Don't want to lose my abs

Comes with the territory. No advice here. I just tried to focus on my gym performance during my bulk and not get too caught up with the fat gains, though at times it was difficult I know.

^ what they said. Regardless of how much you work your abs, you will gain fat during a bulk and you can't control where the fat is gained. It's why you cut after your bulk. The only way to kind of mitigate that is get really lean and then slow bulk until you can stand it and then repeat.

I'm sorry but it just happens often. I am bulking and lost my abs 7 lbs ago. I miss them but I know that I will uncover them again soon. Instead I like to look at all the great gains I've made in my back and glutes . I know it will all come together again in a few months. Its hard to look at but just remember that your doing this to improve and they will come back !

I second @IbrahimMohidin. Slow bulk (TDEE+250 calories), you will slow your muscle gains but also your fat gains.

HamsterManV2 wrote: »

I second @IbrahimMohidin. Slow bulk (TDEE+250 calories), you will slow your muscle gains but also your fat gains.

if your food intake is the only thing that changes then you will get fat but if you increase your training intensity/frequency and eat 90% clean, you can make steady gains without excess fat

psulemon wrote: »

IbrahimMohidin wrote: »

HamsterManV2 wrote: »

I second @IbrahimMohidin. Slow bulk (TDEE+250 calories), you will slow your muscle gains but also your fat gains.

if your food intake is the only thing that changes then you will get fat but if you increase your training intensity/frequency and eat 90% clean, you can make steady gains without excess fat

Eating clean has no impact and is an erroneous term. If macros and calories are held constant and you follow a progressive lifting program, your results will be the same, whether you eat chicken and broccoli or whatever.

Clean eating is also an ambiguous term. I agree with psulemon, control your marcros (and calories) and stick to a good lifting program.

If you want to keep your abs it's possible, just a slower process but it will play a less emotional role on your mind and you won't have to worry about cutting to the extent if you just bulked. I slightly disagree with "clean eating" being erroneous or ambiguous but everyone has a different belief (yes I still eat fast food, conservatively, before someone reads and gets pissed off). The more a food is processed, the more it loses its nutritional value. Mcdonalds burger patty isn't going to have the same amino chains as a real patty, furthermore fast food has been shown to cause sluggishness and tiredness. People also pay no attention to the sodium intake in fast food, which also helps retain water and lose definition. Plus eating clean allows an easier transition of changing macros which could be the difference in keeping your abs or losing them regardless of the calories (dependent on your macros). Protein is the building base of muscle and there's been no studies (not that I have found valid) showing that excess protein converts to fat. Get your healthy fats in, get your carbs that allow muscle fullness and glycogen restore and energy but not more than you need, that will convert to fat. Anything else eat protein and micronutrients. The higher the protein will actually help your body burn more calories, plus remember protein can't convert. Protein (in studies) is estimated to be 61% more difficult for the body to breakdown than other nutrients which increases energy expenditure. I advise continue your research, choose what your comfortable with and will stick to, consistency is going to promote change. Also, if working your abs extra hard, don't neglect your lower back, never focus on one muscle group without working the compensating group to keep from forming imbalances. Best of luck

Lmao literally why I said I eat fast food before pissing anyone off, and why I said everyone has their own BELIEF, but the nutritional values are different, there are studies to back that, but I will ask because now I'm really interested in what their clean means. It's either clean, or got some form of alteration to it. As for micronutrients, yes your correct you can't just go eat vitamin k, but you can focus a good portion on your greens and micros. Majority of people overlook them and typically the macros that come with them are simple chains or relatively low to an active persons diet. I'd never suggest focusing on macros and not having a general idea of micros, but again, everyone has different beliefs.
The point is to the OP there's no real answer, and most people will tell you you can't do it,, gotta bulk then cut. But you can, I have, ive seen it done. Yes its a little slower, but it can be worth it having abs all year and not needing to cut. Like I said, continue your research and choose what your comfortable with, it's an experiment
But eating clean (non processed, no chemicals, additives, hormones, you get the picture) will have an impact if trying to keep abs, most people just havent done it correctly for a respectable amount of time

Never did I say its All about eating clean, I'm showing different options to the OP that she can consider and research to get her own view on,, as she's a little paranoid about keeping her abs. Obviously she knows how to lose fat and get them. The above works for me when gaining size and keeping abs while maintaining the same bf% (according to skin calipers). Fast food didn't yield the same results (I was running IIFYM) and I could literally feel my body getting sluggish when eating 4000 cals. Size of surplus.. For me, depends on what macro I've got my surplus in. As stated earlier protein don't convert and it raises energy expenditure so it's easier with "bro science" to manipulate your macros to be in a surplus or gain muscle, with the proper training regimen, and not gain bf%, sure still difficult to do, but it's possible
OP don't need help burning fat if she's got abs, she's looking to build muscle and keep abs visible, something that probably 98% of the population can't do. And whether people agree or not idc, because I know what works for me. That's why I said everyone has their own belief and told BonyCastro to continue with her research, that it's an experiment

It's honestly like watching a car accident in slow motion reading some threads.

People offer relatively harmless advice, someone jumps on their back and takes apart what was written as if it were spoken as gospel and not anecdotal advice.

There are never going to be any Eureka moments on MFP because people are more prone to picking apart someone else's anecdotes then actually taking a second to realize that MFP is entirely comprised of anecdotal accounts.

You can argue that said person is misinforming the OP, but the OP came here looking for advice, not scouring PubMed articles