losing fat on a diet is the path that leads to a good physique. Not adding resistance training is a sure fire way to lose muscle along with the fat leaving you a smaller, still soft/fat version of your former-self at the end of the day.
 
I FOUND THIS EXPLANATION:

"The normal male breast contains both fat tissue and glandular tissue. True breast tissue in males is typically a small localized lump located immediately under the nipple that is more firm than the surrounding fatty tissue.

Pseudo-gynecomastia
Pseudo-gynecomastia is an enlarged male breast caused by excessive fat tissue, but a normal amount of glandular breast tissue. Pseudo-gynecomastia occurs in many men as they become older and in younger men who are relatively obese.

Gynecomastia
Gynecomastia is an enlarged male breast caused by excessive glandular tissue. Excess breast tissue occurs in about 75% of young boys during puberty. This condition is normally temporary, and only lasts a few months. In 33% of puberal cases, the condition subsided within 1 year, and in 93% of cases, the condition subsided in 3 years.

Gynecomastia can be treated by eliminating the cause or by surgical excision.

Causes of gynecomastia: (not an exhaustive list)

* alcoholism
* effect of medications
* low levels of testosterone
* renal failure
* testicular canceradrenal tumors
* cirrhosis of the liver
* severe starvation
* lung cancer
* tuberculosis
* hyperthyroidism"
 
So exercise and right diet are still the best way to reduce my man-boobies? like how many repetitions should I do? i'm not a member of any gym. I'm 32, weighs 250lbs and has breasts like a girl. somebody should help me.
 
pheesh_peeve said:
So exercise and right diet are still the best way to reduce my man-boobies? like how many repetitions should I do? i'm not a member of any gym. I'm 32, weighs 250lbs and has breasts like a girl. somebody should help me.
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Resistance training will serve as the tool used to maintain the muscle you have. It won't directly impact the fat stores that reside on top of the muscle.

I'd stick with 5-12 reps of a few basic compound exercises a few times per week.
 
Great answer Blancita!! Is is not correct when Steve says " Breast are comprised of a lot of fatty tissues". But the basic cause of Gynecomastia is increased estrogen levels that can be caused by some of the factors you mentioned.
Men also have breast tissue and glands that will grow if estrogen levels increase, just think of transgendered/transsexuals who develop breasts because of estrogen treatments.

Obese men will develop the appearance of breast since the skin on the chest also get filed with subcutaneous fat. Gravity will cause the skin with a lot of subcutaneous fat in that area to sag ... appearing like breasts. This is not the same as Gynecomastia, where the enlargement of the breast are caused by growth of breast tissue.

On top of that obese men also have increased levels of estrogen!! This can cause both growth of breast tissue and a female distribution of fat.

Steve is right that if the "Breast are caused by fat they will disappear when one looses fat/weight. That alone will decrease the estrogen levels in men. But real Gynecomastia needs to be checked by a physician and blood tests to find out the underlying cause of the increased estrogen level.

Men who have lost weight can get loose skin in the chest area! Many older men have "breasts" created by loose sagging skin, because they have lost muscle tissue. Many younger men who loose a substantial amount of weight can have this problem too. Exercise to increase and tone the muscles in the chest area will help tighten the subcutaneous fibers in the skin too. Not just the pectoral muscles need to be exercised. A upper arm/shoulder/chest program and the frontal part of the neck (Platysma) will tone the skin better.

Steves words: " the synergistic effect of adding/maintaining muscle while losing fat on a diet is the path that leads to a good physique. Not adding resistance training is a sure fire way to lose muscle along with the fat leaving you a smaller, still soft/fat version of your former-self at the end of the day". Are so true

RDubb07: IF your "breasts" are caused by loose skin/weight loss ,exercise will help. But if you can feel breast tissue (especially around the nipples) you need to go see your doctor.

Read more about gynecomastia here:

Gynecomastia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
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wanna see some real man-boobs? LOL. I wonder how Val Kilmer ended up to that weight. And he has man tits! He used to look really good in batman. but oh well, it seems like he doesnt care about his body anymore.
 
Niles said:
On top of that obese men also have increased levels of estrogen!! This can cause both growth of breast tissue and a female distribution of fat.
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Do you have any scholarly resources to back this up? I've heard that obese men may have increased levels of testosterone, do an increase in leptin, but I have heard nothing about estrogen levels.

Also, I think its kind of humurous you are using Wikipedia as a reference.
 
I myself suffer from low testosterone levels; a man in his 40’s like me should have levels anywhere between 300-700 ng/dL but this varies with each doctor and research. Obesity in older men is often associated with lower testosterone levels. Also studies are showing that TRT helps offset Alzheimer's disease in older men.

When not on testosterone replacement therapy my levels are below 100. I recently had to stop Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and my Crestor do to higher liver function count; hopefully I can restart TRT soon because the fatigue is a killer.

Here is a info link.
 
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I basically am a softer/smaller fat version of my old self, so you hit the nail on the head.

I've been lifting these past two weeks and the scale shows...not losing anymore...however I'm hovering around 190 which isn't a horrible weight. I just don't think I'll be able to drop down to 175-170 and then back up in muscle...

My chest feels more tightened, and they don't APPEAR any larger, and I've maintained weight like I said...so I think I'll just continue this till January when the semester ends and hopefully I can tack on some muscle as WELL as lose 15 more pounds.
 
i don't know if they're shrinking or anything but i did try to exercise to diminish the fat and develop some muscles. but i dont think im doing any good unless I sign up for a gym and get a trainor or something.

Low on testosterone? try watching more porn. hehe
 
pheesh_peeve said:
i don't know if they're shrinking or anything but i did try to exercise to diminish the fat and develop some muscles. but i dont think im doing any good unless I sign up for a gym and get a trainor or something.

Low on testosterone? try watching more porn. hehe
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Why do you need a trainer?
 
DeepGreen said:
Do you have any scholarly resources to back this up? I've heard that obese men may have increased levels of testosterone, do an increase in leptin, but I have heard nothing about estrogen levels.

Also, I think its kind of humurous you are using Wikipedia as a reference.
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I do have resources to back up the information I provided:

A few articles that specifically mention a correlation between
obesity and increased estrogen levels in males. There are also several
articles confirming the relation of obesity to a lowered sex drive.


LINK BETWEEN ESTROGEN LEVELS AND OBESITY IN MEN
================================================

From "Breast Cancer in Men." Fact Sheet #43. September 2001

"Obese men have higher levels of estrogen in their bodies because fat
cells produce estrogen from other hormones. Risk increases, from three
to five times that of average weight men, have been reported for very
obese men."

==

From "Male Menopause" - Does It Exist?" by RoseMarie Pierce, B.Sc.
Pharm., "The Holistic Pharmacist"

"In many cases, obesity, especially in the abdominal area, is
attributed to male hormonal imbalances. Fat cells contain large
amounts of the aromatase enzyme, and estrogen is stored and
manufactured in fat. Fat cells synthesize the aromatase enzyme,
causing male hormones to be converted to estrogen. Therefore, an
increase in fat will cause estrogen levels to go up. Eating high-fat
foods may reduce the levels of free (active) testosterone. A
fat-containing meal can reduce free testosterone levels for about 4
hours. Central obesity (potbelly) is recognized as a risk factor for
cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Obese men suffer from
testosterone deficiency caused by the production of excess aromatase
enzyme in fat cells and also from the fat they consume in their diet."

"Medical doctor, Eugene Shippen in his book, The Testosterone
Syndrome, states that alcohol, grapefruit and a number of drugs:
NSAIDS, antibiotics, analgesics, antibiotics, antifungal agents,
anti-lipid agents (statins), SSRI type anti-depressants,
beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and abusive substances such as
marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines inhibit the liver’s primary
processing enzyme system known as P450. This results in slower
metabolism or breakdown of estrogen and therefore, increased estrogen
levels in the body. Substances that increase the P450 enzyme system
and decrease estrogen levels include: high-dose vitamin C (1-3 grams),
niacin (all the B vitamins are valuable during andropause), soy
protein, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower), oysters, and
grape seed extract."
 
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