Post: #1

I didn't find any threads about this topic in particular.

I have wanted them for a while. This is the year I do whatever it takes to make it happen. I am not expecting to look like Christiano Ronaldo or anything, but I want as much definition as is reasonably possible for a guy with a desk job.

I am fairly fit right now. But most of my body fat is kept on my stomach like it is with most guys.

My major questions for those who know what to do are:

1. Workout: what should my routine be like? Balance of cardio and weights or prioritize one over the other? I heard that interval training is the best way to burn fat. Anybody agree?

2: Diet: How much do I have to cut down on carbs? Can I drink alcohol ever? If I can how much and what kinds?

3: Other: Any ways to stay motivated? Supplements that help (currently I drink a ton of green tea)? How can I deal with soreness after working out? Does keeping good posture throughout the day help develop ab muscles?

I know there are tons of are tons of articles online but I thought there must be a lot of guys on here with some valuable experience and tips to share.

Thanks in advance or the advice.

Post: #2

I'd go with interval training mate

you can still drink alcohol (avoid beer and mixers really) but will have to work out harder, the key is really to burn more calories than you intake. I'm in your situation at present, I'm still doing weights but also doing a lot of interval training. My gut is the only thing that annoys me about my body.

Take protein and amino acids to help with soreness.

Work out your core muscles, just doing stomach crunches and shit wont be beneficial, you need a strong core as your abs are layers of muscles.

Post: #3

I've never really had impressive abs myself but apparently bodybuilders do lotsa walking. With two much jogging/running, you go catabolic.

Anybody in here with impressive abs to offer an opinion?

Post: #4

High intensity interval training + lifting routine + good diet. Abs are made in the kitchen, but if you want to get there quickly, and you're not overly fussed about muscle mass, just do a few compound lifts at high mass a few times a week, with HIIT on the days that you're not lifting. Diet is the most important factor here. Go paleo as far as you can, and cut the most carbs that you can from your diet. For that bit of extra pop and definition, start doing some reverse crunches with your workouts, but keep in mind that they won't show up until you have a low bf%.

Post: #5

he's looking for definition though, not build, so the interval training would be best.

It's something that footballers like Cristiano Ronaldo do anyway, when I do train with my local team we normally do this for 15 minutes.

10s sprint
10s fast walk
10s jog
10s fast walk
10s sprint
10s jog
10s sprint
10s fast walk

continously until the coach says it's enough. your body burns calories continously for 24 hours after that.

The main benefit of that exercise from a sporting point of view is that you're always on your toes and never stood still, the calorie burn is a secondary benefit.

Post: #6

(01-08-2013 04:18 AM)Loveless Wrote:  1. Workout: what should my routine be like? Balance of cardio and weights or prioritize one over the other? I heard that interval training is the best way to burn fat. Anybody agree?

2: Diet: How much do I have to cut down on carbs? Can I drink alcohol ever? If I can how much and what kinds?

3: Other: Any ways to stay motivated? Supplements that help (currently I drink a ton of green tea)? How can I deal with soreness after working out? Does keeping good posture throughout the day help develop ab muscles?

Diet : The way i see it you have 3 options
1. A typical 40/40/20 start counting calories, and reduce the carbs. This is in my opinion the worst approach cause you end up being a slave of food, i personally got fed up really fast and said fuck it, so i ended up switching to keto. If you are gonna do this i would suggest green tea extract pills with coffee 30 min before the workout plus l-carnitine and then some more l-carnitine again after the workout.

2. Keto diet: I did the anabolic diet, is a keto diet with a carb up during the weekend. You basically eat 60% fat 30 something protein and less than 30g of carbs during weeks days. And on weekend days you switch to 60& carbs 30% protein and the rest fat. I did this and got ripped as fuck, honestly ive never been as ripped as the time i did this, and after the first two weeks it felt like a walk in the park. You dont really need any supplements except fish oil to watch out for all the cholesterol, and some metamucil to prevent hemorroids. The downside of this diet is that youre carb depleted during the week so it can be hard to do a sarcoplasmic hypertrophy type of workout, so you have to do a strenght training type of workout. You can only drink during the carb up phase with this diet or youll fuck up ketosis.

3. IF intermittent fasting: ive never done it but as soon as i finish my current bulk im hoping on this train. Ive heard nothing but good things, supposedly you dont even need to worry about counting macros. Most guys even suggest having an eating window of only 6 hours with 18 of fasting. You start eating after you workout.

Training: First of all there is really no need for cardio as long as you are cutting enough calories, like 500 below maintenance, but if you want to do it, it could help you ease up on the macros.
Since it seems you only want a sixpack i would say fuck strenght training and only do 3x10 on each exercise doing a regular 5-day bodybuilding split. I personally split strenght training for 3 months, and then bodybuilding type of training for another couple of months cause i cant do both at the same or ill overtrain too fast.

Also im sure most guys here are more than willing to help but getting abs and specially keeping low bodyfat year around has nothing to do with the right diet or the right kind of training its all about knowledge.
You dont want to end up like those guys that go year around to the gym and never see progress cause the dont understand the principles behind it.
So my advice would be do your own research, read as much as you can and then come back if you still have doubts.

Post: #7

boss post dog, I've got a friend who recommended IF, he's down to 8% says he just fuelled the day with water mixed with amino acids.

Post: #8

Burn more calories than you consume. Eventually you will see your abs. It's really that simple.

Work out your BMR here; http://www.iifym.com/bmr-calculator

Then your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE); http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

Deduct 20% of the calories from your TDEE to create a deficit and make that your aim for daily intake. Try to lowball this figure as most people over estimate their true energy requirements. As aforementioned, I do IF (16/8) and it has helped me reduce calories significantly. Check http://www.leangains.com for info.

Also use an app on your phone like http://www.myfitnesspal.com to track calories. This will help you gain insight into your eating habits and where the bulk of your calories come from.

Supplements are hype. Get your macros from real food. Up your protein to increase strength and muscularity composition. Cutting carbs is unnecessary.

I went from 17% body fat down to 8-9% where I am currently at in about 10 weeks and I still drink twice a week and love pizza and pies. It's all about balance and playing the maths.

Post: #9

See the Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) thread.

Post: #10

Walking or cycling at a slow pace is perfect to burn fat. Eat paleo if you're not already. Do "cat vomit exercise" and "myotatic crunch". I stole this from Timothy Ferriss. I complement with side planks myself. I do this every three days.

I don't have a brutal six pack but I'm definitely going in the right direction after a couple of months.

Post: #11

All you guys are talking about losing fat which is good, but to have impressive (read not concentration camp abs) abs you still have to build them up. Do lots of heavy squats and deadlifts along with your fat loss stuff.

Post: #12

Aren't the way your abs look mostly down to genetics? I used to be in the 20-25% range but I could still see some slight definition under the fat (keep in mind I never worked out). A couple years ago I really cleaned up my diet, started drinking tons of water, and did light resistance training every now and then. After about 6 months I was down to the 10% range and I've got very good definition/aesthetics.

Post: #13

Happy New Years

Post: #14

A tip if you really want to develop a six pack is to do lots of deadlifts - these target the lower abs which are often not worked much with most ab exercises. If you work at them hard enough and keep a low BF% then they will help you develop an 8 pack.

Post: #15

One tip that I found on Chaos and Pain to get leaner is to stand up while playing video games. It sounds stupid but it does increase how many calories you burn in any given day.

Something else that helps would be to precede a keto diet with a fairly long (24 hour to 30 hour) fast. I did this to start my keto routine last summer. I noticed a very big difference compared to going from a regular diet straight to keto in that I had no apparent cravings for carbs or sugar. It seemed to cut down the "adjustment process" of feeling less energy as well.

All the other diet related advice I would give Dog already did.

Post: #16

a little add on. I have had my best results with heavy lifting and interval training. Squats especially, which just sounds nuts but I've always had my core and hips fail before my quads do with increasing squat weight.

Here's how I fixed it and could probably also work on someone wanting to do more core work. I do 1/4 squats, like just down far enough to get into where I need to use hip drive to come back up. I load up the weight and 1/4 squat until my hips and core feels like they are going to explode.

Post: #17

Couple guys have mentioned squats and deadlifts, which help for sure. But so do powercleans and snatches. They hit the abs even harder.

Diet is the most important thing, but when working out do the heavy olympic lifts. They work better than any ab exercise. Reason being is your abs our entirely fast twitch muscles. They will only respond to heavy lifting with low reps. That is why people can do ab exercises for years and never really have that impressive of abs.

Post: #18

(01-08-2013 09:18 AM)Lukey Wrote:  Burn more calories than you consume. Eventually you will see your abs. It's really that simple.

Work out your BMR here; http://www.iifym.com/bmr-calculator

Then your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE); http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

Deduct 20% of the calories from your TDEE to create a deficit and make that your aim for daily intake. Try to lowball this figure as most people over estimate their true energy requirements. As aforementioned, I do IF (16/8) and it has helped me reduce calories significantly. Check http://www.leangains.com for info.

Also use an app on your phone like http://www.myfitnesspal.com to track calories. This will help you gain insight into your eating habits and where the bulk of your calories come from.

Supplements are hype. Get your macros from real food. Up your protein to increase strength and muscularity composition. Cutting carbs is unnecessary.

I went from 17% body fat down to 8-9% where I am currently at in about 10 weeks and I still drink twice a week and love pizza and pies. It's all about balance and playing the maths.

This sounds the most appealing way.

How do you working in the two nights drinking pw? That's a reasonable amount

IMO those keto style diets are horrible. Lower carbs, sure but none is horrid!

Post: #19

As for ab workout, try cable pulldowns. They are by far my favorite exercise.

Post: #20

(01-08-2013 08:06 PM)Jbk Wrote:  This sounds the most appealing way.

How do you working in the two nights drinking pw? That's a reasonable amount

IMO those keto style diets are horrible. Lower carbs, sure but none is horrid!

Its all simple maths mate. If you want to go out drinking, you just factor it in to your macronutrients for the day.

For example, spirits are generally 70 cals/shot (roughly). When you have a rum and diet coke, that's essentially only 70 cals. 5 of those and you are up to 350 cals. If you have a light lunch, you can account for those calories quite easily. Its all about calories in, calories out. Having a late night kebab afterwards though is a whole different kettle of fish!

As I mentioned earlier, start using myfitnesspal, calorie king or a similar app/site where you can track your calories. You will then be easily able to make estimations on your intake. When you can do that, your eating habits will change and you will ultimately be able to dictate your physique.

Post: #21

(01-08-2013 04:18 AM)Loveless Wrote:  I didn't find any threads about this topic in particular.

You need to search:

"I am in Ketosis"

Post: #22

(01-09-2013 10:18 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  "I am in Ketosis"

Exactly!

Mixx and I have broken this down before..

Bottom line: Don't go to bed on a full stomach! Eat alot before sunset so you don't have to eat late at night!

/thread-4585-p...l#pid58997

"A "6 pack" can be tricky to get and keep. Obviously, its mostly diet. The most important thing is what you eat/drink at night. You want to go to bed with an almost empty stomach. That way your body burns off all the extra belly fat while you sleep. If you go to bed on a full stomach, your body has to process all that food during the night, usually it just all goes straight to your belly.

Here is a night time diet that I use and it works great for keeping a 6 pack. I have experimented for years with many different diets but this one allows me to wake up in the morning with a tight abs.

Basically, it works like this...

Only eat fruits and vegetables after sunset. I know that sounds crazy but for me its no big deal since I don't go out at night and I rarely drink.

Buy a couple pounds of your favorite fruits. When they are ripe and ready to eat, peel them, chop them, and put them in the freezer in some type of container.

Eat your last real meal of the day before sunset or as early as possible.

After sunset, if you get hungry, take out your blender and a bunch of your frozen fruit...put some liquid like milk, water, coconut water, rice milk, soymilk, etc. into the blender along with the frozen fruit. Add a few nuts, dates, honey, and/or protein powder if you want. Blend it up into a homemade smoothie.

This is very light and easy on your stomach and passes thru your body very quickly, nothing really sticks to your belly, and its tasty and nutritious.

Another "after sunset" option is to make a big salad. I usually use lettuce, tomato, avocado, onion, with a little oil and vinegar as dressing.

This is the best "6 pack" diet I have ever seen. The rest of the day just try to eat as clean as possible. If your gonna eat bad, try to do it as early in the day as possible so your stomach has time to process it"

Post: #23

(01-09-2013 04:47 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  

(01-09-2013 10:18 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  "I am in Ketosis"

Exactly!

Mixx and I have broken this down before..

Bottom line: Don't go to bed on a full stomach! Eat alot before sunset so you don't have to eat late at night!

That's just broscience. It's based on the premise people go for bad shit late, and if that's someones particular issue then this rule may be beneficial to you just as a way to not be tempted but if you're eating quality foods late, the body has a more favorable response, and can lead to better weight and fat loss over taking in a majority of your cals earlier in the day.

Post: #24

Leangains is a resource that I really can't recommend enough. At the very least scan through the posts in the 'most popular' tab. No broscience or bullshit.

The bottom line is what has been mentioned above already. Intermittent fasting, clean diet, heavy compound lifts (deadlifts, squats, bench), and of course some good supplements.

Post: #25

(01-09-2013 05:43 PM)mikeymike Wrote:  That's just broscience.

Dude, I have a PHd in Broscience!

My expert opinion is -- if you want to remove belly fat and expose your stomach muscles, you shouldn't go to bed on a full stomach.

All or most dietitians, nutritionists, personal trainers and weight loss experts would agree.

Going to bed in a full stomach is a bad idea if you want a 6-pack.