Arjit wonders if he will lose his man boobs by doing the StrongLifts 5x5 training program since there's only 3 exercises per workout. Quote...
Dear Mehdi,
I am eager to follow your StrongLifts 5x5 workout formula. But i have man boobs and some excess fat. If i follow only the 3 exercises of each workout, for 3 days a week only, would it be beneficial for me?? Or do i have to do some other exercises too?
-Arjit
You can't lose your man boobs by doing a gazillion of chest exercises, just like you can't lose your belly fat by doing endless situps, because spot reduction is a myth. Man boobs is just fat tissue covering your chest muscles and since you can't burn fat locally, you have to lower your overall body fat to lose them.
So the good old fashioned strategies of fat loss apply: if the amount of calories you eat is lower than the amount of calories your body burns, you'll lose fat and thus also your man boobs. Here are 2 powerful tips you can use to instantly create a caloric deficit, plus an extra third tip which I'll explain.
1. Eat Healthier. Man boobs are almost always the result of years of eating junk food which contain more calories than whole foods. This doesn't mean you have to stop eating junk food forever to lose your man boobs, but you will have to eat a lot healthier the majority of the time.
- More meats, chicken, fish, veggies and fruits. No need to turn into one of those paleo nazis - grains are fine if you eat them in moderation.
- Less junk, alcohol and soda. 2 beers and a burger when out with friends is fine, but a DAILY 6 pack and TV dinner is an obvious no-go.
2. Get Stronger. One, muscle size is directly related to strength gains and so by getting stronger on the Bench Press, you'll "shape" your chest. Two, the more weight you lift, the more calories you burn in a workout. Three, strength training promotes healthier food choices and makes you stick to your diet better.
StrongLifts 5x5 is therefore plenty, even though you'll only do 3 exercises per workout, 3x/week. The amount of exercises doesn't matter, intensity does. As an example, check how StrongLifts Member Vlad (20y, Belgium) lost his man boobs with StrongLifts 5x5 after boosting his Squat from 20kg to 135kg.
StrongLifts Member Vlad (20y, Belgium) lost his man boobs with StrongLifts 5x5
3. Fix Your Posture. Working behind a computer all day can tighten your chest muscles and cause slouching shoulders which will then make your man boobs look worse. This is similar to how excess sitting can cause your hip muscles to tighten and your belly to look bigger as a result. If you look at SL Member Vlad's posture, it's clear his upper-back is straighter after doing StrongLifts 5x5.
Get used to sitting and walking with your shoulders back instead of letting them slouch all the time. Daily shoulder dislocations with a resistance band coupled with low bar Squats 3x/week will also improve your posture dramatically.
Don't worry about gynecomastia - man boobs caused by lowered testosterone and increased estrogen from taking certain medication or steroid abuse. The overwhelming majority of guys with man boobs will NOT need antiestrogen treatment, surgery or Kramer's "Mansierre", but can get rid of their man boobs naturally by simply eating healthier, gaining strength and fixing their posture.
This worked for many StrongLifts Members, and even myself.
Correction Mehdi, the mansierre was Franks name for it. Kramer named it the bro. Nether the less, that made my day reading that joke :D
A mansierre? That is hilarious. Just do the program.
I always get the temptation to do some spot specific exercises because I am in “hurry” to lose some belly fat. I don’t consume alcohol and beverages & junk food are restricted to once a week when am out. Probably no activity, vegetarian diet, and being a desk jockey contributed to my beer belly without beer :)
This article has helped me refocus.
If gyno is not needed to lose man boobs, why do you have an ad entitled “gyno surgery: who is a candidate” on this article?
The spots where you store fat are determined by hormones in your body, such as cortisol (love handles), insulin (belly) and oestrogen (chest). Eating healthier and lifting heavy will lower the measure of those ‘bad’ hormones.
Great post. Love the Seinfeld reference!
How many calories do I need to eat to gain strength but lose fat?
Artical is spot on in my opinion. spot reduction is a myth. Its all diet and weight training. With a good clean diet and plenty of compound lifts(especialy squats and deads) you can get to 10% bodyfat easy with no cardio(although cardio will speed it up). at 10% you wont have moobs-in fact even at 15 you wont really.
)
Tom post your stats and we can answere your qustion. body weight lifting experiance etc. most people if they eat 2500 a day clean high protein while doing stronglifts or similar program will lose a lot of fat and gain reasonable strenght(although not really any noticable muscle at 2500) Theres 2 schools of thought, bulk first then shed the fat you gain, or reduce body fat to 10% or so then gradually gain. most on this site will say bulk first as its a strenght training site which is fair enough. I disagree but im a bodybuilder so do what suites your goals
I have the same question as Tom, I don’t need to bulk up, but definitely want to get stronger and burn fat(as fast and as much as possible) I’ve done a radical change to my diet and just looking into starting stronglifts with minimal lifting experience..I’m 27, 5’10, 210 lbs. I work as a paramedic with sparadic shifts so getting a good workout schedule has proven to be very very difficult..but that’s something I’m working on. But back to Toms question, how much calories should I be taking to gain strength while burning the fat..
I take that back, I do want to bulk up my arms/back/chest/legs…and shrink my dominant “beer belly”..
Conventional milk, soy, and beer can contribute to gynecomastia. Chances increase during puberty.
Man boobs have multiple causes and the boobs are of different compositions. Assuming that the boobs are fatty then weight loss will work fine. However, if there is an increase in the ductal tissue then weight reduction may not be enough. Happily the most common cause of gynecomastia is the excessive estrogens present during early puberty. Given that you are a young male it is fair to assume that ducts will disappear with time and normalization of the hormones.
I should also point out that fat causes man boobs by increased estrogen production directly. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11511861
Another MAJOR cause in young males is chronic marijuana usage. Provided that this applies to you, cutting back on the 420 might help.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20393092
I’m 21 and have struggled with man boobs as long as I can remember. It’s by far what I think about the most when considering my body image. Everyone says it’s a matter of weight loss, but my experience suggests otherwise: until recently, I was a frequent runner and if anything underweight, however, the extra fat or swollen tissue around my pecs remained. Over the past 6 months I have put on A LOT of weight with Stronglifts and by simply eating more than I ever have. Currently, I can squat 265. Without a doubt, my chest looks stronger and bigger, but there is still that stubborn fat or whatever it is. It’s not really a matter of weight loss, I don’t believe, because I’m certainly not overweight. I’m totally out of ideas and would appreciate any ideas. Thanks!
I’m 5’8, 155lbs, ~18% BF and I’ve never done any Barbell lifting before, but have done various body part splits to both bulk and lose some fat, with average success.
Basically, I want to know what the guy featured in this article did. He’s lost loads of fat, but put on muscle as well (which I know isn’t really possible). Has he done this in two stages?
I don’t get it, if you eat at a caloric deficit then won’t your strength gains suffer? Should strength be a priority or fat loss because clearly the two goals cant be achieved simultaneously…
I’m the “StrongLifts Member Vlad”.
To whoever says soy contributes to gyne: I consumed a shitload of soy during my fat loss period because I’m lactose intolerant.
Calories in vs calories out. Train well, eat well, sleep well!
@Tom: I’m a BJJ practicioner too. In off-season, I dirty bulked to 88kg to be strong and gain some muscle, then I started cutting, and that above is the “end result”. Actually, in that picture, I was on day 3 of my other dirty bulk because there weren’t any competitions.
However: I did StrongLifts and Madcow (same lifts, but ramping sets instead of 5×5 same weight) and that’s about it. You are what you eat, so don’t expect to look better if you eat like a fatty.