Just bulking a sunken chest can make the dip look deeper. 16 weeks built on the only published clinical exercise method for pectus excavatum.
Joined by 1,000+ people fixing their chest without surgery, since 2015
Adding mass over a depression deepens the shadow. The research points elsewhere.
Most people with PE either avoid the gym or train in a way that deepens the depression. Here's why, and how a program built on the actual research changes the result.
Training isn't the danger.
It's one of your best tools.
Load the chest in a deep stretch so the pecs pull the sternum up instead of bulking over it, keep back volume equal to chest, and layer breathing and mobility on top daily. That is the whole 16-week arc.
Steward Cheung, a senior physiotherapist at Kwong Wah Hospital in Hong Kong, published this four-step plan in 2005. It is still the only exercise program ever written for pectus excavatum. These are his own figures.
“All these origins can directly and forcibly pull the sunken sternum and infolding ribs up during the muscle contraction.”
Cheung, on fixing the arms overhead
Read them by rating, or by what people actually got out of it - the transformations, the honest reviews, and the messages that land in my inbox every week.
across 12 rated statements
500+ reviews collected since 2015. Open a bar, a tag or a condition to read the published ones.
What the 4.9 is made of
17 published statements · 500+ collected since 2015
read the blog for months before i actually did anything with it. no coach, no brace, just the stuff in the articles done properly. i feel a lot better now and the photos say the rest
DaniloPE
Read the blogCroatia 🇭🇷
Two months in and I've put on 3 kg of muscle. My chest doesn't cave the way it used to when I'm standing relaxed, and that alone was worth it.
MiloPE25
1-on-1 CoachingGermany 🇩🇪
the bell leaves a red ring on your chest the second you take it off, and nobody warns you about that. it fades within the hour and the skin has never been an issue since. 100% satisfied - the sternum sits higher than it has my whole life
PiotrPE25
Vacuum BellPoland 🇵🇱
He knows more about this than the two consultants I paid to see, which says more about them than it does about him. Showed my GP the 9 month photos and he asked me for the website. Half a star off because the time zones make the calls a nightmare from Ireland.
RuairíPE29
1-on-1 CoachingIreland 🇮🇪
watched the youtube for six years before i spent a single cent. bought the program, did it properly for 7 months, and the only thing i actually regret is the six years
TanePE26
PE Exercise ProgramNew Zealand 🇳🇿
Had the flare since i was about 14 and just assumed that was my ribcage, permanently. Brace plus the breathing drills and my mrs asked when i'd lost weight. I hadn't lost anything, it's just the ribs sitting where they should now.
DanielRib Flare27
Rib Flare BraceUK 🇬🇧
first call he told me straight up itd take a year and id hate months 2 through 5. he was right about both lol. 12 months on and my PC is flat. took my shirt off at the beach in january without doing the whole towel thing
DimiPC19
1-on-1 CoachingAustralia 🇦🇺
didnt know you could be breathing wrong for 21 years. thats the whole thing right there. flare started going down on its own once i stopped breathing into my shoulders, which is not what i paid for but ill take it
benjiRib Flare21
Rib Flare CourseUSA 🇺🇸
the brace is made really good, i wear it under the t-shirt at school and nobody has noticed in 4 months. my mother was crying when we compare the photos. sorry for my english
NicoPC17
Pectus Carinatum BraceItaly 🇮🇹
ive bought like four programs for this over the years and quit every one of them by week two. finished this one. i think its cus you cant move on until you can actually hold the position, so theres never that thing where you're guessing if youre ready or not
MateoRib Flare23
Rib Flare CourseUSA 🇺🇸
My son is 15 and had started keeping a shirt on in the pool, which is how I worked out something was wrong in the first place, because he certainly wasn't going to tell me. He would never have stuck with the brace on his own. It was the fortnightly check-ins that did it - he didn't want to turn up with nothing to report. Six months now and the ridge has visibly come down. He swims without the shirt.
Noah's mumPC
Pectus Carinatum BraceUSA 🇺🇸
I went in wanting to debunk it, honestly. Started opening the citations one at a time and they were real papers that said what he said they said. That is a depressingly low bar and nowhere else online clears it.
SanderRib Flare34
Read the blogNetherlands 🇳🇱
every doctor said come back when youre done growing, which is a mad thing to say to a 17 year old whos already miserable about it. did four months of training instead. 4kg on and my t shirts actually sit on something now
JakePE17
USA 🇺🇸
1 cm off the depth in eight months. I had this filed under things about my body that got decided before I was born, and I'd stopped thinking about it somewhere in my twenties, so being wrong about it has been a strange few months honestly.
VincentPE + Rib Flare36
France 🇫🇷
i was the skinny kid who kept his top on at the beach every single year. 6 months, 5kg heavier. took it off in ibiza this summer and genuinely forgot to be weird about it until we were leaving
CallumPE17
UK 🇬🇧
bump is 0.5cm down in 5 months. bro i genuinely thought this was gonna be bench press for a year, its like 80% breathing drills and posture stuff. wasnt what i signed up for but i cant argue with the tape measure
EliasPC16
Norway 🇳🇴
i did abs for two years thinking that was the fix. it was never going to be abs. three months of the brace plus actually learning how to exhale properly and its 1.5cm narrower down there
AlexRib Flare22
USA 🇺🇸
"read the blog for months before i actually did anything with it. no coach, no brace, just the stuff in the articles done properly. i feel a lot better now and the photos say the rest"
"Two months in and I've put on 3 kg of muscle. My chest doesn't cave the way it used to when I'm standing relaxed, and that alone was worth it."
"the bell leaves a red ring on your chest the second you take it off, and nobody warns you about that. it fades within the hour and the skin has never been an issue since. 100% satisfied - the sternum sits higher than it has my whole life"
"He knows more about this than the two consultants I paid to see, which says more about them than it does about him. Showed my GP the 9 month photos and he asked me for the website. Half a star off because the time zones make the calls a nightmare from Ireland."
"watched the youtube for six years before i spent a single cent. bought the program, did it properly for 7 months, and the only thing i actually regret is the six years"
"Had the flare since i was about 14 and just assumed that was my ribcage, permanently. Brace plus the breathing drills and my mrs asked when i'd lost weight. I hadn't lost anything, it's just the ribs sitting where they should now."
"first call he told me straight up itd take a year and id hate months 2 through 5. he was right about both lol. 12 months on and my PC is flat. took my shirt off at the beach in january without doing the whole towel thing"
"didnt know you could be breathing wrong for 21 years. thats the whole thing right there. flare started going down on its own once i stopped breathing into my shoulders, which is not what i paid for but ill take it"
"the brace is made really good, i wear it under the t-shirt at school and nobody has noticed in 4 months. my mother was crying when we compare the photos. sorry for my english"
"ive bought like four programs for this over the years and quit every one of them by week two. finished this one. i think its cus you cant move on until you can actually hold the position, so theres never that thing where you're guessing if youre ready or not"
"My son is 15 and had started keeping a shirt on in the pool, which is how I worked out something was wrong in the first place, because he certainly wasn't going to tell me. He would never have stuck with the brace on his own. It was the fortnightly check-ins that did it - he didn't want to turn up with nothing to report. Six months now and the ridge has visibly come down. He swims without the shirt."
"I went in wanting to debunk it, honestly. Started opening the citations one at a time and they were real papers that said what he said they said. That is a depressingly low bar and nowhere else online clears it."
read the blog for months before i actually did anything with it. no coach, no brace, just the stuff in the articles done properly. i feel a lot better now and the photos say the rest
Shared with each client's permission.
Did I help you with your pectus?
Share your before & after
Before
After
Before
After
“I'm 32. Everything I ever read said the window on this shuts at 18 and after that you either get cut open or you live with it. Nine months, 5 kg on, 1 cm off the depth. Nobody is more annoyed about the wasted decade than me.”
Before
After
“came in skinny with a deep dip and ribs that stuck out at the bottom. six months, 4kg up. funny thing is nobody says anything about the dip, its the flare going down that people actually noticed”
Before
After
“I'm 52. I have both a ridge and a dip, which I'm told is unusual, and I've had the pair of them since I was a boy. Nine kilos off in five months and for the first time my chest looks like one chest. I did not expect to be sorting this out at my age, but there we are.”
Before
After
“The brace did the flare, the training did the rest. Seven months, 6 kg on, 1 cm off the depth. The part I wasn't ready for is that I now own shirts that fit, after about fifteen years of buying everything one size too big.”
Before
After“5 months, 4kg on. still there if i go looking for it. nobody else has said a word”
Before
After“read the blog for months before i actually did anything with it. no coach, no brace, just the stuff in the articles done properly. i feel a lot better now and the photos say the rest”
Before
After“the bell leaves a red ring on your chest the second you take it off, and nobody warns you about that. it fades within the hour and the skin has never been an issue since. 100% satisfied - the sternum sits higher than it has my whole life”
Before
After
“3 months and 5kg later the ridge is sitting lower than its ever been. i was 100% convinced surgery was the only option, like id already looked up how much it costs and everything”
Before
After
“9 kilos in 6 months. the trick nobody tells you is you build the muscle around the ridge, then the ridge is not the first thing people see. before this i am buying only loose shirts, maybe 8 years like this”
Before
After
“before, the carinatum is the first thing i see in every photo of me. now i show someone and they must ask me where it is. i did not have any surgery, only the training”
Before
After
“Four months in and the side profile is the thing that changed. I used to clock myself in every shop window I walked past, at 30 years old, and I hadn't even noticed I was doing it until I stopped.”
PE pectus excavatum · PC pectus carinatum · RF rib flare
Drag each slider to compare.Tap any case to open and compare.Published only with the client's written consent.
Medically reviewed byProf. Dr. Mustafa Yüksel
Tap any message to read it full size. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube & TikTok comments, DMs, WhatsApp and email - real messages from real clients. Names and handles blurred, content untouched.
Case 01Case 02Case 03Case 04Case 05The four that come up most, answered the same way I would answer them on a call.
Take the 60-second quizPosture and breathing shift inside the first few weeks. Visible chest change is slower - in the case log above, Milo hit his at 2 months, Ian at 6. The programs run 16 weeks because that is how long it takes to show in the mirror.
Almost certainly not. The clients on this page were 22 to 32 when they started. Cartilage stiffens with age, so progress is slower, but slower is not stopped. Age changes the timeline, not whether it is worth doing.
Either works. Every program ships with a gym track and a no-equipment track for the same 16 weeks, and you can switch between them mid-program without losing your place.
No, and that matters. A sunken chest and a protruding chest need close to opposite work, and rib flare rides along with both. There is a separate program for each, if you are not sure which you have, the 60-second quiz sorts it out.
Same four full-body days every week. What changes is the load and reps, laid out week by week in the Progression Map. After week 16 you deload and restart Phase B with heavier numbers, a build you can run for years.
Start training rightLearn the movements and own the deep stretch. Higher reps, plenty left in the tank, groove the Cheung warm-up and breathing so the chest is mobile before you load it hard.
Add a set to the key lifts and push the reps. This is where you accumulate the 10–20 hard sets per muscle a week that muscle actually grows on, with back volume matching chest.
Heavier top sets on the compounds while keeping the stretch deep on the pullover and flye. Peak intensity, then finish strong but clean.
One easy week at half the sets to recover, then loop back to Phase B on your new, heavier baseline. Keep the daily stretch and breathing forever.
This is the whole program, front to back. It reads like a short book because a good result comes from understanding why the training works, not just following a spreadsheet. Read the science sections once and everything else clicks.
Every claim that needs backing has a small lime citation number you can tap to see the exact study, 25 of them, listed in full in the reference section.
I spent a decade training a chest with pectus excavatum, made every mistake first, and read the research until I understood why some of it worked and most of it didn't.
This program is what I wish I'd had at the start. It's built on the only published clinical exercise plan for PE and the largest long-term study of fixing pectus without an operation, turned into simple sets and reps you can actually follow. Every exercise here is here for a reason, and the reason is cited.
Every exercise here is here for a reason. And the reason is cited.
Medically reviewed
I don't publish a clinical claim until Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yüksel, MD has checked it
Thoracic surgeon, founder of the Chest Wall International Group
Not in dollars. In time. Side by side, honestly.
No waiting on a reply, no onboarding call, nothing to install.
One payment, lifetime access, free updates forever. The full, cited PE training program for less than a single personal-training session.
Try the whole thing for 30 days. Use it, and if it isn't what was described, message me for a full refund, no questions asked. The risk stays with me, not you.
Both work. The program comes in a full gym version and a home version built around bands and bodyweight (deficit push-ups, inverted rows, band pullovers). You get both, so you can switch as your setup changes. Home sessions run about 35 minutes, gym sessions about 45.
The largest long-term pectus study found that just building big pecs over a sunken chest can make the dip look deeper and the chest stiffer. So the fix isn't no training, it's the right training: chest work done in a deep stretch, matched with equal back and posture volume, plus daily breathing and mobility. That's exactly how this program is built.
Four short full-body days a week, every other day, so you never hammer the same thing two days running. That lets you hit each muscle 2–3 times a week and stack the 10–20 hard sets per muscle the research points to. If life gets busy, three is still plenty.
Yes. Phase A assumes no training background and builds the movements from the ground up. The push-ups come in three progressive levels, and every key lift has a cue. Advanced trainees move through Phase A quickly and find the challenge in Phase C.
No. A vacuum bell is an optional complement, it supplies the steady outside force the research talks about and is the strongest non-surgical add-on for good candidates (younger, milder, flexible chest). It's used separately from the training. This program works fully on its own without one.
Posture shifts fastest, standing tall already makes the dip look shallower, and that happens in the first weeks. Visible muscle that reframes the dip takes a few months of consistent, progressive training. Any bone-level change is a slow, mostly-younger-person, vacuum-bell story. The program includes an honest month-by-month timeline so you don't quit early.
The course is the complete correction system across every non-surgical tool. This program is the dedicated training arm: the science, the Cheung Method, a 16-week gym + home plan, breathing, posture and self-assessment. They pair well; if correction is the goal and you only pick one, pick the course.
Be honest with yourself: training reliably builds the muscle and fixes the posture around the dip, which changes how your chest looks a lot. It does not reliably re-shape bone. The headline win is the frame, not the hole, and that's a win worth having.
It's built for exactly that starting point. Phase A is deliberately simple, the home version means you can start without a gym at all, and every exercise is explained. Nothing early on needs the busy side of the gym.
Straight away. The moment your payment clears, an email goes out with your link and the password that opens it — usually inside a minute. Read it on a phone, a tablet or a laptop; the password is typed once per device and then the page just opens. If it hasn't arrived in ten minutes, check spam, then message me and I'll send it over myself. Lifetime access, free updates, nothing to ship.
You have 30 days. If the training isn't what I said it was, one email gets you a full refund and I won't ask you to justify it.
Take the free 1-minute assessment and get a straight answer for your condition and severity.
Take the assessment →The chat bubble in the corner reaches me directly, ask anything about your case before you decide.
Try the whole thing. If it isn't right for your chest, every dollar comes back.
Start risk-free →16 weeks built on the only published clinical exercise method for pectus excavatum. Deep-stretch chest work, a balanced back, daily breathing and posture, and real muscle that frames the dip instead of deepening it. For less than one PT session.
Start training rightP.S. If you've read this far, part of you has already decided. The only thing you can lose by trying is the version of next year where nothing changed. - Mihail
