My photos 30 days after doing calisthenics

[gabrielsebastian74]

Im running two miles every other day. Full speed then walking every 400 yards or so, or until my heart doesnt feel like its gonna burst out of my chest.
I do 300 pushup heavily declined, feet on a 3 foot high stool. Closed, wide, spartan and normal. I do Should shrugs, tons of back including back pullups from pullups and chinups.
I beleive if I grow my upper body as a whole, the skin will fill out better incteaed of tryign to diet and look like adeflated balloon.

Here are some before and afters, tell me what you guys think.

[Raider Fan]

I think you are the perfect example that all the exercise in the world simply can't correct gynecomastia.  Your body looks great, but it does appear (especially in the second pic) that you have some mild gyne.  And all the exercise cannot do anything about the slightly developed breast tissue that is underneath your breast.  Surgery is the only way to correct established gyne. 

[gabrielsebastian74]

Im oonly in for 30 days, im going to go a straight 90 days before I consider gyno surgery.
My last pic is me now, I still have belly fat and fat depsotis, im going to deplete them by doing what I can.
Maybe surgery is my only option. But im going to make sure I did everything I could.

My first and second pic was 30 days ago.

[Raider Fan]

I've always thought the following was one of the best examples of why established gyne doesn't go away.....

Do you think a female's breasts would disappear with exercise?  Of course they wouldn't.  They might become smaller with lots of weight loss and/or exercise, but they would NEVER disappear completely.  Why?  Because they have breast tissue within their breast that has been stimulated and become fibrous.  Once established, it would be a physical impossibility for this tissue to simply go away.  It's not fat, it's actual growth of tissue.  

Gyne is no different.  Men are no more capable of losing our stimulated, fibrous breast tissue that has been established for 2 years or more than a female would "lose" her breasts.  And also consider that if gyne was simply due to being overweight, there would be many, many more guys around that have obvious gyne.  But most guys who are obese or overweight are just that.  Most do NOT have gyne, even though they might be fat.  

These boards are literally full of guys who have desperately tried to hit the weights and lose some weight.....sometimes to an obsessive degree.  But in the end, they find that they still have gyne.  

That being said, your last pic does seem to look better than the second, but I suspect that's simply because you've lost fat and built muscle in your chest.  But if you do have established tissue underneath your nipples, the only way to get it out is to have it surgically removed.

[gabrielsebastian74]

Raider fan im not saying the gyne will go away, but there seems to be a pathology here that is apparent. I have yet to see a guy with six pack abs on here complaining about gyno. Yeah, some guys are "skinny" but you can visibly tell their body composition is still high in fat.

They are still soft, with small backs, thin arms, frail bodies and bellies.
Fat is important, but maybe adding a good amount of muscle would help.
As for female bodybuilders, there is no shortage of serious female bodybuilders that get breast implants because they have lost all their natural size.

[Raider Fan]

I have yet to see a guy with six pack abs on here complaining about gyno.

I've seen numerous guys with six pack abs (and more) complaining about gyne.  One of the gyne surgeons here that just retired dealt with many body builders over the years and he used to have pictures of these guys that were in fantastic shape, but had obvious gyne.  And yes, in some cases, it was quite pronounced.  I don't know if Dr. Jacobs has any pics of really fit guys on his site with gyne, but I suspect he does. 

Really, we actually all seem to agree on this subject.  We all agree that exercise is great, but ultimately, exercise and weight loss alone are incapable of correcting gynecomastia.  The body/chest will obviously look better with less fat and more muscle, but that will not necessarily make the gynecomastia look better.  It's well known that working out makes gyne even more prominent for some guys.  Not all, but some.  It's certainly not uncommon for that to happen.

In any event, let's all get in the best shape that we can.  No argument there.  And I assume that, in general, it makes for more satisfactory results AFTER surgery as well. 

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

The average guy who goes to work/school, has a family and other responsibilities, etc, may not have the time or dedication to work on his body through extreme diet and exercise.  That is why most guys don't walk around with well defined six packs.  Your body fat % has to be very low in order for them to show.  Yet many of these same guys have sufficient tissue on their chest that they want to get rid of -- that is where surgery can offer an answer.

Yes, I have a fair number of bodybuilders, some of whom have taken anabolic steroids and some not, who do have six pack abs AND gyne.  Surgery for them is the only answer to provide the cut and defined chest that they desire.

Dr Jacobs

[gabrielsebastian74]

Doctor, absolutely, and once I am there and hope to get there to a low body fat stage where I can display a more chiseled body, I will be looking at your work to see how I am going to remove the remaining tissue.
I do work long hours, yet knowing the long term effect of wanting to keep my body as healthy as possible.

And go for that good looking chest that help us feel better when looking in the mirror.

[thetodd]

I think youd be better off going on a cut diet to drop BF. Also jogging is way more beneficial than sprinting and walking its all about reaching a high heartrate and maintaining it.

I can see what your motivation is in losing bodyfat, but i think there is an ethos on here latley (passed on from bodybuilding forums) that the majority of gyne cases are down to laziness. When its breast tissue and it needs to be removed surgically.

Not to mention if you do reach your peak in fitness, your going to be unable to attend the gym for a few weeks so your muscle mass is going to decrease in that time. And as anyone whos had surgery knows the surgery is no picnic your chest will look swelled up for months and then youl have scar tissue to deal with.

In my eyes its better to have the surgery, recover then work on the physique. But everyone has there own process

[robirobi]

To me you look fine. I agree your chest is a little full but in the whole most guys with no gyne would be envious of you. I would not shave my chest though. I think chest hair makes for a more masculine chest and helps a little with gyne. Don't listen to people that clearly have developed an obsession with it. To me most cases are manageable. Maybe your chest won't be your best feature but no one is perfect. I do understand with guys with big ones feel really bad about their bodies but minor cases should be left alone.

[McGilli]

I just wanted to say to the OP that if I had his chest, I would not have had surgery.

I understand the desire to be perfect, cuz I have that in me. But sometimes I see people upset with their gyno, and I look at it and I wish I had that 'problem' instead of what I had.

Anyways - I'm a huge advocate of working out and exercise. I have a six pack, and BF is low single digits - but needed surgery recently.

I posted pictures in my STORY thread.

Keep the exercise going.

BUT be careful of one thing. I was at a point where everything looked ok becasue of my working out. But I thought that burning thelast few pounds of fat off my body would make it look even better and it made things worse.

Cuz then, like the bodybuilders, you just see all ripped muscles and these little fat patches.

either way, good luck - I think you look great.

[robirobi]

I think you look great and only people with an obsession with gynecomastia are likely to notice. To the rest of the people you are just a muscular guy with a big chest. The last thing I would think seeing you is breasts! I think support groups can be good but also be aware that most of us here obsessed about it as much as you did so this is the last place you should come to ask if you look ok or not! :-)