Gain weight and lose the belly?

Project40s

I'm trying to build up muscle and put on size, but I can't seem to shift my belly and see a six-pack. I'd like to think I'm eating fairly well, but yes could probably be better.

I'm in the gym 5 times a week, early mornings. I don't have any cardio or hiit in the program, it is purely weight training.

Any advice or guidance will be appreciated. 💪🏻

Retroguy2000

Getting and maintaining a six pack is very hard. If you're serious, you'll need to be tracking all of your calories and be in a deficit too, which will impact your other goal of adding muscle. You could in theory recomp, i.e. maintaining your current weight while adding muscle and losing fat, but if you're starting from a fairly lean position that's a very slow process and not recommended.

You could add some zone 2 cardio which will burn more calories but won't fatigue you or impact your lifting, whereas HIIT might.

Find out what your maintenance level is. If you've been at your current weight for a while, enter into MFP your diary, diligently, and that will be your maintenance. If you want to gain, add 200-500 and re-evaluate if your belly fat is becoming unacceptable. Then, do a diet phase with a deficit of up to 500 while still lifting, to reduce fat.

For the lifting, a structured program is recommended. Definitely progressive overload and close to 1g per pound protein.