More men turning to implants for chests of gold
More and more often, when men don't achieve results through weightlifting and exercise, they compensate with cosmetic surgery. Pectoral implants, although still a niche product, are growing in popularity: 409 procedures were performed in 2006, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, a 99 percent increase over the year before. There's a stigma attached to them - the feeling that men who go that route are lazy or excessively vain - but those who buy the implants contend that the psychological benefits are substantial.
"It's such a confidence booster," says one San Francisco massage therapist who got the implants two years ago as a 40th birthday gift to himself. "I walk a little taller now. And of course you want to buy every tight white T-shirt. It's crazy!"
Anthony Durante, a San Francisco personal trainer for 25 years, says well-defined pecs project "power, strength, health, virility.
"A guy with a great chest looks like a warrior, wearing armor for battle. Nothing can penetrate that hull."
Among his clients, Durante says, "the chest is usually their first concern." "Every time a man looks in a mirror," adds Hayes, "whether shaving or at the gym, he sees his chest. So naturally it becomes a focus of his attention or even obsession - as opposed to back muscles, which generally go unseen and are often ignored entirely."
