What % of macros worked best for you to get a clear six pack?

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101810191020
101810191020 Posts: 51 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Currently doing 45% carbs, 30% protein and 25% fat (2,800 cals). I will slowly cut down calories but was wondering what other have done to get a six pack without losing too much muscle.

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  • Laces918
    Laces918 Posts: 36 Member
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    What works for me is caloric deficit around 1g protein per lb and sugar under 60g. Good lifting and cardio routein and the rest takes care of itself.
  • 101810191020
    101810191020 Posts: 51 Member
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    Laces918 wrote: »
    What works for me is caloric deficit around 1g protein per lb and sugar under 60g. Good lifting and cardio routein and the rest takes care of itself.

    Thanks! I was doing a bit over 1g protein per lb but will try 1g/lb

    I struggle with cardio but will have to come up with a good plan

    Thanks for the advice
  • Sarahfaster
    Sarahfaster Posts: 29 Member
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    I've gotten a six pack by having my macros at 40% Protein, 35% Fat, and 25% carbs. I am a female which makes it a lot harder to put on muscle so that's why I set my protein so high. It is a lot of protein to eat/maintain in a diet, and at first, it was hard to hit my macros. But I really recommend using a good protein powder and making protein pancakes with it. I eat them every day for breakfast with greek yogurt and peanut butter (and sometimes sugar-free jelly) to make a protein pancake peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It has a lot of protein which really boosts my macros. I also drink a protein shake every day which has about 30g of Protein (plus I add greek yogurt to the shake to boost the protein). I normally eat a fairly regular dinner, maybe pasta with meat sauce or fish and veg. Anyways, I hope your journey to abs goes well!
  • 101810191020
    101810191020 Posts: 51 Member
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    Sarahfaster wrote: »
    I've gotten a six pack by having my macros at 40% Protein, 35% Fat, and 25% carbs. I am a female which makes it a lot harder to put on muscle so that's why I set my protein so high. It is a lot of protein to eat/maintain in a diet, and at first, it was hard to hit my macros. But I really recommend using a good protein powder and making protein pancakes with it. I eat them every day for breakfast with greek yogurt and peanut butter (and sometimes sugar-free jelly) to make a protein pancake peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It has a lot of protein which really boosts my macros. I also drink a protein shake every day which has about 30g of Protein (plus I add greek yogurt to the shake to boost the protein). I normally eat a fairly regular dinner, maybe pasta with meat sauce or fish and veg. Anyways, I hope your journey to abs goes well!

    Thanks for your detailed response! 25% carbs!? Did that affect your mood? The lowest I’ve done is 35% carbs and it was hard! I will try going down gradually from 45% to 30% and will let you know. If I am not crazy by then I will go to 25%

    I’m trying to get abs to do a photoshoot, I’ve never done one and would like to
  • 101810191020
    101810191020 Posts: 51 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    % breakdown is kind of irrelevant - at the end if the day it's your calorie intake that matters. Work out protein and fat in grams (use these as minimums - 0.8g per lb for protein and fat at 0.35-0.45g per lb) then use the remainder of your cals how you like. When prepping for comps, it was generally carbs that got lowered as calories dropped as trying to sustain minimums of protein and fat was important...

    Thanks! I haven’t tried that formula, I will do the math and see how it changes compared to what I am doing now.
  • ELBChamp
    ELBChamp Posts: 8 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    % breakdown is kind of irrelevant - at the end if the day it's your calorie intake that matters. Work out protein and fat in grams (use these as minimums - 0.8g per lb for protein and fat at 0.35-0.45g per lb) then use the remainder of your cals how you like. When prepping for comps, it was generally carbs that got lowered as calories dropped as trying to sustain minimums of protein and fat was important...


    ^^^this
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    % breakdown is kind of irrelevant - at the end if the day it's your calorie intake that matters. Work out protein and fat in grams (use these as minimums - 0.8g per lb for protein and fat at 0.35-0.45g per lb) then use the remainder of your cals how you like. When prepping for comps, it was generally carbs that got lowered as calories dropped as trying to sustain minimums of protein and fat was important...

    Yepp this is exactly what I do. I don't have a six pack but I do cut very successfully after a bulk.
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    % breakdown is kind of irrelevant - at the end if the day it's your calorie intake that matters. Work out protein and fat in grams (use these as minimums - 0.8g per lb for protein and fat at 0.35-0.45g per lb) then use the remainder of your cals how you like. When prepping for comps, it was generally carbs that got lowered as calories dropped as trying to sustain minimums of protein and fat was important...

    Same
  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
    edited July 2018
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    Consistency, a slight kcal deficit, time, & patience seem to work just fine
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Whatever percentage allows you to get sufficient protein intake while consistently adhering to a calorie deficit (the recommendations above by @livingleanlivingclean are solid).

    Fat is lost by consuming less calories than you expend. And to get a six-pack, you have to lose fat. For most guys (although it varies by your genetics), you'll have to be somewhere around/below 10% bodyfat to have a clear six-pack.
  • Sarahfaster
    Sarahfaster Posts: 29 Member
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    101810191020 wrote: »
    Sarahfaster wrote: »
    I've gotten a six pack by having my macros at 40% Protein, 35% Fat, and 25% carbs. I am a female which makes it a lot harder to put on muscle so that's why I set my protein so high. It is a lot of protein to eat/maintain in a diet, and at first, it was hard to hit my macros. But I really recommend using a good protein powder and making protein pancakes with it. I eat them every day for breakfast with greek yogurt and peanut butter (and sometimes sugar-free jelly) to make a protein pancake peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It has a lot of protein which really boosts my macros. I also drink a protein shake every day which has about 30g of Protein (plus I add greek yogurt to the shake to boost the protein). I normally eat a fairly regular dinner, maybe pasta with meat sauce or fish and veg. Anyways, I hope your journey to abs goes well!

    Thanks for your detailed response! 25% carbs!? Did that affect your mood? The lowest I’ve done is 35% carbs and it was hard! I will try going down gradually from 45% to 30% and will let you know. If I am not crazy by then I will go to 25%

    I’m trying to get abs to do a photoshoot, I’ve never done one and would like to

    Haha No problem! My mood hasn't really been affected, I still eat fruit and veggies which is where I get my carbs but also in my protein pancakes (which I am obsessed with because they taste like CARBS but have more protein in them!!) A slow transition is the best for sure! It was hard for me to eat that much protein and I was at first hitting like 20% Protein a day but I always felt guilty for exercising but not eating enough protein to help build the muscle which REALLY motivated me to increase my protein intake! I'm sure you'll so great!!
  • 101810191020
    101810191020 Posts: 51 Member
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    Thank you all for your recommendations, I appreciate the help and will put it to practice. I like to see that a lot of you agree on most things so that makes me feel like it will work. I will do my best.
  • 101810191020
    101810191020 Posts: 51 Member
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    Sarahfaster wrote: »
    101810191020 wrote: »
    Sarahfaster wrote: »
    I've gotten a six pack by having my macros at 40% Protein, 35% Fat, and 25% carbs. I am a female which makes it a lot harder to put on muscle so that's why I set my protein so high. It is a lot of protein to eat/maintain in a diet, and at first, it was hard to hit my macros. But I really recommend using a good protein powder and making protein pancakes with it. I eat them every day for breakfast with greek yogurt and peanut butter (and sometimes sugar-free jelly) to make a protein pancake peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It has a lot of protein which really boosts my macros. I also drink a protein shake every day which has about 30g of Protein (plus I add greek yogurt to the shake to boost the protein). I normally eat a fairly regular dinner, maybe pasta with meat sauce or fish and veg. Anyways, I hope your journey to abs goes well!

    Thanks for your detailed response! 25% carbs!? Did that affect your mood? The lowest I’ve done is 35% carbs and it was hard! I will try going down gradually from 45% to 30% and will let you know. If I am not crazy by then I will go to 25%

    I’m trying to get abs to do a photoshoot, I’ve never done one and would like to

    Haha No problem! My mood hasn't really been affected, I still eat fruit and veggies which is where I get my carbs but also in my protein pancakes (which I am obsessed with because they taste like CARBS but have more protein in them!!) A slow transition is the best for sure! It was hard for me to eat that much protein and I was at first hitting like 20% Protein a day but I always felt guilty for exercising but not eating enough protein to help build the muscle which REALLY motivated me to increase my protein intake! I'm sure you'll so great!!

    Instead of pancakes I will try to make waffles and will let you know how that goes! I bought the protein powder cookbook and there are some good recipes there. Thanks for the support!

  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,978 Member
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    Weight/fat loss based on the specific cal deficit used to achieve it more important than the macros BUT in order to achieve weight/fat loss it is also important IMO to maintain a relatively high protein level of at least 1gr/# BW.

    How that works out in terms of macros will vary depending on your BW and daily cal allowance. For me, my average macros are 32P/38C/30F based on about 155g/P/day on a 2400 cal/day diet.

    I have lost 43# (196 to 153) and dropped my BF from +25% down to 8% (based on hydro) over the past 2 years doing this.
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    1. I don't go by percentages, go by macros per lb of bodyweight
    2. percentages dont give you abs....
    3. fat loss is linear, you can't spot reduce from core.
    4. probably could write more on this post but not worth it....

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