Male, Skinny Fat But Muscular – Question

My skinny fat question. As a 22-year-old male, why I am naturally muscular everywhere except my stomach, love handles, and lower back where I am experiencing skinny fat? No matter how hard I work in terms of diet and exercise to build muscle, get 6-pack abs, and get rid of my skinny fat, I have never been fully successful. I can reduce the skinny fat and kind of see my abs making an appearance, but I have never been ripped with obvious 6-pack abs, no matter what I do.

I have followed the training advice of the top professionals and influencers. They tell me it is because I am not working hard enough, I am not tracking calories and progress accurately, I am cheating or lying, or some other reason why it is always my fault. I use SnapCalorie and MyFitnessPal to religiously track things including healthy meals, calories, protein (100+ grams per day), carbs (low, mainly fiber), fat, resistance training, cardio exercise, etc. My BMI is healthy at 23.9.

I can easily gain fat weight (but it is hard to lose) where I have skinny fat, but not muscle mass. Yet, I can easily add muscle mass and maintain it where I am naturally muscular, which is everywhere else. It is very frustrating. What am I doing wrong?

Male, Skinny Fat But Muscular – Unique Genetic Body Composition

Images would be helpful, but I respect your decision to remain anonymous.

Body composition — particularly muscle tissue, regular white/yellow body fat tissue, and skinny fat tissue (1, 2, 3)(thin fat, cellulite) —  is genetic and unique to each individual. Your description indicates you are naturally lacking genetic default muscle tissue (2, 3, 1) on your stomach, love handles, and lower back, and where that genetic muscle tissue should be you are experiencing skinny fat (3, 1, 2). Moreover, your degree of skinny fat sounds serious — you likely have minimal genetic muscle tissue where you are experiencing skinny fat as well as probably a less-than-optimal genetic muscle fiber ratio (which makes adding and maintaining muscle mass more difficult)(2).

Whereas, it sounds like you are muscular everywhere else, and adding muscle mass and maintaining it is easier (most likely a more optimal genetic muscle fiber ratio). The complexity of the human body cannot be understated.

Your situation sounds similar to some NFL linemen, no less.

Skinny Fat, Muscular Male

These elite NFL linemen — right and left — are experiencing skinny fat on their love handles and stomach, no less, while in the best shape of their lives:

In contrast, see how genetically blessed Joe Rogan is overweight (left) yet his six-pack abs are visible even when covered with excess regular white/yellow fat (left). And no skinny fat:

See how elite 3x NFL Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce is experiencing skinny fat (and maybe Taylor Swift as well) on his love handles and lower back, at least:

They all have access to the best doctors, personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists, etc. that money can buy. Not to mention that their NFL contract demands that they be as healthy as possible while being an elite NFL football player. Yet, they are still experiencing skinny fat.

Like you, they have their genetics to thank. The latest science indicates that roughly 2/3rds (4) of the population are experiencing some degree of skinny fat; genetics. It is very possible to be experiencing skinny fat and be fit and healthy with proper diet, exercise, and lifestyle (sleep, stress, environment).

All indications are that you are not doing anything wrong, you are just experiencing genetic skinny fat. Some people’s skinny fat is so bad that they can only reduce it so much, and it never meets their (or other people’s) expectations.

How to Fix Skinny Fat

If you are adamant about getting 6-pack abs, then you will need to increase your resistance training efforts (and dietary needs) to add more muscle mass to your stomach, at least. Weightlifting exercises (5) like weighted crunches, seated cable crunches, weighted Russian twists, and weighted planks are a good place to start. Solid exercises for the lower back (5) include close grip lat pulldowns (cables), seated cable rows, and pull-ups along with love handle (5) exercises such as cable twists, cable side crunch, and cable kneeling crunches, no less. Even then, there is no guarantee that you will achieve the level of abdominal definition you desire.

Moreover, remember that adding muscle mass is not permanent. You are not magically turning skinny fat into muscle and curing it. You are temporarily adding muscle mass to reduce your skinny fat. If/when you stop maintaining the added muscle mass, the skinny fat will “return” (it never went away, it was merely reduced). The day is coming when genetic science will offer a permanent skinny fat fix with CRISPR or some other relative technology.

Be sure to check out the Scientific Health Quizzes — Scientific Metabolism Quiz, Scientific Diet Quiz, Scientific Exercise Quiz, Scientific Lifestyle Quiz, and Scientific Body Type Quiz (determines skinny fat) — to better understand your unique genetic body composition, metabolism, and shape along with the best science-based diet, exercise, and lifestyle routines. Free options are available and accounts are free, secure, private, and anonymous (depending on what info you choose to give).

Skinny Fat Genetics, Race DNA, and Muscle Tissue

References

1. Skinny Fat Science: What Is Skinny Fat?, July 26, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/what-is-skinny-fat/
2. Skinny Fat Science: Is Muscle/Mass Genetic and How Does It Affect Skinny Fat?, November 20, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/is-muscle-mass-genetic-and-how-does-it-affect-skinny-fat/
3. Skinny Fat Science: Is Skinny Fat Genetic?, November 27, 2024. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/is-skinny-fat-genetic/
4. Fellow One Research: Body Type Science Research Data. https://www.fellowone.com/category/fellow-one-research/the-four-body-types/body-type-science/research-data/
5. Skinny Fat Science: Resistance Training for Skinny Fat – Weight Lifting, 40 Optimal Exercises (with Images), May 7, 2025. https://skinnyfat.fellowone.com/skinny-fat-science/resistance-training-for-skinny-fat-weight-lifting-40-optimal-exercises-with-images/