Man Boobs

Gumbyman

Hi,

I have a touch of man boobs that I would very much like to get rid of. I went on a fitness drive about 6 months ago and got in shape a bit but then fell off the fitness wagon and they came back worse than ever. I've started going to the gym now again (mostly cardio stuff - running, exercise bike and rowing machine) and that's great for overall body buzz. But I'd like to know what sort of exercise or weights I should be doing to lose the man boobs and a slight paunch?

I have dumbells but tbh don't know how to use them properly and just do the biceps thingy like you see on the telly. Sometimes I lie down on my back and bring the dumbells out as if I'm on acrucifix then bring them back up to meet high over my chest.

I do standard sit ups but I know there are probably better ones to work the stomach - any place I can find any decent descriptions or diagrams? I read somebody here mentioning "Bench crunches" but have no idea what these are.

I know diet is a massive part so here is my diet and routine:

Breakfast: Toasted banana sandwich with maple syrup (brown bread).
Lunch: Whatever is on in the canteen really but lately trying to cut out wedges/chips. Usually a good roast with spuds and veg. That sort of thing. No more desserts.
Dinner: At about 8:00 or 8:30 I have a blt sandwich or a toasted sandwich (cheese & onion) with noodles.

I've cut out all snacks and I drink about 2 litres of water a day while I'm at work but fek all once I go home.

Gym routine: 10 minutes exercise bike, 15 mins running, 5 minutes rowing then 10 minutes on either the stepper thing or the weights machines.
Walk 20 mins to work and back every weekday.
Weekends tend to be not as healthy but not a ridiculous amount of beer these days.

I read in the sticky about the Carb cutoff which is very interesting but what else can I eat at about 8 which is protein based, filling and cheap (a bit skint at the minute).

Apologies for my ignorance here - I'm sure I've probably said a lot of stupid things but I'm eager to learn!

Thanks in advance.

Gumby.

Gumbyman

I meant to add that I am about 6' (actually measured this morning and I was just over - am I still growing??!!) and weigh 11.5 stone (just under) and am 26.

Thanks again!

nesf

Gumbyman wrote:

I meant to add that I am about 6' (actually measured this morning and I was just over - am I still growing??!!)

Your height will vary depending on what time of day you measure yourself at. I'm 6'1" when I wake up and just under 6' 1/2" when I'm going to bed at night. It's got to do with your joints compressing over the day due to the force exerted by your weight on them and them "expanding" while you're lying down to sleep at nigth when there's no longer the same pressure on them. That could be what's confusing you.

I think (but I could be wrong) that your weight affects how big the change is.

yomchi

Just over 6ft and weighing 11.5st sounds quite lean!

Anyway, here's the damning truth;

Your diet is atrocious! Not being a smart bum or anything but my two boxers get fed better meals .
Well at least you've made the start. I might hazard a guess and assuming with your height and weight ratio being as it is - you drank/drink alot?
High levels of beer can cause man boobs due to the estrogen promoting hops that exist in it.
Your exercise routine is also less than optimal for serious progress.
There is plenty of advice in the stickies about the kind of structure you should have in your routine and whats good for your diet.
Other protein foods which are good to eat at night are egg whites, whey protein and the likes of tofu.

Best of luck!

BossArky

Tuna is full of protein and cheap.

Back and trap exercises will pull your shoulders back and cause your chest to be a bit tighter..

justsomebloke

Ok as Jon has already stated your diet is shocking. If this is the sort of diet you followed the last time and just did cardio workouts as well truthfully I am not surprised that when you fell off the wagon you ended up in an even worst state then when you started. Basically there is feck all protein in your diet that would even try and help you to retain lean mass and this coupled probably with HIT cardio probably further depleted your lean body mass. So although you would of lost weight the first time around you would of lost too high a % of lean body mass which means your daily calorific needs would of gone way down so when you fell off the band wagon your body was less able to use the amount of calories you where putting into it causing you to put on much more weight then you had at the beginning. This also would of effected the rate at which you where losing weight at the end of your first diet as the lack of lean body mass would of made it harder to loss weight as your base metabolic rate would have dipped quite a bit

So what is your diet missing well basically nearly most of the stuff you should be eating. So start eating plenty of fruit and veg, get a lot more protein into you and also get good fats into you as well.

Other then that make sure you are doing plenty of weights as well as the cardio to help maintain as much lean body mass as possible if not even add some, thus making weight loss even easier

Gumbyman

Lads, thank you very very much. I've learned a lot from this. I had no IDEA about lean mass and all that sort of thing. JSB your post has opened my eyes and now I think I actually get it. Thanks! Low lean mass = less muscle = lower metabolism = harder to burn fat. Undoes the good of exercise!! Lean mass comes from proteins. So unless I eat proteins the exercise I'm doing wont build up muscle, which is used to burn fat. Class! So simple!!

I didn't think my diet was great but now I see it as clear as day as being pretty poor for what I want. Tuna salads and egg salads will fill the gap in the evenings. Going to stock up on chicken as much as I can too.

Two queries - when you say egg whites - is egg yolk bad? Hard boiled eggs are ok yeah?
What is a back and trap exercise?
Is there

Thanks for the kick in the arse and the education. Seriously appreciated! I'm going to give it a good lash this time. It's like giving up the fags - don't know how many times I tried and failed but I kept trying and haven't smoked in years now.

Jon - you were right - I used be a pretty heavy drinker but not so much these days. Still enjoy a few pint at weekends though. Is there any beer/stout that doesn't use hops? I presume I have to say goodbye to the Guinness?

Degsy

Gumbyman wrote:

Lads, thank you very very much. I've learned a lot from this. I had no IDEA about lean mass and all that sort of thing. JSB your post has opened my eyes and now I think I actually get it. Thanks! Low lean mass = less muscle = lower metabolism = harder to burn fat. Undoes the good of exercise!! Lean mass comes from proteins. So unless I eat proteins the exercise I'm doing wont build up muscle, which is used to burn fat. Class! So simple!!

I didn't think my diet was great but now I see it as clear as day as being pretty poor for what I want. Tuna salads and egg salads will fill the gap in the evenings. Going to stock up on chicken as much as I can too.

Two queries - when you say egg whites - is egg yolk bad? Hard boiled eggs are ok yeah?
What is a back and trap exercise?
Is there

Thanks for the kick in the arse and the education. Seriously appreciated! I'm going to give it a good lash this time. It's like giving up the fags - don't know how many times I tried and failed but I kept trying and haven't smoked in years now.

Jon - you were right - I used be a pretty heavy drinker but not so much these days. Still enjoy a few pint at weekends though. Is there any beer/stout that doesn't use hops? I presume I have to say goodbye to the Guinness?

Swap the beer for something less fattening.Say Gin and slimline tonic or Jack daniels with diet coke.The amount of weight i gained from drinking beer is unbelievable,its empty calories that goes straight to the belly and the moobs even though the rest of you may be relatively skinny.You should really cut it out altogether for six weeks or so and then have the odd one when you'v eslimmed down.

Gumbyman

OK I've given this some thought and here is my schedule for tomorrow (gym day - 4 days a week). Does this sound about right or am I missing something? Non gym days will be the same except for later get-up time and no smoothie or bananas. Thanks!

07:20 Get up.
07:21 50 Situps
07:25 Weights
07:30 Toast & tuna
07:30 20 minute walk to gym
08:00 Gym work out (40 min cardio followed by 10 min weights)
09:00 Fruit Smoothie
10:30 Banana
12:30 Broccoli Soup & Salad (lettuce, tomoto, peppers, chicken)
17:00 Walk home from work (20 minutes)
17:30 50 Situps
17:35 Toast & peanut butter
20:00 Hard boiled egg & lettuce & cheese & McCambridge/Rivita
22:00 50 Situps, some weights then bed.

rubadub

Gumbyman wrote:

OK I've given this some thought and here is my schedule for tomorrow (gym day - 4 days a week). Does this sound about right or am I missing something? Non gym days will be the same except for later get-up time and no smoothie or bananas. Thanks!

07:20 Get up.
07:21 50 Situps
07:25 Weights
07:30 Toast & tuna
07:30 20 minute walk to gym
08:00 Gym work out (40 min cardio followed by 10 min weights)
09:00 Fruit Smoothie
10:30 Banana
12:30 Broccoli Soup & Salad (lettuce, tomoto, peppers, chicken)
17:00 Walk home from work (20 minutes)
17:30 50 Situps
17:35 Toast & peanut butter
20:00 Hard boiled egg & lettuce & cheese & McCambridge/Rivita
22:00 50 Situps, some weights then bed.

Swap the early situps with press ups, the middle ones with squats or just more pushups, and then pushups again. Situps are not that useful at all, doing pushups works the abs too. If only working with bodyweight pressups and squats are a lot better. And do them to failure, try and do 1 extra each day. I still have some moobs, probably from all the beer. But because my chest is a little bigger now they do not look so bad. A guy I know heard I was lifting, and saw me one day and was saying "jesus the pecs on you", but it was mostly fat!, but because my belly was almost gone it doesnt look so bad, the bit of muscle behind them shapes them better.

Check out http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
for specific weighted exercises