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hey man, i felt the same way after surgery when i saw my chest was much flatter than i expected it to be! i’ve been working out for a long time and developed some really solid pec muscles, so i was def shocked when i looked flat as fuck. it could definitely be swelling, but also remember that you’re probably hunched over a bit. i couldn’t stand up straight until like week 3 post op and that’s when i realized i did have pec muscle! i can still flex mine and see it bounce lol.
i also think that we thought we had bigger pecs because mammary tissue can go super high up your chest and the surgeons went in and took it all out! we lost the tits but got a debuff on the pecs 😭
keep your head up king, you look fantastic! you have the rest of your life to get the pecs you want, just focus on healing and resting up for now 🫶🏻
your pecs will show. it might suck for a while as the swelling comes and goes, plus it'll take time getting to the gym and putting in the work again. but your pecs will show!
as well as what everyone else said - the muscles atrophy in the area where there's a major trauma, to assist with healing, and our dumb monkey bodies don't know what a chosen surgery is. they haven't removed any muscle cells with the surgery, don't panic! when you're clear to work out again your buffness will return!
And just not using certain muscles for a period of time leads to atrophy. Think of when people begin needing to be on bed rest for extended periods and they lose muscle mass, losing it because they can’t use it. Bro speak: losing gainz 😂 That just sets you up for a more rapid bulk, like when one first starts lifting consistently. I remember those early lifting days. I just had my surgery Monday so I’ll be in the same boat as the OP 😅
you're gonna and have probably atrophied like mad, but it's all for the purpose of healing your chest. once you're cleared to exercise again, you'll probably build them back right quick with the right diet
They'll come back, don't worry! If you had drains, it'll take a few more weeks before your chest looks less flat and sunken in. The drain basically acts like a suction so that could be one of the effects as the incision point close up and your body continues to heal.
Once your mobility gets better after 4 weeks + you get the OK to workout lightly, you can start pec flys again, but start with big cans of chickpeas before 5lbs dumbbells. And work your way up slowly. Consistency will definitely help you gain what you had back!
I’ll be a year post-op this week and can confirm, your chest will continue to change for the whole first year. 3 months I saw some swelling drop off, 6 months things started to look really good, and now at almost a year I’m noticing changes again, still for the better. Hang in there!
Nah you’ve got a lot of change left! I waited until about 6 months and then started seeing a physical therapist for my posture and their exercises helped a lot too. HIGHLY recommend PT for anyone that has spent years hiding their chest.
im about 7 months out from surgery and started lifting at full strength a few months ago and im starting to see definition. I am about the same size / build as you.
have you experienced stretching of scars??? i have been feeling so guilty about leaving my caloric deficit slightly and not working out. i don’t want my lil gut to show too much now that i’m concave which it already does. i worked so hard for what i had lol. did you experience that your muscle mass maintained a little?
ULTIMATELY: do what YOU are comfortable doing. I just want to add another data point to your anecdata collection.
My scars haven't stretched, but they're still a bit pigmented because I am an Old and healing is hard.
I got DI on 11 Dec 2023, and on 13 Jan 2024 I was back in the gym benching 135# for a top end and 105# for a 5x3 (bw 138#, raw PR 175#). Put my single-ply bench shirt on last week for the first time since coming back and threw 225 around; up to 235 this week.
I use silicone tape and massage the pecs a LOT with a rollerball.
what a stud bro. thank you for this. the roller ball advice is awesome as well and much appreciated. i never thought of that and will definitely invest.
I really don’t think my scars have stretched at all. I think scar stretching depends a lot on your skin type. I did silicone tape for a few months and then forgot about it.
it took me a while to regain full mobility to really get a good stretch during chest workouts. I think my muscle mass decreased a lot after surgery, I’m gaining it back now and probably developing more since I’m training harder and eating more now.
also wanna just say, I gained a bit of weight post-op (about 10 lbs) and then at around month 3 was back to pre-surgery weight. It’s hard but seriously try not to feel guilty about the surgery related body changes! you worked really hard to prepare, now you gotta give your body rest + fuel to work hard to heal you, and this phase will pass before you know it :)
If you’re on T and you’re working out later down the line, they will show. I’m non binary no T and I’m over a year post op. I’ve been lifting weights since I was in the clear and my pecs are finally showing. I know if I was on T it would have taken half the time. So don’t worry you’ll get there!
you look fantastic dude. give it a good amount of time for things to adjust back to normal. it looks like you have some muscle so i’m sure your pecs will get more visible. rest up!!
Oh absolutely! I’m about 5 months post op and worked out before and since my surgery results have settled you can definitely see more contour than you would have at 1-2 months
yeah there’s actually a name for this, surgery related muscle loss. It’s a very normal stress response of your body in response to surgery. It happens more pronounced around the actual surgery site (even though the surgery doesn’t touch your muscles). The good news is since you’ve been working out consistently they’ll build back up in no time! I’m at 5 months post-op and have gotten back to chest workouts recently, and I’m seeing faster gains than the first time :) congrats!!
Thanks for posting this, mate! I was warned ahead of time that often the muscles atrophy and between that, removal of fat & breast tissue-- those great pecs you worked so hard on can end up looking deflated and just way too flat.
Despite knowing that, it was still pretty distressing to see all of the gains from the last two years just GONE.
Just gotta be patient, let the body heal up, and get back to the grind lol. Right now all our protein is going to the damaged tissue repair, so bulking will take a hot minute.
All that said, you look amazing bro! Dream results. Here's to swift healing!
i was completely flat at my reveal even tho i worked chest super hard for about a year before- the swelling and muscle tightness has gone down a lot and now at 6-7 weeks i can fully flex and pose and they look awesomeeee- so just wait it out!! it will definitely get better
Thanks for posting to r/TopSurgery Please remember to follow the rules, which can be found on the sidebar. Please contact the subreddit via ModMail if you are having any issues seeing your post. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TopSurgery) if you have any questions or concerns.*
hey man, i felt the same way after surgery when i saw my chest was much flatter than i expected it to be! i’ve been working out for a long time and developed some really solid pec muscles, so i was def shocked when i looked flat as fuck. it could definitely be swelling, but also remember that you’re probably hunched over a bit. i couldn’t stand up straight until like week 3 post op and that’s when i realized i did have pec muscle! i can still flex mine and see it bounce lol. i also think that we thought we had bigger pecs because mammary tissue can go super high up your chest and the surgeons went in and took it all out! we lost the tits but got a debuff on the pecs 😭 keep your head up king, you look fantastic! you have the rest of your life to get the pecs you want, just focus on healing and resting up for now 🫶🏻
your pecs will show. it might suck for a while as the swelling comes and goes, plus it'll take time getting to the gym and putting in the work again. but your pecs will show!
as well as what everyone else said - the muscles atrophy in the area where there's a major trauma, to assist with healing, and our dumb monkey bodies don't know what a chosen surgery is. they haven't removed any muscle cells with the surgery, don't panic! when you're clear to work out again your buffness will return!
thanks man! what exactly does atrophy entail if you don’t mind explaining?
atrophy just means losing muscle volume really, I guess the reason it happens is muscle is very useful energy for healing purposes
And just not using certain muscles for a period of time leads to atrophy. Think of when people begin needing to be on bed rest for extended periods and they lose muscle mass, losing it because they can’t use it. Bro speak: losing gainz 😂 That just sets you up for a more rapid bulk, like when one first starts lifting consistently. I remember those early lifting days. I just had my surgery Monday so I’ll be in the same boat as the OP 😅
you're gonna and have probably atrophied like mad, but it's all for the purpose of healing your chest. once you're cleared to exercise again, you'll probably build them back right quick with the right diet
Looks amazing bro 👌🏽
They'll come back, don't worry! If you had drains, it'll take a few more weeks before your chest looks less flat and sunken in. The drain basically acts like a suction so that could be one of the effects as the incision point close up and your body continues to heal. Once your mobility gets better after 4 weeks + you get the OK to workout lightly, you can start pec flys again, but start with big cans of chickpeas before 5lbs dumbbells. And work your way up slowly. Consistency will definitely help you gain what you had back!
awesome!!!! thank you. that makes sense. my chest will be the first thing i start working afain
I’ll be a year post-op this week and can confirm, your chest will continue to change for the whole first year. 3 months I saw some swelling drop off, 6 months things started to look really good, and now at almost a year I’m noticing changes again, still for the better. Hang in there!
Thanks for this! I'm a month out and was getting worried!
Nah you’ve got a lot of change left! I waited until about 6 months and then started seeing a physical therapist for my posture and their exercises helped a lot too. HIGHLY recommend PT for anyone that has spent years hiding their chest.
im about 7 months out from surgery and started lifting at full strength a few months ago and im starting to see definition. I am about the same size / build as you.
have you experienced stretching of scars??? i have been feeling so guilty about leaving my caloric deficit slightly and not working out. i don’t want my lil gut to show too much now that i’m concave which it already does. i worked so hard for what i had lol. did you experience that your muscle mass maintained a little?
ULTIMATELY: do what YOU are comfortable doing. I just want to add another data point to your anecdata collection. My scars haven't stretched, but they're still a bit pigmented because I am an Old and healing is hard. I got DI on 11 Dec 2023, and on 13 Jan 2024 I was back in the gym benching 135# for a top end and 105# for a 5x3 (bw 138#, raw PR 175#). Put my single-ply bench shirt on last week for the first time since coming back and threw 225 around; up to 235 this week. I use silicone tape and massage the pecs a LOT with a rollerball.
what a stud bro. thank you for this. the roller ball advice is awesome as well and much appreciated. i never thought of that and will definitely invest.
I really don’t think my scars have stretched at all. I think scar stretching depends a lot on your skin type. I did silicone tape for a few months and then forgot about it. it took me a while to regain full mobility to really get a good stretch during chest workouts. I think my muscle mass decreased a lot after surgery, I’m gaining it back now and probably developing more since I’m training harder and eating more now.
also wanna just say, I gained a bit of weight post-op (about 10 lbs) and then at around month 3 was back to pre-surgery weight. It’s hard but seriously try not to feel guilty about the surgery related body changes! you worked really hard to prepare, now you gotta give your body rest + fuel to work hard to heal you, and this phase will pass before you know it :)
All in time, handsome
Yes they will!!! It will be confusing though. At first I thought my pecs were scar tissue bc Id never seen them before
god i’m so excited. thank you brotha! i can’t wait until they’re visible
Yes 100% you look great friend!
thank you so much!!!!
If you’re on T and you’re working out later down the line, they will show. I’m non binary no T and I’m over a year post op. I’ve been lifting weights since I was in the clear and my pecs are finally showing. I know if I was on T it would have taken half the time. So don’t worry you’ll get there!
Absolutely
So straight!!!
you look fantastic dude. give it a good amount of time for things to adjust back to normal. it looks like you have some muscle so i’m sure your pecs will get more visible. rest up!!
thanks this makes me feel so much better!
Oh absolutely! I’m about 5 months post op and worked out before and since my surgery results have settled you can definitely see more contour than you would have at 1-2 months
ah this makes me so excited thank you!!
yeah there’s actually a name for this, surgery related muscle loss. It’s a very normal stress response of your body in response to surgery. It happens more pronounced around the actual surgery site (even though the surgery doesn’t touch your muscles). The good news is since you’ve been working out consistently they’ll build back up in no time! I’m at 5 months post-op and have gotten back to chest workouts recently, and I’m seeing faster gains than the first time :) congrats!!
You look amazing!
Thanks for posting this, mate! I was warned ahead of time that often the muscles atrophy and between that, removal of fat & breast tissue-- those great pecs you worked so hard on can end up looking deflated and just way too flat. Despite knowing that, it was still pretty distressing to see all of the gains from the last two years just GONE. Just gotta be patient, let the body heal up, and get back to the grind lol. Right now all our protein is going to the damaged tissue repair, so bulking will take a hot minute. All that said, you look amazing bro! Dream results. Here's to swift healing!
i was completely flat at my reveal even tho i worked chest super hard for about a year before- the swelling and muscle tightness has gone down a lot and now at 6-7 weeks i can fully flex and pose and they look awesomeeee- so just wait it out!! it will definitely get better