Trying to cut stomach but bulk up muscle on arms

[darberz]

I am 5'7" and around 150-153 pounds. I weighed 180 pounds back in January and decided to get back in shape. This was mainly done by me through just dieting and drinking only water. I did cardio 6-7 days a week the last month and a half. In 4 months I dropped to 145. I reached my goal. I just got hooked into serious lifting. I have been doing it since about mid to late april. I am trying to add more muscle and bulk up my arms and chest. I do however still want to cut up my stomach and get my abs to show. I have just a small amount of fat and skin over my abs. I want to get definition of my abs by getting rid of this. I am curious as to how many calories I should be shooting for a day and how often to continue doing cardio (days per week, time, etc.) to continue to gain muscle and bulk on my upper body while cutting my stomach. Any help would be great here.

[mariusjacobsen]

This issue has been discussed back and forth like an endless game of tennis for many years (and probably will be for years to come). It all boils down to this question "is it possible to gain muscle while cutting fat?". Most people say no, some say yes. Those who say yes take an extremely scientific approach to weight training, and I think you would be doing nothing but calculations all day if you tried to follow their advice. The problem is pretty simple:

A. Cutting fat requires eating below maintenance.
B. Gaining muscle requires eating above maintenance.

So since you want to gain muscle and cut fat, I would suggest investing the time it takes to bulk up, then cut. I would suggest a good clean bulk where you eat approximately 500 calories over maintenance. Then, when you've gained the mass, start cutting by eating approximately 500 calories below maintenance.

Another option (which I don't think I'd be able to do) is eating over and under maintenance in short intervals; meaning that you eat over maintenance for e.g. a week to gain mass, and cut the fat off by eating way below maintenance the following week. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This would not work for me.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have way better input than me, but those were my two cents.

Good luck!