Overview
Gynecomastia or enlarged male breasts mostly occur due to an excessive amount of breast glandular tissue or the presence of fat on the chest.
Enlarged breasts can make you feel self-aware or awkward about your appearance. It can also lead to mental distress and a lack of self-confidence.
Whether gynecomastia can be resolved with regular exercise depends on the underlying cause of the condition.
Sometimes, the enlargement is caused due to a condition called pseudogynecomastia where fat tissues accumulate on the chest. The condition can be improved with regular push-ups, aerobic activities, and other workouts. However, exercise alone cannot help you improve your appearance. Along with regular exercise, you need to follow a healthy and balanced diet.
Gynecomastia caused by excessive glandular tissues or hormonal imbalances requires proper treatment with medications or surgery. Exercise and diet can help you tone your chest muscles to some extent but cannot resolve the condition completely.
Best exercises for gynecomastia
Five best exercises to reduce gynecomastia:
Push-ups
Push-ups are an old-fashioned exercise that increases stamina, tightens the chest muscles, and reduces body weight.
Follow these steps:
- Lie down on your stomach
- Keep your hands straight beside your shoulders
- Your neck, head, spine, and knees should be in a straight line
- Straighten your arms and push your body up above the ground
- Keep your back and legs straight
- Now slowly bend the elbows and lower your body towards the ground
- Now reverse the movement and extend your arms to raise the body to its original position
- Continue this exercise multiple times
Bench presses
Bench presses are an excellent exercise to tone your chest muscles. They are of three types – flat, incline, and decline. You can perform a combination of these three types for best results. To perform this exercise, you will need a weight bench and a barbell.
Follow these steps:
- Lie down on the weight bench
- Hold the barbell at your chest level
- Place the hands 2 to 3 feet apart on the bar
- Straighten the arms and lift the bar
- Slowly bring the bar toward your chest
- Push the bar straight up in a slow and steady manner
- Keep your arms straight while performing this exercise
Dumbbell chest press
This is an easy exercise and helps to strengthen and tighten your chest muscles as well as your triceps and shoulders.
Follow these steps:
- Lie down on a soft ground or a mat
- Hold the dumbbell tightly with your right hand
- Place your left hand on your hips to ensure that the hip is stable
- Slowly extend the right arm with the dumbbell over the chest
- Now gradually bring down the elbow so that the dumbbell is one or two inches away from the chest
- Reverse the movement and continue the exercise
Walking or running
A 20-minute walking or running daily can help reduce body weight. If running is challenging for you, start with brisk walking 3 to 4 days a week. Gradually increase the duration and extend it up to 5 to 6 days a week.
Rowing
It is one of the best exercises to reduce chest fat. If you are a beginner, start with a 10-minute session and gradually increase the time up to 30 minutes each day.
The best diet for gynecomastia
Along with regular exercises, it is important to follow a balanced diet to reduce overall body fat. However, you should also focus on adequate protein intake to help in muscle buildup.
Cut out on foods that are high in calories but low in nutritional value like sugary beverages, soda, and fatty foods.
Foods that improve testosterone levels and are good for your overall health:
Foods rich in anti-inflammatory properties
Citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, and sweet potatoes have anti-inflammatory properties and reduce inflammation and tenderness that can lead to gynecomastia.
Healthy fats
Healthy fats like polyunsaturated fats can reduce cholesterol levels and boost testosterone production. Include foods like avocados, coconut, olives, butter, almonds, onions, garlic, raisins, pecans, and ginger in your regular diet.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D boosts immunity, and testosterone levels in the blood, and increases sperm count. Foods that are rich in Vitamin D are dairy products, mushrooms, eggs, trout, cereals, etc.
Zinc acid
Zinc stabilizes the testosterone levels. Your daily diet should have an adequate amount of zinc to replenish the testosterone in the bloodstream. Foods that contain high amounts of zinc acids are yogurt, spinach, nuts, cashews, cheese, oysters, salmon, pumpkin seeds, etc.
Fresh juice
Freshly squeezed juices help to reduce body fat and detoxify the body. Juices of amla, carrots, pomegranate, and cucumber boost immunity and keep the body hydrated, especially after a rigorous exercise routine.
Stop your suffering NOW
Don't just jump into a surgery because your doctor is advising you to go for it. Consult our doctors to know if you need a surgery at all. Rest assured, we WON'T recommend you surgery unless it's the last resort.
