In a nutshell, you need to do cardiovascular exercises, compound lifts and high intensity interval training. Simply put, lift heavy stuff and do sprints.
Remember, you cannot spot reduce fat. That’s why cranking out a bunch of chest focused workouts (pushups, bench press, etc) has proven ineffective for many men trying to get rid of their man boobs. Now, those exercises are great for muscle building, especially in the chest area, but they don’t burn fat like good ‘ol cardio. Below we will discuss all three of the ingredients needed to lose man boobs with exercise.
Cardiovascular Workouts – Cardio is basically doing any movement that elevates your heart rate and increases blood circulation throughout the body. Some benefits of doing cardio workouts are increased heart health and boosting your metabolism. An increased metabolism not only makes maintaining your weight much easier, but it also helps with losing weight. Cardio exercises include running/jogging, cycling, swimming, kickboxing and anything else that gets your heart elevated and leaves you panting. If you need a more low-impact form of exercise, you can try out elliptical trainers which can still provide you with a challenging cardio workout.
Compound Lifts – The cornerstone of hypertrophy! In relation to isolated lifts, compound lifts involve many larger muscle groups which allow them to target more muscle fibers. Not only that, but in a single session you only need to do 3-5 of these moves so you end up reducing the amount of time you spend in the gym. But the most important part is that compound lifts are known to provide the greatest release of anabolic hormones in the body, namely testosterone and growth hormones. The top compound lifts that you need to incorporate into your workout routine are: Squats, Deadlifts, Dips, Pullups/Chinups, Bench-Press, Rows and Military/Overhead press. A great program if you are new to the art of strength training that I highly recommend is Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. But forget buying the book, check out this thread on BodyBuilding.com for the whole program laid out for free. Another option here is to build up a calisthenics routine which would be just as beneficial.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – HIIT is like cardios older, more sadistic brother. As the name states, these workouts are very high intensity and challenging to even the highest level athletes. Also, compared to normal cardio, HIIT will take less time and burn fat a lot more efficiently. The main concept is to train with intervals of different speeds/intensities. For example, sprinting for 10 seconds and then walking for 30 seconds. The best thing with HIIT is the variety you can incorporate into your routine since it can be done both aerobically with cardio and anaerobically with weights in the gym. One of the most famous HIIT workout programs, Insanity, has helped change the lives and shapes of many people all over the world (including me!) which proves how efficient it is in melting fat and toning your body. It also improves metabolism, but unlike other cardio it builds explosive power at the same time.
Exercising is known to boost your mood due to the endorphins that are released while you workout (ever heard of a runner’s high?) What’s even better, boosting your mood will lower your stress levels which in turn will lower cortisol levels. High levels of cortisol will cause lower levels of testosterone.