Do Push-Ups Make Your Breasts Bigger?

If you're doing pushups in hopes of gaining breast size, don't stop, even if it doesn't quite have the effect you intended. Among the benefits of pushups for females is that they're a fantastic, functional exercise that contributes to healthy muscles. Yet even if you add chest presses and incline flyes to your workout, your boobs aren't going to appear notably larger.

Women who undergo an intense muscle-building training routine might experience an increase in the size of their chest muscles, especially if their workouts are combined with the right diet and vigorous schedule. But muscle growth doesn't actually increase bra cup size.

Women's breasts are made up primarily of fatty tissue, not muscle. Increased size in your breasts happens when you gain weight and the fat cells expand. Pushups and other chest workouts affect muscle tissue.

Pushups work your chest, arms, shoulders and core. They help you become stronger and develop good posture by making your muscles and core stronger so you stand taller and more confidently. So the answer to "Should women do pushups?" is a resounding yes.

When done as part of a total-body strength-training routine, pushups help you develop size in your pectoralis major, a large fan-like muscle that makes up most of the chest wall. Your breasts sit on top of this muscle. As a result, if you considerably increase your chest muscle size, your breasts may appear bigger because they sit on a higher, broader platform, but the breast tissue itself hasn't grown.

Read more: What Do Push-Ups Do For Your Body?

Don't be afraid that pushups will augment a bra size that's already generous. It takes a lot of hard work to add such notable size to a woman's chest. Women lack the hormones that promote huge gains in muscle mass that men can achieve, especially in the upper body. That's not to say a woman can't become muscular, and even "big," but it will take a lot more than pushups to get you there.

To gain significant muscle, you must commit to weight training with heavy resistance at least three times per week. You'll need to train your whole body, not just your chest. Only through total-body workouts will you produce enough growth hormone to induce significant muscle mass gain.

Your diet also plays a pivotal role in muscle gain. The American Council on Exercise recommends the pre- and post-workout consumption of protein to first fuel your body and then to help in muscle recovery. Aim to consume 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of your body weight daily.

Your breast size is determined by genetics. Hormonal changes during the month and accompanying pregnancy may cause your breasts to swell as the duct and lobule volume is affected, but these changes will not last. Short of surgery or notable weight gain, a significant change in your breast size isn't possible.

Read more: What Causes Breasts to Get Bigger?