How can I obtain (reasonably) defined abs?

[geru]

I’m a 5.8 college aged male, who weighs roughly 170 pounds. My build is relatively muscular as a default, I have a natural Square Lego Figure build.

For the past few months I’ve been trying my hardest to get defined abs, nothing crazy… I’m not looking for a movie star body, but I’d like a visible 4-pack by the summer at the very least.

I go to the gym four days a week, and I always do an ab workout after my much larger workout of that day. My ab workout is as follows (these are the names I learned for these exercises, so if you’re confused about any I can explain)

60 Flutter Kicks, 20 Corkscrew Crunches, 30 Heel Touches, 20 Russian Twists, 15 Butterfly Sit-us, 15 Long Arm Crunches, 20 W-Raises, 20 Bicycle Kicks, 1-minute Plank. Then Repeat all again.

As for diet, I’d say I’m fairly consistent. I always start my day with a bowl of plain oatmeal and fruit, I’ll have a protein shake after the gym, and then a meat for dinner with potatoes or a salad on the side. I also do not drink alcohol of any kind, so there’s no calories being added there.

I can feel my abs under my stomach, and they’re visible is my bathroom mirror… but I haven’t been able to lose that extra stomach fat. What’s my next step? Should I be eating at a calorie deficit? Should I be eating more protein? Do I need to run more? Should I workout my back? I have the motivation to obtain this… but I feel like I’m working harder not smarter. Any tips?

 

[rick12]

@geru From what I know, you should train abs like other muscle groups.

So, doing 4 sets of 8-10 reps of cable crunch or if your gym has a weighted ab machine, do that upping the weight and taking it close to failure. Try to get in 15-20 sets a week for muscle growth (I think).

Of course, diet here if everything. Tracking calories on MyFitnessPal and staying below your maintenance while consuming enough protein and weight training will burn fat, and eventually, you'll get some abs showing through. This is why people bulk.

At the moment, it looks like you're training your abs for endurance or strength, someone can correct me if I'm wrong (probably am)

 

[quentin]

@rick12 All about right!

Abs will show at a lower bf %, easiest way to get here is t reduce food and then sprinkle in more cardio.

As for the training, doing 9 separate exercises after being worn out from your normal workout is likely just difficult and not effective. do less but make it harder, or make it higher in the priority of the training so that you can actually do work at a good intensity. With that said, doing lifts like squats, lunges, deadlifts etc will all train your core to a decent extent as is.

In short, eat less (keep protein up though) move a bit more (steps, cycling etc) train abs with a bit more intent (weighted crunches 3*10 a few times a week and some hanging leg raises or something) but for less long every session.

 

[kpirx]

@rick12 I throw in fat burn circuit like this

 

[rtomb92]

@geru Abs start in the kitchen. Your meals are decent but not great. Adding more protein to the beginning and middle of the day will do wonders.
The better you know how to eat the better results you have. I try to eat 3-4 small meals during the day and that helps me a lot with maintaining my weight plus going to the gym.