First off my names Cory,
My problem is that i weigh 160 lbs. im at 9% body fat height 5’11 and
my abdominals are visible but not bulging how iv’e always wanted them to be.
Ive tried so many times following a low carb diet and it’s gotten me very good
results but i can’t seem to break past this point.
As i stated earlier my goal
is to have great abdominals so i need a lowered body fat %. I eat 5-6 meals a
day getting a little over my body weight in protein and about 40-50% of my
body weight in fats. I also tend to stay right around 2000 calories a day.
I
take whey protein, creatine (ethyl ester), l-glutamine, and about 15 grams
worth of fish oils a day. So i pretty much follow CT’s physique changing
program.
One of my biggest questions is that im getting in around 20-30 carbs
a day, is it completely necessary for me to consume around .45g of my body
weight in carbs (so about 50-60 carbs). also do i need to back off the fat
intake a little (although i do get them mainly from fish oils and flax oils
ect.)
I seem to have a certain “flatness” in my muscles and i just now learned
that i cannot used the “net carb” method that some people talk about. SO for
the past 2 weeks ive started completely clean carbs. Do you have any advice to
help me fill my muscles and lose that last little bit of belly fat?
ive been
training for years now and ive finally started trying to get lean over the
past year and have reached a plateou. Please lend me some advice. Just picture a muscular 18 year old with fairly cut and big arms, nice sized chest (basically what i would call a model like physique) but i have this little covering of fat over my abdominals though they are still visible. I seriously do not know where to go from here… can anyone please lend me some advice!?
P.S. a common myth is that some people can’t get great abs depending on their
genetics… i have relativly average/good genetics in my opinion… is this myth
true?>
‘My problem is that i weigh 160 lbs. im at 9% body fat height 5’11 and
my abdominals are visible but not bulging how iv’e always wanted them to be.
Ive tried so many times following a low carb diet and it’s gotten me very good
results’
The key words are 160 pounds, 5 foot 11, not bulging, low carb diet.
id say from this point onwards 90% of the posters will tell you this:
160 pounds at 5 foot 11 is too low.
I am 200 pounds at 6 foot with 8% bodyfat and my abs still arent ‘bulging’.
you also explained how you want to cut back on both your carbs and asked if you should cut back on your fats.
add that to the fact you are already in a calorie deficit - means you will end up low on energy with a slow metabolism and your body will start to consume muscle in response - making bulging abs even further away.
so to conclude:
1)low carb is good but make sure you get good pre and post WO carbs.
2) dont cut fats - you will only end up undereating or replacing those good fats with hunger based crap food.
3) i personally think you should be aiming to put on 20 pounds of muscle if you want the bulge effect. to do this you cant be in deficit and you may put on a little fat…which i assume you wont want to do, but a focus on muscle gain rather than fat loss will get you the result you are looking for, whilst the perpetual cut for ab visisbility at such a low weight will likely undo what your muscle gain training has done to date.
4) if you do decide to gain muscle - 2000 calories is ok for a 160 pound man who doesnt want to go places. but you should eat like the weight you want to be.
im eating 3300 cals per day and my body fat has gone down 3% in the last 6 weeks, yet my weight has stayed the same. because of this i can now see my ‘pocket muscles’.
hope that little miny rant saved you getting grief ;]
You sound impatient to me, up your calories accordingly and remember your NOT gonna look the way you want to after a few weeks or months, its a lifetime activity weightlifting, the best results tend to be after 4 or so years of extremely disciplined eating and training, in saying that, there are some people, the genetically gifted, who only need to go stare at the bench for an hour and get astounding gains…these are the lucky ones, not me, not you! Just remember its a lifetime activity and that your already in the road to a better physique!
Best of luck!
I’ll just remphasize. Get some muscle. Right now you are just a skinny kid and if you lean out more you’re just going to be a skinny kid with abs. I’m 5’10" 200 lbs at 10% bodyfat and even when I lean down for spring break/summer I’m still not quite as full as I’d like to be for the look I want. So get some muscle first, then worry about your abs. It’s winter time, no one is going to be seeing them anyways.
Aight guys,
Thanks for the advice. while i do agree that i should put on some more muscle weight, something that im not just a skinny kid. I have an enormous upper body thin waist, and 161/2 inch biceps. So no im not skinny to say the least. Could the fact that i made the mistake of almost never working my upper legs be part of the issue? If i could put on another 10 lbs. of muscle in my legs (lol) would that help?
[quote]chutec wrote:
im going to save alot of people posting here.
they will read:
‘My problem is that i weigh 160 lbs. im at 9% body fat height 5’11 and
my abdominals are visible but not bulging how iv’e always wanted them to be.
Ive tried so many times following a low carb diet and it’s gotten me very good
results’
The key words are 160 pounds, 5 foot 11, not bulging, low carb diet.
id say from this point onwards 90% of the posters will tell you this:
160 pounds at 5 foot 11 is too low.
I am 200 pounds at 6 foot with 8% bodyfat and my abs still arent ‘bulging’.
you also explained how you want to cut back on both your carbs and asked if you should cut back on your fats.
add that to the fact you are already in a calorie deficit - means you will end up low on energy with a slow metabolism and your body will start to consume muscle in response - making bulging abs even further away.
so to conclude:
1)low carb is good but make sure you get good pre and post WO carbs.
2) dont cut fats - you will only end up undereating or replacing those good fats with hunger based crap food.
3) i personally think you should be aiming to put on 20 pounds of muscle if you want the bulge effect. to do this you cant be in deficit and you may put on a little fat…which i assume you wont want to do, but a focus on muscle gain rather than fat loss will get you the result you are looking for, whilst the perpetual cut for ab visisbility at such a low weight will likely undo what your muscle gain training has done to date.
4) if you do decide to gain muscle - 2000 calories is ok for a 160 pound man who doesnt want to go places. but you should eat like the weight you want to be.
im eating 3300 cals per day and my body fat has gone down 3% in the last 6 weeks, yet my weight has stayed the same. because of this i can now see my ‘pocket muscles’.
hope that little miny rant saved you getting grief ;]
[/quote]
Yes Brant, i like that guy too. He was very straightforward which i did expect. Honestly im sure things like this have been posted b4 and im sure people will read it that way. I’m on a constant quest for more knowledge on this stuff and i appreciate any help i can get. I’m by no means new to this shit, i could basically preach to anyone for hours how people are “supposed” to get bigger and lean out… but the fact is there is no set ways for anybody. I simply posted my stats so that people could get a feel for what im going through.
So far ive gotten i need more “good” calories and to get out of my deficate. Anyone have more advice… go ahead… be blunt… ill take advice any way i can get it. Also is the myth about only some people being able to get abdominals due to genetics true?
Work your damn legs! Leg movements (especially squats) are ridiculously good for building muscle. They require more muscle activation for your entire body thus increasing testosterone production. Not to mention you probably look like one of those people that most of T-Nation would make fun of for having chicken legs. As of now you are skinny, just admit that to yourself. Believe me I had to admit that to myself. I started on T-Nation at 135 lbs. Then I got to 165 thought I was HUGE! Got made fun of on T-Nation and realized I really wasn’t HUGE and put on another 35 lbs. Now at 200 I’m still not HUGE but I’m at least not skinny. I’d shoot for 15-20 lbs extra just on your legs to balance out your frame.
What is your current training regimen? Also try counting out your calories the next three days or so and check and see how many calories you are actually getting. 90% of the people I help out at my gym/store don’t get nearly as many calories as they think. They start to write them down and then realize they are 1000 calories less then they thought. So give that a look. The best clean bulking diet I’ve ever used is the “Anabolic Diet.” It allowed me to go from 167-196 in 5 months (18 of that was regained weight) and I only had a 1.5% increase in bodyfat levels. There is a huge thread on that so maybe look into that. You can use that diet for cutting and for bulking.
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
Work your damn legs! Leg movements (especially squats) are ridiculously good for building muscle. They require more muscle activation for your entire body thus increasing testosterone production. Not to mention you probably look like one of those people that most of T-Nation would make fun of for having chicken legs. As of now you are skinny, just admit that to yourself. Believe me I had to admit that to myself. I started on T-Nation at 135 lbs. Then I got to 165 thought I was HUGE! Got made fun of on T-Nation and realized I really wasn’t HUGE and put on another 35 lbs. Now at 200 I’m still not HUGE but I’m at least not skinny. I’d shoot for 15-20 lbs extra just on your legs to balance out your frame.
What is your current training regimen? Also try counting out your calories the next three days or so and check and see how many calories you are actually getting. 90% of the people I help out at my gym/store don’t get nearly as many calories as they think. They start to write them down and then realize they are 1000 calories less then they thought. So give that a look. The best clean bulking diet I’ve ever used is the “Anabolic Diet.” It allowed me to go from 167-196 in 5 months (18 of that was regained weight) and I only had a 1.5% increase in bodyfat levels. There is a huge thread on that so maybe look into that. You can use that diet for cutting and for bulking. [/quote]
Regardless of genetics, if you really want a set of good abs your gonna have to do what liquid mercury said, squats, deadlifts, olympic lifts…All of these movements put alot of isolation stress on your core and abdomen when being done, far more than most ab exercises alone.
You have to work for anything worth having in life. No saying stands true to bodybuilding any better