Exercises to lose lingering belly fat?

[gtgm_110]

I'm a 21 year old male who is of a relatively normal weight. I've talked to my doctor, and he said the numbers on the scale are right where they should be for somebody with my build/size. And my legs/upper torso are pretty much in shape honestly.

But here's my problem, I have this ring (or roll I guess?) of fat right at my belly button and a little below. It's keeping me from actually getting toned abs and I'm not sure what exercises would specifically target this area more strongly than I already am.

To be clear, I eat pretty healthy & don't eat a lot, and I do exercise daily (pushups/crunches/etc.) and have been for countless months -- clearly I'm not hitting the right muscles or something. Every place on the internet I find just gives generic advice like "Exercise & Eat Healthy =D" which I'm already doing.

Any advice on the right step?

 

[Trusylver]

For the sub 10% BF% to show your abs, your diet needs to not only to be just good, but perfect.

Scales are pretty meaningless especially when it comes to developing muscle definition, most doctors will look at BMI for ideal weight, this is also meaningless, get your bodyfat % measured, you are probably skinny fat.

Abs are made in the kitchen not in the Gym

Step 1: Calculate lean body mass (Weight-Bodyfat weight based on BF%)
Step 2: Calculate Calorie needs based on lean body mass then cut by 200-500 calories
Step 3: Calculate protein needs based on lean body mass
Step 4: Decide on how to split fat and carbs within remaining calories
(Keto is a good option which means setting carbs at under 50 grams with the remaining calories coming from healthy fats) however if you prefer to follow a SAD diet then you will have higher carbs and lower healthy fats.

A few crunches and pushups will not give you the visible abs you want.

as an example my youngest son (almost 18) who I coach, does no abdominal isolation exercises at all, and maintains an 8% bodyfat for visible abs. His abs are worked enough by just doing his normal training for his sport. Heavy Squats work the entire core, without the need for endless ab exercises.

My older boys 20 and 22 (and living away from home), maintain abs and never set foot in a gym, it is all diet.

 

[gtgm_110]

For the sub 10% BF% to show your abs, your diet needs to not only to be just good, but perfect.

Scales are pretty meaningless especially when it comes to developing muscle definition, most doctors will look at BMI for ideal weight, this is also meaningless, get your bodyfat % measured, you are probably skinny fat.

Abs are made in the kitchen not in the Gym

Step 1: Calculate lean body mass (Weight-Bodyfat weight based on BF%)
Step 2: Calculate Calorie needs based on lean body mass then cut by 200-500 calories
Step 3: Calculate protein needs based on lean body mass
Step 4: Decide on how to split fat and carbs within remaining calories
(Keto is a good option which means setting carbs at under 50 grams with the remaining calories coming from healthy fats) however if you prefer to follow a SAD diet then you will have higher carbs and lower healthy fats.

A few crunches and pushups will not give you the visible abs you want.

as an example my youngest son (almost 18) who I coach, does no abdominal isolation exercises at all, and maintains an 8% bodyfat for visible abs. His abs are worked enough by just doing his normal training for his sport. Heavy Squats work the entire core, without the need for endless ab exercises.

My older boys 20 and 22 (and living away from home), maintain abs and never set foot in a gym, it is all diet.

Thank you for the reply -- this is exactly what I needed to know. As somebody who's never measured calories/carbs/etc., do you know of any resources for more easily figuring this stuff out? I've spent the last hour trying to calculate LBM/Recommended Protein intake/and so on, and I feel like I'm just confused at this point. There are a lot of sites online geared toward this mentality, but not many of them are very approachable if you've never done this before.

 

[Trusylver]

As you say there are plenty of calculators out there for some of this,

once you know your LBM plug that number into one of the calorie calculators which should tell you how many calories you should be eating each day

1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of carbs = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories
1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

protein intake will vary with activity level

General Activity - 1 grams per kg of weight
Strength or Endurance Training - 1.2-1.6 grams per kg of weight

there are other variables but you are not a teen or a pregnant woman lol

so if for example you are an 80 kg, 5' 10, 21 year old male with a 1914 calorie limit

then you need 128 grams of protein per day which will take out 512 calories out of your calorie limit

this leaves you 1400 calories which can be split between carbs, fat and alcohol

there is fair few food tracking sites scattered around the internet where you can track your food which makes it easier to keep track of what you have eaten. I use Calorie King Australia because it has a food list that matches better than the American sites for me but sites like my fitness pal etc are all popular.

Even after all the numbers have been crunched, there will still be some experimentation, as there are always individual differences like having a slower or faster metabolism, so overall calories needed may not perfectly match the theoretical total.