IHeres my opinion, for what its worth,
Your about 27? How cut up are you before you start? How lean are you to begin with? I've been going to the gym all my life and talking to people I meet that look good. I also talk to lean cut up people when and where-ever I meet them. Some people are naturally lean and look cut up. Some people look that way without working out.
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Your metabolism and age will contribute to your ability to cut up. I would think with most people cutting up has more to do with diet and caloric intake over a prolonged period of time and a short time than your physical work out. I go to a big gym 5 days a week. And those with excess weight around their abdomen seem to far outnumber those that wear a tank tops and look cut up. Body builders go through extreme dieting in the weeks before a competition and they also attempt to hold very little water prior to posing. Is that healthy? Since we are mostly water.
At your age you are probally as lean as you are ever going to be and loosing it dayly. To maintain any leanness you have you have to watch your diet. You need to find out how much you should weigh for your height and size, google it.
I am 5'10 medium build. One site based on Metropolitan Insurance tables say I should be max 160lbs.
When I got married at 19 I weighed 145, I had a six pack. Today at 54 I weigh 199lbs. I look good for my age. But I'm about 40lbs from a six pack. A couple of years ago. I doubled my work out for 90 days and got down to 170 and I was still 10 to 15 pounds and extreme dieting for me away from a 6 pack.
What I'm saying is what I see. Diet is the most important factor to being lean. You need to do the math. Protein, vegetables and fruit, low carbs. If I was really serious I would have mixed vegetable rather than a potatoe. Forget the french fries or any fried food while your on your quest to leanness.
Another point, If I want to weigh 170lbs, my target weight based on tables, I have to average 1700 calories a day for however long it takes me to get there. If you are serious, you need to do the math and write down everything you eat. Myself if I am starting at 199lbs and I want to get to 170lbs thats 29lbs at 2lbs a week thats 14 1/2 weeks thats 3 and a half to 4 months of dedicated dieting. For me to weigh 199lbs to start that means I have been averaging 2000 calories a day plus I have been working out 5 hours a week. I need to cut 300 calories a day or 2100 calories a week from my intake. I could add an extra hour to my work out. 5 hours a week x 500 calories = 2500c's. Thats sweating and moving for 2 hours a day. Very little time to look in the mirror. I could stop drinking on the weekend 150calories x 12 drinks = 1800 calories.
You being in your mid 20's should not be as far from your base weight as I. But, still in my opion it boils down to mathematical formulas. I do 4 to 5 hundred ab crunches and roman chair leg raises a day 5 days a week. Still I have to weigh about 160 to 170 for my abs to be seen.
Dont fall for, you can weigh more because you have big muscles. The gym is full of men with big arms and big guts. And having a v shape will make you look biger.
Gyms are big business because everyone is trying to look good and feel good. I think if you want to reach your goal you have to do the math, work out and hit your ideal weight.
If you are freakishly big, which I doubt without steroids. You will still see your leanness appear as you approach your book weight.
Specifically, regarding your question, if you do what you propose and obtain your stated exercise goals and dont up your caloric intake, you will look better than you do today before you start. And in achieving that you will have embraced some of the principals which I have gone over without taking the time to do the math.
Good luck.
