Is the pec fly ruining my breasts?

M

MissKitten

New member
The past month I've noticed I'm losing quite a bit of fat from my breasts, which was good at first because I've always been too busty, but I've started to lose too much.

It suddenly occurred to me today while working out that it might be the pec fly exercises I've been doing. Does that make sense? It was when I added that to my routine that I started losing in my breasts.

Today I did three sets of 26 reps at 20 pounds. I know my upper chest is a lot leaner now. Should I stop these for awhile and see if it makes a difference?
 
Shouldn't make a difference...

If there is one thing I have learned in the past little while, and you read about it here all the time, spot reducing doesn't work. That said, your body will lose fat when and where it wants to. I am losing fat all over my body, but sadly none of it seems to be coming off of my trouble areas yet. Those will come eventually, but not much I can do to push it. In your case it could well be your body has decided it is time to reduce some excess fat from your chest. 3 sets of flies wont make your chest smaller in itself, but it will create a little more lean muscle, which is what you want to lose weight. But breasts are essentially just fat, so working the muscles wont directly affect their size at all. The fat will come off where and when it chooses, stopping pec flies wont change that.

sirant
 
Thanks for your reply, sirant. Logically I know fat doesn't turn into muscle, but I didn't start losing on my arms and chest until I started building muscle in those areas. It's strange.

I had a trainer tell me using lighter weights with higher repetition will burn fat, and higher weights with lower reps will build bulk. I've also read the former statement is a myth. I don't know who to believe!

Another muscle question: my goal weight is 150 because that's what I weighed in my early twenties and looked best at. But now that I'm lifting weights, would I weigh more at that same size? It's difficult for me to see myself objectively, and I can't go by clothing sizes because they have changed so much in the past 15 years.
 
good questions...

MissKitten said:
Thanks for your reply, sirant. Logically I know fat doesn't turn into muscle, but I didn't start losing on my arms and chest until I started building muscle in those areas. It's strange.

I had a trainer tell me using lighter weights with higher repetition will burn fat, and higher weights with lower reps will build bulk. I've also read the former statement is a myth. I don't know who to believe!

Another muscle question: my goal weight is 150 because that's what I weighed in my early twenties and looked best at. But now that I'm lifting weights, would I weigh more at that same size? It's difficult for me to see myself objectively, and I can't go by clothing sizes because they have changed so much in the past 15 years.
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Sadly I haven't much advice to give on weightlifting, because I too have heard both sides of the spectrum. I have most often heard in the past that high repetition and lower weights builds stregnth and endurance, causing weight loss, and high weight and low reps causes bulking and weight gain.

However now it seems more people are pushing heavy weights and less reps for weight loss. It is all very confusing really. I think the trick is just to find what works best for you with trial and error and stick with that.

But I think in the bigger picture, people like Steve and Leigh hit it right on the head with saiyng that bodybuilding and weight loss are 2 seperate entities that can't, or at least shouldnt be done together. Weight loss requires a calorie defecit to be successful and bulking up requires excess caloires to feed the muscle. As much as most of us are struggling to lose weight, guys like Steve are struggling to gain weight to reach their goals.

So light weights/high reps? Heavy weights/low reps? Not sure which one works best, as there are so many opinions out there. I think any full body resitance training routine will help in the long run, best to just pick the one that suits you best and that you can stick with.

I am currently doing a weight training program from Muscle and fitness magazine using free weights and body weight exercises. It takes about 30-40 minutes to do a full body workout 3 times a week, and it works very well. They reccomend for the free weights to go with about 85% of the maximum you can do and hit 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps. I really like the compound exercises since it shaves a lot of time off the total workout. And the body weight exercises are fantastic and have taught me how to get a great full body workout anywhere without needing any equipment and just a short amount of time. Who knew you could do pushups different ways and target different muscle groups with different resistance? For me it is working with what I have on hand and has left me more time and less need to physically get in to a gym to workout. Maybe it is not the ideal method, but so far so good.

I hope you find the best routine for yourself and have fun with it!

sirant
 
sirant said:
people like Steve and Leigh hit it right on the head with saiyng that bodybuilding and weight loss are 2 seperate entities that can't, or at least shouldnt be done together. Weight loss requires a calorie defecit to be successful and bulking up requires excess caloires to feed the muscle.
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Interesting. It's all so complicated, isn't it?

I initially lost weight by dropping calories and walking my kids to and from school, and the weight came of pretty steadily. As a Christmas present, I joined the gym and started a combination of cardio and weights, under the direction of one of their trainers.

I no longer watch what I eat (I try to eat healthy most of the time, and don't worry about, say, having fish and chips on Good Friday). Because of unrelated stress factors, however, I occasionally have trouble getting enough to eat. I go for lean meats, veggies, potatoes, rice and whole grains. I'll choose milk or water over pop, and mainly eat rye bread or whole wheat - no more white (although I haven't got my family to eat whole grain pasta yet!).

I've only dropped about 14 pounds since late December, but my body is so much tighter and I've gone from a size 14 to an eight.

The only times when the weight has dropped on the scale were when I exercised less and/or ate more. The first drop occurred during a two-week period when I hurt my back and had to eat more to be able to stomach my medication and couldn't exercise at all (I couldn't even reach down to pick laundry up off the floor).

I'm trying not to worry about the scale so much because I do feel better and stronger.
 
MissKitten said:
The only times when the weight has dropped on the scale were when I exercised less and/or ate more. The first drop occurred during a two-week period when I hurt my back and had to eat more to be able to stomach my medication and couldn't exercise at all (I couldn't even reach down to pick laundry up off the floor).
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This seems to be a common pattern that I haven't seen a clear explanation for yet. I know there are some people here (including myself) who are making the most of it by having one day a week of deliberately eating more. The theory is that it stops the body getting into a routine that can help it to hang onto excess fat, but I haven't seen anyone about to explain exactly why that happens. As long as you're losing wieght (and getting into those smaller clothes) that's the important thing. And I do sympathise with what you wrote in your first post. When I lose weight, my bust is usually the first thing to go, and there isn't all that much of it to start with :rolleyes:
 
Ugh...I'm right there w/ you hun...my breasts are the FIRST to go...it sucks and I've almost decided if my breasts keep shrinking I'm just going to suck it up and be happy w/ my large thighs and big butt, just to keep my breasts!! I guess I would rather have some curves then look like a pencil.
 
:p Ali

I've been the opposite, with my bust and arms holding onto the weight the longest. I was bursting out of a DD bra and couldn't find anything bigger, so I was happy to lose there. It's the start of sagginess that bugs me.

I was pleased yesterday to finally be able to fit into an XL bathing suit top I've had for years, but the matching bottoms are way too huge.

I don't understand how I'm 170 and fitting into small and medium sizes.
 
Lynn, I hear you. Is your skin retaining it's elasticity at least? Mine gets kind of puckery, especially when I'm dehydrated. Maybe it's because I'm 40 and have breastfed two kids.

I used to have nice cleavage, but now notice my bust indents a bit at the top. I hate it! I'lll deal with it, but I hate it! :p
 
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