SUMMER IS (APPARENTLY) almost here so if you dread the sight of what’s under your t-shirt, spare a thought for the rest of us…
Man boobs are the bane of our lives and as you well know by now, contributing factors include poor diet and poor training technique.
Or no training, or no technique at all.
Poor posture is another cause but some strength exercises can radically improve that.
For now we’re going to concentrate on three things: increasing the intensity of cardio workouts; cleaning up the diet; and introducing more strength exercises.
One is as good as the other, none is better than the last so for example, with regard to your abs, all the sit-ups in the world won’t give you a six-pack if your diet isn’t clean and you’re not getting some cardio in there as well.
The same applies for man boobs….
So step one, HIIT the road
HIIT stands for High intensity Interval Training. We’ll spare you the sport science lecture but basically, a HIIT session can be done during any form of cardiovascular exercise, like running, swimming and cycling and all you do is really exert yourself for 30-90 seconds, then either rest or go slow for 30-90 seconds, before going at it again….for an hour or so….
It’s all about starting and stopping, just like doing multiple sets in a weight-training protocol.
The intensity you work at is critical. Some experts say it needs to be 100% but anything above 75% is deemed sufficient.
What’s important is you push yourself hard enough to feel your muscles burn, where you’d have great difficulty keeping up that pace for more than 2-3 minutes.
HIIT sessions done at least twice a week will greatly enhance your chances of losing your flabby slabs of unwanted fat.
Clean up that diet
No less important than the above is a squeaky clean diet. Cut right down on wheat, white bread, kebabs, crisps, all the bad stuff. All the processed stuff.
Why? Sugary foods cause a spike in the hormone insulin. This is the prime regulator of fat storage in your body and it inhibits the enzymes that are required for burning fat in your body. So when your insulin levels are high, your body simply can’t burn fat.
Instead, consume more meats, chicken, fish, veggies and fruits.
Cakes and cookies are out, avocados and nuts are in, but you knew all that anyway…
Lift more…
Weight training exercises help you to lose your man boobs in a couple of different ways:
They help you grow muscles, which can help reduce the appearance of man boobs and secondly, having more muscle mass increases your metabolic rate, which helps you to burn more fat at rest.
Another point which is impossible to ignore is that testosterone is the most important hormone when it comes to losing man boobs. How much muscle you grow and how much testosterone your body releases depends on the level of resistance you use … so up those weights.
The key is to lift heavier weights and target the big muscle groups in the body – not just the chest. We’re talking quads, hamstrings and glutes.
