i would say i'm in pretty good shape for my age 33, 6'-0" 230 muscular, broad shoulders thick back... i like romantic walks in dark alleys lol started sounded like a lowered expectations ad.
but on to the advice, i hate dieting i eat like a pig otherwise i feel quite weak in the gym. i never work on abs, they have a mind of their own depending on what i ate. Luckily i was a skinny kid growing up and have thin joints, so all the muscle looks even bigger. it's true a lot has to do with diet and genetics.
try eliminating pastas, eat more vegetables gets you crapping regularly. drink lots of water. i dont do cardio because it seems redundant to go to the gym to run on a treadmill for an hour. So my workout is 40-60 minutes, heavy sets, lots of sets, sweaty sets. you have to sweat and dont rest more than 30 seconds between sets, you'll get ripped in no time especially if your slim. most people in the gym never break a sweat and take 5 minute breaks between sets and those are usually the beer bellied short guys who try doing 3 plates on bench press, making up for napoleon complexes or even worse sweating nicotine i apologize i had to slip in a pet peeve.
oh and if you want to burn fat with help of cardio, do cardio for at least 40 minutes. 20 minutes is nothing you dont start burning any fat until you get to 40 minutes. also for better results, try doing 40 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach but be careful. so the food for the rest of the replenishes your body and isnt fueling your body for a later day workout. oh and get 7-9 hours of sleep, the lack of sleep will not make your muscles grow or burn fat. The more you workout regularly the more your body will continue burning fat throughout the whole day.
oh and diet wise, lots of meat, chicken especially. sweet potatoes, raw broccoli, brown rice if you crave rice or pasta, stay away from alcohol as well. i've never been a fan of eating lots of fruits since fruits contain lots of natural sugars and will make you smooth. a good protein supplement is good, i take 1 shake (25-40g) immediately after my workout. it's better to eat food if you can.
hmm other tricks. let me think. well if you want to make your waist look slim, whether you have ripped abs or not, you can widen your shoulders or back, the infamous V shape. Best way is heavy back exercises. The best is bent over rows but that could slowly wear on your lower back. Also wide grip chin ups. And if you are weight training, whether you bench press, pulldown, bicep curl, etc always keep your stomach tight. like Blade said in Blade 3 ... "UUUUUSE IT!" contraction is the key for ripping muscles. You can also do Arnold's old trick of keeping a small waist - which is the vacuum, suck and hold in your stomach in for 30 second increments, then gradually increase to longer times. What you end up doing is tightening your internal organs/stomach together into lesser volume.
working out is a good stress reliever, the less you think about it and go in the gym or stay at home and sweat it out the better. I like training heavy on certain exercises, but safety first - i wouldnt go doing anything crazy to try and get a six pack. Your body will progress gradually, there's no such thing as spot training. sure you can increase a muscle in certain area but usually you increase the size of adjoining muscle groups. It's the same with fat, if you want ripped abs you're probably going to have 10-12% body fat, that means losing fat everywhere.
i hope that helps in some way, maybe gives you something else to try. I work out for fun but my brother has his certified trainer license. the key is doing something that will keep you motivated but not obsessed, stay healthy and keep reaching for the pornstars
