man-titties

ftt_nyeh
ftt_nyeh Posts: 17
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been getting some but not all of the results i'm looking for in my weight loss journey.
My overall fitness is certainly improving, my cardio is much better than it used to be, people are telling me I look lighter.
In the last 3 months i've managed to drop from 210 to 185. All of this I'm absolutely stoked about, don't get me wrong.
But i don't seem to be getting any stronger trhough strength training and - as the title might suggest - the male-boobies remain.
Since I'd like to wear more than just black t-shirts and sweaters, I'm wondering if there's more I can do, should I augment my training? take a supplement? Or is it all in my head and will come with time?

Replies

  • nisijam5
    nisijam5 Posts: 9,964 Member
    Work the upper body like crazy and build those muscles....
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
    There is no such thing as spot reduction. Your body will decide where to eliminate fat from on its own, you can't control it. That being said, check out my routine at www.stronglifts.com. It builds strength fast.
  • GooBeGone
    GooBeGone Posts: 439 Member
    congrats on the weight loss!!!! :drinker:

    i don't believe a supplement is what u're looking 4. i think u need 2 change up ur strength trainin routine. u should change it up a bit every 4-6wks b/c ur body gets used 2 it. i think if u keep up the cardio plus change ur strength routine u'd get the results u're lookin 4.

    u may wanna try p90x (a male friend did this & his results were GREAT!) & then u could do insanity after the p90x b/c insanity burns fat since it's intense cardio.

    i think this will help out the moob situation.

    good luck!! :flowerforyou:
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    What sort of strength training program are you following... it seems odd to me that in 3 months you are not feeling much stronger (Assuming you were not doing any strength training before)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    When losing weight people typically also lose muscle mass, which could explain you not getting stronger. You may want to add more protein to your diet (if you are staying with MFPs defaults) and decrease the size of your caloric deficit. maybe change to lose 0.5 lbs per week that way you will lose less muscle than you would on a larger deficit.

    The extra calories should give you the energy you need to be able to make some strength gains. Good luck.
  • lmartinez24
    lmartinez24 Posts: 2
    Here is my theory...muscles have memory, right? So if you had strength trained in younger years, then stopped, then started again, those muscles don't usually take as long to strengthen. However, if you never strength trained and now you are starting, you are basically having to "teach" those muscles versus "review" them are what they already know. This is just my theory though....Good Luck!
  • EDesq
    EDesq Posts: 1,527 Member
    Sorry to tell you but there are some things about our physical make-up that can't be changed via exercise. Your "man boobs" will be with you unless you have some "lipo" or whatever they do to remove them. Check with a doctor after you have exhausted all of your workout possibilities.
  • tbernard
    tbernard Posts: 54 Member
    Man boobs.. Just like with women's boobs your boobs are primarily made up of fat deposits. They will shrink eventually. Unfortunately you cannot target where your weight loss comes from. I personally have very little fat anywhere, except for my abs/belly. For me that's simply the last to go.. In your case maybe your boobs are the last to go..

    You should probably continue to do lifting work on your chest, shoulders, traps, etc. Muscle anywhere burns fat / calories everywhere. Don't be surprised if you aren't getting stronger while you get smaller. You should certainly get a little stronger, but as mentioned earlier, its tough for the body to build muscles massively while maintaining deficits. Its not at all unusual. Bodybuilders tend to have periods where they load up on calories, lifting building strength and muscle size... ending in cycles where they diet down before shows in order to reduce their body fat..
  • Bamacraft
    Bamacraft Posts: 175 Member
    Congrats on the wt loss. Building muscle AND losing significant weight can be very tricky. I wouldnt worry about that just yet. Do as posted earlier and cut down on speed of wt loss and hit the wt room harder. I'd suggest maintaining a high optempo with cardio, hit wts harder and comp with more cals..Be sure to do all major muscle groups. While i agree that you cant eliminate fat in specific zones you can increase your muscle mass and get more toned which helps certain areas look less flabby because they are, still may have the same amount of fat. Man boobs for example...by increasing muscle mass in the chest, shoulder, back you build a more solid foundation/physique with better posture which will lessen the man boob presence/appearance. give it another 3 months. summer is a long ways off, you still have time.
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    Congrats on the wt loss. Building muscle AND losing significant weight can be very tricky. I wouldnt worry about that just yet. Do as posted earlier and cut down on speed of wt loss and hit the wt room harder. I'd suggest maintaining a high optempo with cardio, hit wts harder and comp with more cals..Be sure to do all major muscle groups.

    I would hate to disagree with you but I have had the exact opposite results. The two times I have lost significant weight I was following a strength building weight lifting program. The idea being that the act of building muscle causes your body to burn more energy... The program I last followed was called TNT which combined a full body workout with a low carb diet. (It can be found on Men's Health website)

    Basically it was broken up into 4 week sessions that involved circut training focusing on major muscle groups. Each session would change not only excercises but the amount of reps you would do with the heaviest weight you could correctly perform th exercise with. I was consistantly losing weight and felt like superman after the workouts.

    I am actually planning on starting the work outs again soon, but I am not planning on doing the low carb this time...
  • Bamacraft
    Bamacraft Posts: 175 Member
    I probably didnt articulate my response well. I assume my sentence: "Building muscle AND losing significant weight can be very tricky." is where you disagree. Stand alone i see where its misleading and thanks for the catch before someone else. I based this on his CW of 185 and assuming he looks close to ideal weight.

    I dont disagree that circuit training is not great b/c it is. Some of my biggest losses came from circuit training. However i think that reducing ~1000 cals per day and trying to build muscle combined with cardio is difficult to manage. Meaning that reducing 7000 cals / week in addition to cardio, wts etc.. may be too much. I suggested too up calories along with hitting the weights harder...circuits, supersets, etc..(He actually lost ~8lbs/month which is ~7000 cals / week deficit)

    What i meant was the difficulty balancing the "enough calories to build muscle" and "the deficit to lose weight" at the same time. He may increase his lactic acid threshold etc.. but i would think have a hard time building lean muscle and having significant gains in the strength arena which was his delima if i understood correctly. Basically, to lose weight; you have to do lots of cardio, lift weights, eat a low calorie diet, and to gain muscle; lift weights, do less cardio (compared to losing weight), eat a higher calorie diet.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories