Can you reduce your breasts through targeted training? Experts explain whether and how it works.

"I breastfed today," my friend proudly tells me as soon as he walks through the door. He then presents me with his inflated torso. "Just a few more workouts and my small man boobs will soon be gone," he says with certainty. That makes me think. Can breast training influence the shape and growth of the breast? This article is about whether it is so easy to reduce or otherwise change a woman's breasts.

Trigger Warning: This article will cover, among other things, weight loss and body awareness. If this is currently triggering you, save this article and come back when you feel better.

The Myth of the Female Breast: Can You Train It Smaller?

First of all, we have to dispel a myth that is still widespread. Many women are reluctant to lift their chests with weights at the gym or at home. They are afraid that their breasts might shrink from such training. But that's a myth that's completely wrong.

Women cannot simply reduce their breasts with targeted dumbbell or weight training. The anatomy of the female breast explains why this is not possible.

The anatomy of the female breast

To understand why you can't just shrink the breasts like that, we need to take a close look at the anatomy of the female breast. The breast is made up of different types of tissue: glandular, connective, muscular and adipose (see below).

The connective tissue: The connective tissue is the basis of every breast. It is responsible for holding the chest together. Depending on how strong or elastic it is, your breast will be firmer or softer.

Muscle Tissue: The muscle tissue lies behind the actual breast. The more trained the chest is, the larger the muscle tissue grows.
The chest muscles have several functions: They are responsible for pulling the arms towards the body and allowing them to rotate. It also helps with breathing.

Adipose tissue: Adipose tissue (shown here in yellow) is found throughout the breast. It serves as a cushion and to protect the glandular tissue.

Glandular tissue: The glandular tissue is the part of the breast that allows the breast to produce breast milk during pregnancy.

Breast reduction through chest training

So the answer is that you can't just shrink your breasts with just chest training. On the contrary: If the pectoral muscle enlarges, the breasts can even grow minimally.

If you want smaller breasts, you should reduce the fatty tissue in the breasts. The main way to lose fat is through a calorie deficit.

Sports scientist Jörn Giersberg explained to Fitbook magazine how chest training affects the size of the chest. You can't target fat loss from your chest.

However, you should focus on particularly large muscle groups when exercising. These burn the most energy and therefore the most fat. The leg muscles are an example of a particularly large muscle group. The pecs are also a fairly large muscle group that can burn a lot of fat. If you want to lose weight, chest training can actually help you.

women and weight training

So you can certainly rely on chest muscle training if you want to reduce your breasts in a natural way. Crossfit athlete Ann-Katrin Weber also confirms that the body burns more fat with larger muscles. Along with a healthy diet and enough cardio exercise, you can actually shrink your breasts by breaking down fat tissue.

The experts Weber and Giersberg also make it clear that it is impossible to reduce just the breasts while the rest of the body remains in its old form. If you lose weight, you will lose fat all over your body. Your breasts will get smaller, but they will (probably) also get less soft. The muscle and the lack of fat will make the chest harder.

Conclusion on breast reduction: A few days of breast reduction will not help much...

My friend is just as unlikely to get rid of his small "man boobs" by lifting a few weights in the gym as women can by training to make their breasts smaller. However, the training can lead to a general loss of fat, which can also make breasts a little smaller.

No matter which part of your body you want to change: It should always be a holistic matter. It is important that you give your body enough time to change and do not become impatient.

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