Women have been searching for ways to improve the appearance of their breasts for as long as men have marveled at them. From creams and plant extracts to pills and surgery, many women try to augment or enhance what nature supplied. While exercise can improve chest muscle tone, it can also reduce breast size and firmness.
Breast Physiology
Female breasts are conical lobes of tissue containing milk-producing lobules surrounded by varying degrees of fat. Milk ducts link the lobules to the nipple, where milk can be expressed. Each lobe is connected to the pectoral muscles of the chest by fascia, connective tissue that helps each breast remain erect. The size, shape and other characteristics of each female’s breasts are largely determined by genetics, weight and hormones, although you can enhance the appearance of your breasts by performing muscle-building exercises and making healthy lifestyle choices.
Chest Muscles
Because exercise cannot increase the size or number of lobules in your breasts, or increase the amount of fat surrounding each breast, exercise does not make breasts bigger. Exercising the chest muscles, however, can cause breasts to appear larger by increasing their underlying support. When you exercise your pectoralis muscles, you increase their bulk, making your chest appear bigger. Additionally, strength-training can increase the amount of connective tissue that helps keep your breasts from sagging.
Breast Fat
To a large extent, the amount of fat surrounding the lobules in each breast determines your breast size. Fatty tissue and ligaments — called stromata — make up the majority of each of your breasts. A woman’s breast size is pre-programmed at birth, although being overweight can increase the amount of fat in your breasts. When you exercise to lose weight, your body sheds fat from existing fat stores, whether those stores are in your hips, stomach or breasts. Because you cannot target weight loss, your body burns any available fat, which could reduce the amount in your breasts, causing them to sag and lose their firmness. As you age, fat replaces the milk ducts in your breasts, so losing weight after menopause may cause your breasts to shrink even more. Yo-yo dieting can stretch breast skin, causing breasts to sag.
Ligaments
Exercise can affect your breasts by stretching the ligaments that hold them erect. If you exercise without proper support, gravity and repeated impact can lengthen the ligaments and cause your breasts to sag. Wear a properly fitting bra to keep ligaments from stretching.
Breast-enhancing Exercises
To help keep breasts healthy and attractive, perform strength-training exercises, such as pushups, pec presses or butterfly presses several times a week. Consult a fitness trainer or doctor for proper technique.
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