Trying to get the 6 to show through

milali
milali Posts: 17 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi,

I have been trying for some time with stripping back to get the stomach definition.

I have a VERY strict diet (1600 cals on rest days with 20% carbs) higher on workout days.

I workout doing crossfit but have an injury from 3 weeks ago on the middle back so I have stopped HIIT training and continuing personal lower intensity stuff to isolate the back and in this time I thought I would strip hard. but I can't get that last bit to drop. its driving me nuts. I have about 3 weeks before I fly out overseas and would like see how much I can strip over that period.

I am open to supplements if they help the only ones I use now is post workout Whey.

So what will work if anything? Its been this way for years and never succeeded and I thought I might try something drastic

I have attached a low res pic in natural light for reference. Its a crap pic but its all I had available at the time of this posting.

http://imgur.com/u7gLTjT

Thanks
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Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    1600 cals?!?

    I've never "dieted" on less than that in the past 3 years and I'm a 5ft5 woman!!! Even in comp prep for bodybuilding shows I haven't eaten less than that...

    I'd suggest you aren't eating enough...but I have no idea what your macros are or what your diet was before you started trying to lean up..

    It could be a matter of changing your macro breakdown around - more protein, less fat, more carbs etc...
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    I am tiny at 64.5kg atm. 5'7" not huge in muscle but not skinny.

    thus what the macro calculaters say 1600 for rest days 2100 for workout days.

    and as I am perma rest atm its been that way for weeks :(
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    What are your macros? Or do you just eat for calories?
  • katherinebarcaskey
    katherinebarcaskey Posts: 12 Member
    abs are a muscle too, you weigh what i do and youre a man.... you might want to try building them. lots of weighted ab exercise.
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    What are your macros? Or do you just eat for calories?

    rest days its: 1615 cals

    15% starches and veg
    25% protein
    60% fats

    workout days: 2280 cals
    35% starches and vegs
    25% protein
    40% fats
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    abs are a muscle too, you weigh what i do and youre a man.... you might want to try building them. lots of weighted ab exercise.

    Thanks, we do a bunch with Crossfit, everything is core I can feel them under there they just don't show through :(

    but I will add some more weighted ab stuff personally
  • katherinebarcaskey
    katherinebarcaskey Posts: 12 Member
    i do a lot of compound lifts and tire flips, but definitely not targeted enough to get arippling six pack. not that thats what im going for.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
    It really is everything to do with bodyfat% and genetics.

    How low are your daily carbs in grams?

    Sometimes a carb refeed can be helpful, although I don't know a lot about it personally.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    i do a lot of compound lifts and tire flips, but definitely not targeted enough to get arippling six pack. not that thats what im going for.

    Abs is more to do with having a low enough bf%....some people's abs are more prominent than others
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    It really is everything to do with bodyfat% and genetics.

    How low are your daily carbs in grams?

    Sometimes a carb refeed can be helpful, although I don't know a lot about it personally.

    144g is my goal, the worst I have blown out by is 40g but still under on cals for the day. I tend to hit close to or right on the goal (or under) amounts with my macros
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    It really is everything to do with bodyfat% and genetics.

    How low are your daily carbs in grams?

    Sometimes a carb refeed can be helpful, although I don't know a lot about it personally.

    144g is my goal, the worst I have blown out by is 40g but still under on cals for the day. I tend to hit close to or right on the goal (or under) amounts with my macros

    144g isn't 15% of 1615 cals or 35% of 2280 cals?
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member

    144g isn't 15% of 1615 cals or 35% of 2280 cals?

    dude you are so right! I just put it into the calc. way off... I guess I shuffled trying to get the medium between the two when I first set it on here. should have just set the rest days...

    Needs to be 61g on rest days.. how is that even possible?

    Which leads to how does one eat 110g of good fats but avoid too much carb/protein?
  • chani8
    chani8 Posts: 946 Member
    It's all about body fat and then, having the muscles there. Do your ab workouts, daily, and count calories carefully. You said you eat more on workout days, but weightlifting doesn't burn a whole lot of calories. So probably, you're still too high in cals. However, I wouldn't go crazy with cutting your cals, just maybe don't eat your 'exercise cals' back. Getting 6 pks means very low body fat, and it's even harder for those who carry their fat around the middle (apple shape). So is it really that worth it, to make yourself that lean?

    More important to me, is to not go too low in cals so that I don't compromise my ability to build muscle mass.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member

    144g isn't 15% of 1615 cals or 35% of 2280 cals?

    dude you are so right! I just put it into the calc. way off... I guess I shuffled trying to get the medium between the two when I first set it on here. should have just set the rest days...

    Needs to be 61g on rest days.. how is that even possible?

    Which leads to how does one eat 110g of good fats but avoid too much carb/protein?

    I'd personally up the protein to 30%

    But 110g of fat is easy. I eat 100g day. I add homemade mayo to breakfast (omelette - whole eggs with vegies in it and broccoli), I use it on salad as dressing for lunch. I also use coconut oil - to cook with, and I whiz it in to black coffee with gelatin. You could also choose fattier cuts of meat - thigh instead of breast for chicken, salmon, tins of fish in oil. I don't know what you eat, but adding fat is easy
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    thanks liv!

    I wouldn't have thought about mayo that much! do you have the recipe somewhere?
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member

    144g isn't 15% of 1615 cals or 35% of 2280 cals?

    dude you are so right! I just put it into the calc. way off... I guess I shuffled trying to get the medium between the two when I first set it on here. should have just set the rest days...

    Needs to be 61g on rest days.. how is that even possible?

    Which leads to how does one eat 110g of good fats but avoid too much carb/protein?

    Why so few carbs? I'd die. And why the cycling? For most people it's really not necessary. Maybe you should try aiming for g/body mass of macros (protein, fat) rather than %s. Like 0.8-1.2 g protein/lb and 0.35g fat/lb. To get the abs to pop you need to reduce bf. Also, the extent to which they pop is going to depend a lot on genetics and on how much you've trained them while eating at a surplus; you can't put on appreciable muscle mass while dieting. If you want bigger muscles (anywhere, not just abs), you're going to have to eat more and put on some weight - you'll gain bf temporarily but can cut again after.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    thanks liv!

    I wouldn't have thought about mayo that much! do you have the recipe somewhere?

    There are plenty of recipes - look up "paleo mayo"

    I use one egg, couple tbspns apple cider vinegar, mustard powder , garlic powder, paprika and a little chili, salt and about 1-1.5 cups oil (I use olive or macadamia)
  • minuz5
    minuz5 Posts: 256 Member
    Ok, that's what I found :


    1. CrossFit
    A bunch of rich white people paying $250/mo. to have an uncredentialed coach instruct them to have spasms with PVC pipe and siezures on pull-up bars until they vomit. They generally do this for a period of 10-30 minutes and call it a workout. Those who partake in these group activities also have the option to pay $1000 to attend a weekend course where they have an alcoholic instruct them how to better lift their PVC pipe. Some people who do these activities may also confuse being nauseous with being elite. (urban dictionary).

    Hope it will enlighten you!
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    What does your weight do at your current calorie intake?
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    Ok, that's what I found :


    1. CrossFit
    A bunch of rich white people paying $250/mo. to have an uncredentialed coach instruct them to have spasms with PVC pipe and siezures on pull-up bars until they vomit. They generally do this for a period of 10-30 minutes and call it a workout. Those who partake in these group activities also have the option to pay $1000 to attend a weekend course where they have an alcoholic instruct them how to better lift their PVC pipe. Some people who do these activities may also confuse being nauseous with being elite. (urban dictionary).

    Hope it will enlighten you!

    I fail to see the relevance of this post.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    As above:
    Are the scales going down?
    If not, is your body weight going down?

    Saying all that, doing an abs routine made upper abs show to some degree - I was still too high body fat, but initially thought I'd go some odd swelling bellow my (quite large) rib cage. Then realised it was actually my hard work showing through and was muscle :).

    The routine I do is 3x12 of:
    Weighted Decline Situps
    Weighted Hanging Leg Raise
    Dumbbell side bends
    Standing Ab-roll out (I started kneeling, with the standing I'm still keeping my arms vertical - definitely not strong enough to go flat from standing.)

    Oh and yes; I set my protein reasonably definitely, fat a bit less so, then fill the rest up with carbs - to the point that these days towards the end of the day I'm often trying to find something with lots of carbs and less protein to eat!.
    (I also do more calories workout day and less on rest days.)
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
    While dropping weight, like all other muscles your abs are going to look best the day you stop eating at a deficit and they fill out. But if your body fat isnt low enough its not going to look how you want. If your Abdominals just aren't developed enough that is a bigger problem as you will have to bulk up and do weighted exercises, then lose the fat again.
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    What does your weight do at your current calorie intake?

    It's slowly decreasing 2kg over the last few weeks. With the injury I have been unable to do any meaningful training.

    I normally train 3-6 days a week but I have been reduced to 1 last week and none the weeks before I will try for 2 this week.

    The whole reason I am on this nutter stripping phase is after the injury I noticed I was PACKING on the weight and losing the little definition I had.

    In the mornings there is kinda a 4 pack but that lower belly fat is still there. so looking to strip as I can't do much else atm while I am healing.

    Moving over to Canada in a few weeks to be with the love of my life so that's probably the biggest motivator for stripping atm to be honest.
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    Why so few carbs? I'd die. And why the cycling? For most people it's really not necessary. Maybe you should try aiming for g/body mass of macros (protein, fat) rather than %s. Like 0.8-1.2 g protein/lb and 0.35g fat/lb. To get the abs to pop you need to reduce bf. Also, the extent to which they pop is going to depend a lot on genetics and on how much you've trained them while eating at a surplus; you can't put on appreciable muscle mass while dieting. If you want bigger muscles (anywhere, not just abs), you're going to have to eat more and put on some weight - you'll gain bf temporarily but can cut again after.

    most of my macro's and calories ideas are generated from this website it made the most sense to me personally

    http://simplesciencefitness.com/
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    You might just have naturally smooth ab muscles. Having a 6 pack is something that is genetic. Not much you can do to change your genetic tendencies if that is indeed the case.

    Since you have obvious vascularity, this would indicate your body fat is already pretty low. Some people just don't have bulging ab muscles, and aside from plastic surgery, there isn't really anything that can be done to change that.

    If your bodyfat is still higher than you want it to be, you need to move into an intense cutting program. I recommend HIIT six times a week and strength training 2-3 times a week. You can find some pretty awesome cutting diets on Bodybuilding.com.

    Good luck! I hope you are able to achieve your goals. :-)
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks paris, I will look at them I am def going to give it my all over these next 3 weeks and see what comes of it.
  • Larrytheloungelizard
    Larrytheloungelizard Posts: 8
    When you suck in your breath can you see any definition? Definitely seconding that abs are genetic, mine show through at quite a high body fat percentage but so do my parent's.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    What are your macros? Or do you just eat for calories?

    rest days its: 1615 cals

    15% starches and veg
    25% protein
    60% fats

    workout days: 2280 cals
    35% starches and vegs
    25% protein
    40% fats

    why is your protein so low? I have my protein set at 40% for workout and non-workout days…

    my breakdown is 40/30/30

    on non work days I aim more for a 40p/40f/15-20carbs
  • milali
    milali Posts: 17 Member

    why is your protein so low? I have my protein set at 40% for workout and non-workout days…

    my breakdown is 40/30/30

    on non work days I aim more for a 40p/40f/15-20carbs

    Hey I used this website to design my macro's: http://simplesciencefitness.com/

    The site made a lot of sense to me atm I am not bulking but just trying to maintain and strip fat before I am fully healed and can get back to full workouts. then I can I will then probably switch back to 3000 cals higher protein diets.

    And thanks Larry, yes I can feel them under there and the 4 pack is visible on good days :) but its not quite there I feel like there is a thin layer of loose skin laying over the top its SUPER annoying as the sides are as defined as all hell (veins and stuff on hips) but around the belly the barstard just won't slip. I did lose 12 KGs about a year ago now and have gone from stripping to bulking, then injuring myself and back to stripping.

    edit: just putting link to pic as embedding the pic looked silly

    http://imgur.com/MroZ0et
  • AverageUkDude
    AverageUkDude Posts: 371 Member
    probably been said on this thread already but you need to just lift a bit heavier and build some more muscle, some people also (like me) carry all their bodyfat on their stomach and its the last bit to go, for my six pack to 'pop' i have to be around like 10%, where as some people get away with 15% range.

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