bench = bad

[djillusive]

I recently discovered that doing flat bench and decline bench is BAD.. I have been consistenly working on flat and decline for the past 2-2.5 years.  What should I do to fix this?  If I stop the flat/decline bench in my routine will the gyne go down a little bit?  I know I should focus on the other muscles more, but is there anything else I can do?

[c3ntralp3rk]

well see, the whole theory behind flat/decline benches being bad is that - the glandular tissue from gyne tends to rest on top of the pectorial muscles. so when you work out your pecs, your pecs with grow - in turn pushing the gland out even more..

in my case however, when i worked out, my gyne situation got much better. maybe it was also the age (i started working out around age 17) - so maybe the gyne got better naturally.. didn't disappear altogether, i still have a bit of gland left, and hope to get it operated in the next couple of months.

my advise is.. if you're focusing on building your body.. you have to build a proportionate physique.. you can't have bulging biceps, and a chisseled back.. but no chest.. its just gonna look awkward..

how old are you? i know that its expensive as h3ll but, are you considering surgery??

[djillusive]

I'm 20 (almost 21), I started workin out when I was 17 as well, and I started doing declines maybe 2 years ago.  I do usually work every muscle group during my work out routines, but I have seen no improvement whatsoever in my lower chest, the rest of my chest is pretty developed, but the lower part is just flabby as hell

[c3ntralp3rk]

heh. i hear you.  well, the lower chest is probably 'flabby' due to the fact that theres gland + fat over there. i used to think that doing cardio would help, and yeah, sure it does help.. however theres nothing you can do (non surgical) to get rid of the gland..

the only option is surgery. where are you located? if you post your location under the 'gyne talk' or 'stories' section, i'm sure people would be more than happy to help you out (regarding finding a good surgeon).

goodluck!

[djillusive]

my doctor told me that I should drop about 20 lbs before considering surgery, and that's actually the path that I'm heading towards now.  I understand that cardio will not get rid of the gyne comptely, but I will continue to go with my cardio routine to minimize it as much as possible as well as losing fat all around.  I live in the Chicaoland area and I have read posts with people suggesting certain surgeons in my area, so I am sure I have a good idea of who to go to  Are you planning on gettin surgery any time soon?  

[sadgyneguy]

year 2000, i tried to go to a gym to get rid of my chest (i dont know the term gynecomastia yet before). then after a month, i notice my gyne becoming worst because of doing bench press and flyes.

jan 15, 2005, i have my lipo, but still didnt get rid of my chest. so i tried to purchase bench press set and decided to do my work-outs at home. then after 1 month, it became worse one again. omg, i think the gland is being pushed by the muscles underneath it.

[KryptoKnight]

I honestly would love to stop benching to reduce the size on my chest but I can never get myself to do it.  I can't go to the gym and NEVER hit my chest, it just doesn't sound right.  I would love to stop working out altogether, or atleast never have started even though I might not mean that.  Once i started with this bodybulding stuff I can't stop.  And it all started from this gyno bullshit.  I can never stop Bench press because I would not feel complete, all I can hope for is surgery or for some miracle drug to be put out...

[AngryPuppy]

Hi guys,

yeah, I agreed. Going to the gym and not doing bench doe snot sound right. However, I do understand our buddies concern.

As gyno will not come out with the gym, no matter how much you push it, my approach is to make the gyno into "pecs". How? Working the whole body, inclusing the chest area. No matter what I do, my chest size will be the same, so instead of having a  flabby chest, I wish to have a "hard gyno". Now, combine this with a well shaped back and arms. At the end you will have a good body and you will just give the impression of having a larger than usual "pecks".

Correct me if I am wrong.

[bignipCT]

Hi guys,

yeah, I agreed. Going to the gym and not doing bench doe snot sound right. However, I do understand our buddies concern.

As gyno will not come out with the gym, no matter how much you push it, my approach is to make the gyno into "pecs". How? Working the whole body, inclusing the chest area. No matter what I do, my chest size will be the same, so instead of having a  flabby chest, I wish to have a "hard gyno". Now, combine this with a well shaped back and arms. At the end you will have a good body and you will just give the impression of having a larger than usual "pecks".

Correct me if I am wrong.

agree 100%

[cybertit]

Same problem with me. I started working out my chest really hard especially on flat bench thinking that if i build enough muscle it would "stretch" out my chest to the point that it would lessen my gyne, but it ended up doing the opposite and made it worst. I then stopped working out my chest and in combination with lypo and some gland removal it has gotten better but still havent achieved that "male looking chest" yet. I need to wait a couple months to see the full results of the surgery but in the meantime I have been dieting and working really hard on back,shoulders, arms and some cardio. Results so far have been great, and even though my gyno is still obvious having a bigger upper body and arms really helps remove focus from my chest. Lately I have been contemplating doing limited chest exercises so that my chest muscles dont go to waste, but I am concerned that it will just make it worst again. My conclusion so far is probably to do bench incline only and just light weights and high number of reps.

[Worrier]

I've been pumping iron for about six months now. I followed what people said on this site and lfet off the flat benches. I have done incline benches instead as well as flat dumbell flys as part of my chest workout. Notably I have done a lot of pressups which tend to hit the lower chest and it has not made my gyno worse. Proably because pressups is more of a muscle endurance exercise and not a muscle builder.
        I have had good results this way and with everything else i have done my chest looks much better. If it wasn't for that darn puffy nip

[LeftNip]

I am 30, went surfing twice around labor day 2005, and chafed at least one of my nipples.  I can't remember which.  (not clue if this could have caused this).  Around the same time, I decided to start working out again.  (5 years of renovating houses, and now travelling for work, both kept me from the gym for 5 years).  I got married about 18 months ago too.  My wife is Italian, so I actually increased my weight from ~165 - ~175, and started getting a gut.  

Being tired of running, after doing two marathons, I wanted to go build some muscle mass again, and try to get lean.  I re-opened my YMCA membership and, I started doing 4-8 rep sets at the bench.  

Now, only a couple weeks later, and I have gynecomastia in my left nipple.  

I see there are 4 types of gynecomastia.  It looks like Type IV is caused by "hypertrophy of the pectoral muscle".  But I can't find anything else on type IV.

I'm not going through puperty (type I).  I'm not 65, going through andreopause (type II).  I'm not obese (type III).  

Could my recent workouts have actually caused this onset of gynocomastia????  

So maybe it is true that bench = bad????.    

Maybe increase the reps, and lower the weight at the bench?  Does anyone know????

Thanks.

[Worrier]

If you increase the reps and lower the reps at the bench you will have less muscle bulk on the chest.

i do three sets of twelve reps  on an incline bench  as part of my workout and it has helped  my gyno  as i have built some bulk on the upper chest.i stayed  away from flat benches.


I seriously doubt your workouts have caused the gyno. It is not listed as a cause anywhere providing you have not been using steriods of course.if you are sure it is gyno it might be worth getting it checked out by a doctor just to make sure nothing is wrong.

[LeftNip]

I found out it was gynecomastia by going to my doctor about the tender lump, getting referred to have a mamogram (which hurt like hell on the left) which was not too terribly hard on the left chest, but was rediculous trying to get some skin and no muscle under that thing.  The radiologist looked at the x-ray and said it's gynecomastia, and he could even see a little forming in the right side too.  He said it was basically dense breast tissue.  He talked to me for about 30 seconds, and then I guess he moved onto women who might actually have breast cancer.  

I am heading to the lab for blood work right now.  I guess to see if anything else is out-of-whack.  

Do most guys find out what causes this?

BTW:  If you research, you can see that there are four types (I = puberty, II = old men, III = obesity, IV = "hypertrophy of the pectoral muscle")    

I was looking to see if anyone knows what this really means?  Are they saying you can appear to have breasts if your muscles are huge?  Or are they saying that rapid growth of the muscle can cause gynecompastia?  

BTW: I've never taken any drugs (other than pot in HS & college).  I've alwayss been very happy with how fast I can get back muscle mass & desity though.  Since lifting a lot during puberty, I've always had a muscluar chest, just much denser when lifting.

[LeftNip]

OK.  My blood work came back normal, but I did not get teh Testosterone, Estrogen and LDH (or something like that) tested, so I went back for more blood work after meeting with my doctor again.   Anyway, the important part is what he told me.  He does not know the case of this, but he suspects that is may go away (since it is still small).  I understand the pain will go away when it stops growing.  He suspects it is probably due to a combination of factors including:
- Tearing my nipple surfing around labor day
- Then starting to lift weights in attempts to bulk quickly.  I was doing max weight 4-8 reps only.  

So he suggested:
- STOP TOUCHING IT.  Touching it will make it grow, like a child sucking it's mother's breast, which causes the production of Milk.
- Take Ibuprophen to reduce swelling.
- Loose Fat (which stored Estrogen) Do cardio, but don't run in the cold if it may irritate the nipple.  Chafing is bad.
- Stop trying to bulk up.  Type IV gyne is from "Hypertrophy of the Pectoral Muscle".  Take it easy, and do hig reps rather than high weight - also burns fat.  

I hope this helps me.  I'm sure you'll hear back from me if it does not.  

Good luck to all!