derrickrose23

Can Someone Dispel 5 myths for me (didnt see in fAQ's)
im 22 and do work with kids so a lot of time im able to control what i eat and during the year i live on res so will be able to choose what i eat as well..
Firstly, i was curious if someone could tell me how many carbs per day i can eat. I am trying to get ripped abs. am 5'11/6'0 178 and have between a 4-6 pack right now..
i eat oatmeal in the morning with banana,skim milk 9am
Eggs- 3 egg whites 11 am
workout 1 pm
almonds snack 1 2:30
Fruit snack 2 -4
Chicken/steak vegetables 7pm
Cottage cheese snack 3 9:30

With that i have 5 questions
1) How many grams of Carbs should a person have at that height/weight if he wanted ripped abs, and he works out 5 days a week
2) Say you work out, how many carbs do you burn around? like if you work out and then play basketball is all the energy from the carbs burned most of the time?
3) How many grams of fat- carbs- protein- should a person my size have on average per day? I have seen some results, but im curious if i am eating too much fat (if i eat 70 grams or so- normally coming from Almonds primarily)

Thanks very much

IainDaniel

There is no definitive answer to any of those questions they are dependent on the individual

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Michael Jordan

derrickrose23

oh ok, well yesterday i had a split of 220 carbs- normally is around 160, 72 grams of fat and 131 grams of protein.. I always heard 60 grams of fat a day, 200 grams of carbs and a gram of protein for your body weight

IainDaniel

What is your maintenance level of calories?

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Michael Jordan

Built

Okay, so you're pretty lean now, say 10%-12% bodyfat - let's say you have about 155-160lbs lean mass.

I don't know what your training is like, and it's not the carbs that keep you from the six. It's just a matter of big muscle + low bodyfat. That's why I do my ab work weighted. Makes the blocks, um, blockier.

Irrelevant.

Using my guesstimate of your LBM (160 lbs), and the basic LBM-based guidelines I like to use of at least a gram of protein and at least a half a gram of fat per pound lean mass, I'd be aiming to get in at least 160g protein and at least 80g fat daily. Personally, while cutting, I like my protein and fat higher than this. Carbs make me hungry so I tend to de-emphasize them when I'm looking to find a way to undereat and not mind too much, but you may not respond the same way as I do. Ultimately, you'll lean out as you drop fat, and it doesn't look like you have much to drop - if my guess at 10%-12% is correct, and you want to drop down to say 7%. You should see the abs that you seek in about 10 lbs - so make sure you run enough of a caloric deficit to drop about a pound a week and you'll get there in a few months.

Good luck!

derrickrose23

Thanks Built that was very helpful. i really think the weighted situps could be quite helpful.. those abs do seem more 'blockier' then mine, so for abs it does make sense to have sets where you do maybe a 25-35 pound weight for max number of situps for 3 sets then.

i heard there was a myth that doing side bends with big weights (say maybe 50-65) would give you not nice obliques and that you should do them with 20's.. i didnt know what to say i would think from my reading that would be false?

Built

Actually, I do 8-rep sets of crunches. Try 'em over a bosu ball, sit almost on the floor, drape back for the full stretch, full rest, then up to halfway, try to plant your face on the ceiling, then lower all the way down.

When you can do 3x8 and it feels fine, put a dumbbell on its end on your chest. I do 'em with a 75-lb dumbbell, but it took me a while to build that one up...

derrickrose23

great that helps very much