It seems quite a popular view here that if you do sit ups while having a reasonable layer of fat on your stomach, that all you'll do is make your stomach look bigger since the fat is still there and the muscles expand or grown larger.

Is this the same with Push ups?? I always thought that with push ups, it firms up your chest while reducing the fat in that area because the fat turns into muscle. Is this wrong? Will the same thing happen (chest muscles get bigger but man your man boobs look bigger or stick out more) ?

sorry if this is a dumb question but I found myself confused. I dont know if this helps, but I actually dont have that much chest fat or alot left of my man boobs but because im really self concious, I wanna get rid of the last little bit left of them so they can look more flat.

Thanks in advance.

in basic theory, yes. Unless you lose the fat on top, you won't get to see the full benefits of your workouts. However, the layers of fat on your chest are usually considerably less than your stomach, and therefor results are seen much easier. And, when you start doing chest exercises (expecially if you were fit at one point), help pull the skin together and reduce the look of "man boobs".

Thanks for replying, first of all!!

From my short time here, I've seen alot of your posts and you appear to have a great knowledge of these things. So I would like to know what your opinion is; should I start on the push ups (dont worry about sit ups at this point) ?? Even if you dont have absolute fact on the matter, it would be a real benefit to me if you could recommend starting push ups or waiting till I reach an "ideal weight" or even later. Any advice will help me alot at this point.

Also if anyone else has an input please feel free.. It's always good to get more than one opinion eh And I'm sure it would also benefit alot of others reading this thread who have the same prob.

Thanks a million!

there's no reason not to do push-ups or sit-ups ... first, you can do them anywhere regardless of equipment. So, it removes excuses for not doing them.
2nd, using your own body weight for training is the best for people who like to tone-up instead of bulk-up.
.. personally, i love push-ups. They work a large number of muscles in your upper-body with only a few minor adjustments in positions ... it's also a good measure of fitness, so it feels good to be able to just rip them out. If you really want to challenge yourself ... do a lookup for "navy seal training" ... it has a great routine. It looks challenging, but i think most people can do it if they stay motivated (just the push-up / sit-up part - not the running). I might have a post on it in here somewhere ... or, maybe i posted it on our sister forum http://www.fitness.com/forum/