Close to the sixpack but not quite there

[Niktoss]

Hi everyone,
So, I am searching for some advice concerning abs. I am male, age 19, height 184cm (about 6’1). I am basically a hardgainer, I have always been very skinny.
I have been training for 3 years now but it is the last 12 months that I really managed to get consistent and go to the gym 5-6 times a week. I managed for the first time ever to put on quite a bit of weight. By February 2020 I was about 83Kg (182 pounds) which for me is a lot really, considering that a year ago I was only around 72Kg (160 pounds).
But aside from putting on muscle and getting noticeably stronger, I also put on some fat which, being a hardgainer, I never had much. I estimate that at that point I must have been around 15-18% body fat.
Since then I have been cutting. Due to quarantine I do a full body split 5 times a week and 2 days of cardio (which I didn’t do at all before). As far as diet goes, I would say I have a daily intake of around 2500 calories with a daily protein goal of around 150g and trying to avoid fats as much as possible.
I have lost a lot of weight over the last 4 months, dropping from 83Kg (182 pounds) to currently 74Kg (163 pounds). I have managed to retain most of the muscle I had, meaning that I am satisfied with the current size of my arms, chest, legs etc.
At the same time I have lost quite a bit of body fat as well, as I notice much more vascularity on my arms and more definition in the stomach area, although I can’t say for sure at what percent I currently am (probably around 11-13%).
My only issue is that I can’t seem to be able to get my abs to show. While I have much more definition in the stomach area (My obliques are quite defined and visible and there is definition in the abdominal area) I can’t seem to get that elusive sixpack.
Now, the thing is that while right now I am satisfied with my size at 74Kg, I don’t want to lose much more weight (max 2 or 3 more kilos), as I have started to notice that I am getting smaller and smaller and I don’t want to get skinny again and lose more muscle. But at the same time of course I desire to finally get that nicely defined sixpack.
So I thought I would ask for some advice. Should I change my diet, or maybe train abs more? And what kind of exercises do you recommend? Should I do more cardio? Should I maybe start cutting more carbs instead as well as fats?

[CommitmentRulz]

Post pictures in your profile/bodyspace if you want reasonable advice, otherwise we are guessing.

[Tommy W.]

Edit your post using paragraphs then it will get read

[Niktoss]

Hey, so I added a picture to my profile and I paragraphed the thread. Sorry, I just joined this website. All advice is appreciated!

[Luclin999]

You are reasonably fit and lean, but you don't have developed abdominal muscles so frankly at this point you won't have a defined, visible six-pack no matter how low you drop you body fat.

"Abs" are abdominal ~muscles~ and like any other muscle group on your body, they need to be built up before they are going to look impressive. If you have never worked to build up your arms, then you wouldn't expect to have "huge bulging biceps" just from losing some fat so why do you think that you will have defined abdominal muscles from just dropping 20+ pounds of fat?

Work on building up your body in general with some ab work thrown in a couple of times a week and you'll probably have what you are looking for by next summer.

[faithbrah]

trying to avoid fats as much as possible

Should I maybe start cutting more carbs instead as well as fats?

see, this is one of your problems. eating fat isn't going to make you fat as long as you're in a caloric deficit

Should I change my diet, or maybe train abs more? And what kind of exercises do you recommend?

if you start looking skinny and still don't have abs, you need to build more muscle (bulk) before cutting further

[Niktoss]

You are reasonably fit and lean, but you don't have developed abdominal muscles so frankly at this point you won't have a defined, visible six-pack no matter how low you drop you body fat.

"Abs" are abdominal ~muscles~ and like any other muscle group on your body, they need to be built up before they are going to look impressive. If you have never worked to build up your arms, then you wouldn't expect to have "huge bulging biceps" just from losing some fat so why do you think that you will have defined abdominal muscles from just dropping 20+ pounds of fat?

Work on building up your body in general with some ab work thrown in a couple of times a week and you'll probably have what you are looking for by next summer.

I have been working a on my abs quite a lot but I assume I just have to train more and harder. Thanks for the insight, this was really helpfull

[Niktoss]

see, this is one of your problems. eating fat isn't going to make you fat as long as you're in a caloric deficit


if you start looking skinny and still don't have abs, you need to build more muscle (bulk) before cutting further

Do you think I should eat more in order to be in a caloric surplus?

[Luclin999]

I have been working a on my abs quite a lot but I assume I just have to train more and harder. Thanks for the insight, this was really helpfull

The abdominals are one of the harder muscle groups to isolate and build properly. A lot of people who focus on sit-ups and crunch type ab workouts don't ever realize just how much their legs can contribute to those exercises and thereby reduce the overall effectiveness of what they thought was fairly focused isolation work on the abs.

[Niktoss]

The abdominals are one of the harder muscle groups to isolate and build properly. A lot of people who focus on sit-ups and crunch type ab workouts don't ever realize just how much their legs can contribute to those exercises and thereby reduce the overall effectiveness of what they thought was fairly focused isolation work on the abs.

.

That’s very true. I myself have noticed I can fairly easily do 20-30 reps of sit ups with good form while I struggle much more with leg raises.
Any exercise recommendations?

[Luclin999]

Generally, the exercise that challenges you is the one that you need to do more of.

If you struggle with leg raises then I'd start there. Learn to do them from a dead stop at each rep (no swinging) and personally I prefer to do them as..

Lift straight, down, lift/twist right, down, lift straight, down, lift/twist left, down.

I consider that entire sequence to be "one rep" of of a "set" of ten.

I try to do two "sets" of those along with a single long set of incline sit-ups (40-50 reps) for my "Ab" workout twice per week.

That said, personally I am not really trying to build a "six-pack" at the moment as much as just get back into the lean 10-12% BF range so overall I consider myself to be a bit lazy on the Abs side of things.

[Tommy W.]

Get in a calorie surplus and work your abs with weighted exercises with intensity. This is how you develop any muscle and abs are no different