The muscle is ready at two weeks; the layer above it is not. Chest work at six weeks, and why the compression vest prevents the seroma that delays everything.
Removing the gland and the surrounding fat leaves a space under the skin that has to seal down against the chest wall. Every hard pectoral contraction shears that healing layer, and the result is a fluid collection, a firm irregular scar, or skin that settles unevenly. The muscle itself is fine within two weeks; it is the layer above it that sets the timetable. That is why bench pressing at week three costs more than it gains.
Walking the same evening. Desk work at four to five days. Light cycling or brisk walking at two weeks, keeping your heart rate moderate. Legs from week three, with no bracing, no heavy squats and nothing that makes you grip hard. Back and shoulders at week four with light weight. Chest, dips, push-ups and heavy overhead pressing at six weeks. Full-intensity training at eight to ten weeks, once swelling has stopped changing from week to week.
Three weeks full-time, then nights only for a further three. The vest holds the skin against the chest wall so it can re-adhere in the right position, and it stops fluid accumulating in the space where the gland was. Men who abandon it at day five are the ones who come back at week four with a seroma that needs draining. It is uncomfortable, it is unglamorous, and it is the cheapest complication insurance available.
Excised glandular tissue does not regrow. What does happen is that a new hormonal trigger — anabolic steroids, SARMs, some antidepressants, an untreated testicular or thyroid problem — stimulates whatever tissue remains, and the chest changes again. If a cycle caused it the first time, surgery without a frank conversation about aromatase and post-cycle management is half a treatment. We would rather have that conversation than pretend the operation is the whole answer.
You will lose some and regain it within four to six weeks of returning. Six weeks of detraining does not undo years of work, whereas a revision operation costs far more time than that.
Yes, from week three and week four respectively, with light weight and no gripping strain. Avoid anything that makes you brace hard through the chest, including heavy deadlifts.