Suggestions to improve workout - focus on stomach fat & abs

[naterecording]

Hi all,
I am a 26 year-old male, 6ft, 165 lbs.

I've been hitting the gym pretty regularly about 2-4 times a week, interspersed with cardio (although I'll admit I do much more cardio in the summer when I can bike & play tennis).

I am pretty lean overall, and over the course of the time I have been working out, I have seen improvements in my arm, leg and shoulder muscles. I am liking the way I look in a t-shirt or typical workout outfit.

The place where I really want to see improvement is in my belly fat and abs. Most people who look at me would say I am thin, but I think my belly still doesn't match the amount of tone on the rest of my body.

To put it another way: If I look at myself in the mirror with a tight shirt on, I can imagine seeing some six-pack abs under there just based on the current shape of my body. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case yet.

I am looking for suggestions on how I could change my workout/diet habits to improve this. Now, I know the simple answer is to eat less fat/calories, do more cardio, work more abs. What I am really looking for are suggestions that would help me in the right direction. For example: What type of foods should I eat? Do I want to avoid carbs or strike a balance between carbs and protein?
Should I focus on ab exercises or put more focus on cardio until I start to lose more belly fat?
Any other thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you need any more details I will try to respond very quickly. Thank you for any/all advice!

 

[Goldfish]

It would be easier to make judgement calls if we had photos.

Up until recent times, I would have recommended a percentile macronutrient split, but after being challenged about the actual end result of such a nutrition plan (by one of the member's on this forum, in fact), I looked over the details and came to a different conclusion. Formerly, I would have recommended a 60/20/20 split of CHO/protein/fat, but now I'd be more likely to recommend 1g protein/lb body and up to 0.5g fat/lb body. Then, based on whether you need to increase muscle mass or decrease body fat, make up the remainder of your energy intake with your CHO (and alcohol, if you drink). So, at 165lb bodyweight, that's ~165g protein (~750kcal) and up to ~85g fat (~750kcal). If you're aiming to increase muscle mass and thus add on some weight, then you might need 3,000 or so kcal total, which is another 1,500kcal, or 333g CHO. If you're aiming to get rid of excess bodyfat, then you you might need to limit yourself to no more than 2,000kcal/day, which would only be 500kcal (111g) CHO, however I think fat can be reduced a bit to allow for some more CHO if the end volume is the same.

Note that CHO and protein both = ~4.5kcal/g, and fat = ~9kcal/g. Alcohol is ~7kcal/g, but I've seen some debate as to how much of that energy actually makes it into the cells of the body.

Regarding exercise, your abs should be worked in every exercise you do. Their primary function is to stabilise the trunk. In effect, most direct ab-work people do in gyms (such as crunches and other trunk flexion exercises) is actually contrary to the purpose of abs. Just something to take into consideration. Heavy squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, pull ups and rows will actually do a signnificant amount of ab-work on their own, since correct execution of all of the above exercises requires that the abs by switched on to keep the trunk strong so that the weight can be moved safely and efficiently.

And regarding cardio, the amount of energy burnt in a training session is generally going to be low for most people. 5-10kcal/min, and that's including the basic amount burnt. Sure, if you can maintain 10kcal/min for an hour, that's 600kcal (minus whatever you burn at rest, which is probably around 100kcal/hour if your BMR is 2,400kcal), but you may only be burning 5kcal/min, and you may only be able to maintain that for half an hour, which is only 150kcal. Just to put things into perspective, you may not be burning as much as you think you are during a session, so don't go thinking that it makes a huge difference unless you're really giving it a good effort. Nutrition will still have a much bigger impact on body composition than cardio will.