I'm a 38-year-old man in good shape. I weight train twice a week, but I have fat on my breasts, which I can't seem to shed. Do you have any advice on how to get rid of it?

My first reaction is to check you are doing sufficient cardiovascular exercise at an intensity to help decrease your overlying body fat. Research has shown that an individual may need to do 60 minutes of moderate accumulated exercise (moderate being equivalent to brisk walking) five to six days a week to keep body fat in check. This is often overlooked by recreational weightlifters wishing to see definition. Use the cross-trainer aerobic equipment such as the elliptical trainer at an intensity to get hot and sweaty for at least half an hour. Add a further two sessions a week, such as outdoor running. With your weights, do functional exercises that mimic the way your body moves in real life to strengthen and tone the pectoral chest muscle that lies under your breast fat.

If you use a cable cross machine, you can isolate your chest but include other key muscles such as upper back. This helps stabilise your torso. (If you don't have a cable cross machine, attach resistance tubing with handles, available from bodycare.co.uk, to fixed doors). Stand slightly forward in between the cable machine, holding a cable handle in each hand; elbows need to be bent at shoulder level, your abdominals contracted, and shoulders and hips square. Now press one arm forward, straightening the elbow at chest height. Return the arm to the start position and repeat on the other side. Ask your instructor to add two further variations to your session. Complete 16 reps of three sets of these new moves two to three times a week, taking a day off between each workout. Every four weeks, progress the weight as necessary. And in six weeks you should see a more beautiful chest.

Joanna Hall is a fitness expert (joannahall.com). Send your exercise questions to: Weekend, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER (weekend@theguardian.com).