Remember Seinfeld, the American sit-com during 90s? In one episode, The Doorman, Kramer developed a bra for guys who were suffering from too much breast development. Time has changed and we have advanced a lot, however, that’s one thing that keeps on bugging many men. If you are obese, you are one of the worst sufferers of gynecomastia or popularly called ‘man boobs’. Also if you are healthy, mobs or man boobs is a syndrome that many men are often unaware of.
It’s not that it’s a new issue just that till now no-one knew how to deal with it. We get in touch with Ashishh Gupta, Director at Gold’s gym Gurgaon for some insights.
Why it happens?
Man boobs is basically caused by hormonal imbalance between testosterone and estrogen. You would think, how can men produce estrogen? Well, you might not know, we begin as a woman in fetus, before male hormones kick in.
Hence, our bodies are a perfect blend of yin and yang. Estrogen gives women their curves and other secondary sex organs. Testosterone on the other hand, is responsible for men body hair, sex drive and so on.
When estrogen is produced more in men’s bodies, we have love handles, bigger hips and of course, moobs.
Prime reasons for man boobs
1. Being overweight (obese) at puberty.
2. Stress.
3. Consuming excessive junk food
4. Excessive aerated drinks.
5. Beer.
6. Soy (if consumed everyday)
This however, doesn’t give you a reason to think that you are not responsible for developing man boobs. Even though, hormonal imbalance is beyond your control, your lifestyle is the main reason behind it!
How to cure?
Your endless snacks on the sofa, no exercise and sitting in front of computer are together responsible for mobs.
But it’s still not late! So get up and take charge.
Firstly, get your tests done. If hormonal imbalance is detected, consult a doctor and get medicated.
That is half the battle won. Ok. 1/4th
Rest 3/4th won’t be easy, but will be totally worth it.
Start working out, increase your muscle mass and eat as healthy as possible.
Workouts for reducing man boobs
Cardio
Do a lot of cardio. Right from jogging on treadmill to biking, cardiovascular workout help you to reduce fat like nothing else. It boosts up your metabolism and help you lose fat.
Strength training
Strength training exercises doesn’t help you lose fat as fast as cardio, but definitely increases your lean muscle mass. Weight training helps you to shape your chest muscles, which stops it from loosing up.
You can consider doing Seated chest press, Cable crossovers, Incline flies, Bench Press and Push ups.