This is another blog that you probably won’t find in a running magazine.  Ladies, you may want to pass and wait for the next blog…

Since many people take up running to get in shape or lose weight, there is a something that happens to men (especially overweight men) as you increase the lengths of the runs and/or you lose weight.  When I started running, my daughter was polite and referred to my stomach as “a pillow”.  So, when I began to run and lost some weight, there was a little problem with excess skin bouncing around and rubbing the wrong way.

I am pretty sure it was during my first half marathon and running in a white t-shirt that I realized exactly what this problem looked like.  I was a little more than halfway done and I looked down at the front of my sweat laden shirt and thought I had been shot…twice?  Yup, I had bleeding man boobs.  The shirt had bright red spots starting right at the boobs and running all the way down to my shorts.  Now, not to go into too many details, but for anyone that has not had the pleasure…there is nothing more painful than jumping in a hot shower with freshly bled man boobs.  The screaming was heard for blocks, and I covered up those boobs with my hands like a there was a Peeping Tom in the bathroom.

When I described this phenomenon with my running guru buddy Art S., he just laughed and said “use Vaseline or Band-Aids”.  Now guys don’t dive into the details like girls do, so I did a little experimentation with the Art S. method of preventing bleeding man boobs without much assistance.  I quickly discovered that Vaseline may only last three to five miles, depending on the heat and your perspiration rate.  I found it a little awkward re-applying Vaseline out on the race course with spectators and medics watching to make sure that you are applying it properly. The band aid suggestion was right up there in the pain range as bleeding man boobs.   You have no idea how much it hurts to pull band aids off of nipple skin, and then if you have a hairy chest…there is no comparison though to bleeding man boobs.

So, let me tell you how to handle the bleeding man boobs.  There are compression type shirts that compress all the skin and tightly compress your body and stop any excess skin from bouncing around.  If you are losing a lot of weight in the mid-section that type of shirt may not be enough. I ran for years wearing one of the wrap around compression belts (Dicks Sporting Goods has them in the weight lifting area). If you are a little self-conscience about wearing a compression shirt, I used the CX tank top and then wore a loose fitting tank top or short sleeved shirt over it.  Over time the skin will tighten up, but if you lose a lot of weight very fast the excess skin will not retract fast enough and the excess hanging around makes it stretch the skin and then becomes harder to make the skin tight.

Oh yeah, one more thing. When getting dressed for a long run, even if you are wearing a compression shirt, don’t forget to generously apply the Glide to your man boobs!

And once you have applied your Glide…get up, get out and go for a loooooong run.