abs every day?

abs every day or not?

  • abs every day

    Votes: 24 28.6%

  • abs a few days a week

    Votes: 60 71.4%
  • Total voters
    84

Matt6969

Member
so i have been told multiple things from several people about working abs every day. can you or not:duel:
 
Its up to how your body responds. You can do 5 sets everyday for 4-5 days or you can do 10-12 sets 2or3 times a week. I'd recommend doing them at least 2 times a week tho.
 
My ab routine is done 2 times a week and consist of a 3 exercise circuit. Here is my ab routine:

Hanging Leg Raises: 10-15 reps
--superset w/--
Rope Crunches: 10-20 reps
--superset w/--
Machine Crunches: 10-15 reps

Do those back to back without rest, and do 3 sets. (9sets total).
 
Abs are fast twitch muscles and recover within hours of doing them. It is perfrectly alright to hit em every day along with calves. I have been told this by many trainers who have worked with some excellent bodybuiders. I dont know about everybody else but i hit my abs with them heavy weight and they are never sore. But unless your bodyfat is low enough you can do em till your blue in the face but no one will ever see em
 
No!

Why are abs different then any other muscle? Work them twice a week.

The abdominals have two primary uses, the main one is the stabilize the body- like in deads, snatch, squats, and other full body exercises. The second is the curl the body- such as in crunches.

I only work my abs in squats and deads and I have a good 6 pack. Trust me on this one.
 
Rah22491 said:
Abs are fast twitch muscles and recover within hours of doing them. It is perfrectly alright to hit em every day along with calves. I have been told this by many trainers who have worked with some excellent bodybuiders. I dont know about everybody else but i hit my abs with them heavy weight and they are never sore. But unless your bodyfat is low enough you can do em till your blue in the face but no one will ever see em
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All muscles are made up of thousands of fast and slow twitch fibers. Abs are not primarily one or the other. I talk to a guy that has his masters in exercise science, and is a certified personal trainer and this is what he tells me.

You are right about the bodyfat part. My abs are sore right now. Never train a muscle when they're sore. Just like any other muscle you should try to mix it up with what you do for abs although crunch type movements aren't necessary.
 
Rah22491 said:
Just experiment and do whatever works for you cause everybody is different
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This is true to an extent but that statement only goes so far. Like you can't say eat 20 grams of protein and see if it works for you. Stuff like training abs everyday is one of those times when you need to stray from that statement and stick to what is set in stone.
 
thats the problem everyone says different things. so right now i do abs 3 times a week with moderatlely hard training each time. i will do roughly 10 sets of crunches to max, lie on my back and raise my legs, situps, weighted crunches on a goldsgym stayball.
 
Try incorporating some other AB Exercises and cut back on the crunches a bit. I could see 3 sets of crunches 3x a week. My Abs have really started to show nicely since I cut back on the crunch work and started doing more oblique related moves (V sit -twists; oblique DB bends; reverse planks, side planks, etc..) You need to make your abs work on providing rotational stability as well as the flexion work you are doing.
 
Not to thread hop, but do any of you guys suffer with a distended midsection? I seem to have acquired one after cycling. I just started doing vacuum exercises, but thought you guys might be able to shed some light. Iplan to bulk until I finish my three kings. I am thinking of using recreate to help with cutting while maintaining muscle. Once again sorry for the thread hop.
 
alright obliques it is. and i will cut back on the crunches a bit. i notices that the legraises help my obliques.
 
You can't target one part more than any other part of the abdominal muscle. The muscle is like a sheet, when upper abs are worked so are middle and lowers.
 
it seems very difficult for me to target my lower abs most of the time though. i even have much more definition in my upper abs.
 
Matt6969 said:
it seems very difficult for me to target my lower abs most of the time though. i even have much more definition in my upper abs.
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this is very common. fat deposits are typically higher in the lower abdominals.
take a caliper measurement on your upper abs and compare them to your lower. i guarantee your lower measurement will be higher.

doing all the lower ab work in the world won't help this.
diet.
 
Hank Vangut said:
this is very common. fat deposits are typically higher in the lower abdominals.
take a caliper measurement on your upper abs and compare them to your lower. i guarantee your lower measurement will be higher.

doing all the lower ab work in the world won't help this.
diet.
Click to expand...

Cosign, this is especially common for males.
 
Everyday, if you're gonna train with weights....I wouldn't do em everyday.

But, situps, knee ups, flutter kicks, etc... Yeah, I do em 6 times a week except on my day off.
 
Abs should be trained just to make sure your core can handle the extra load you are putting on yourself to grow so it doesnt end up being a limited factor. For some this can be everyday, others twice a week. Some not at all. I train them when I train my upper body and save lower back on max effort lower days.
 
If you insist on doing them 3 times a week then at least do them on the days you do deads, squats, and other compounds involving core stabilization like clean and jerks.
 
Lol I dont work abs at all aside from heavy deads and squats. I've always had abs. Given, I'm only 19 so we'll see how long they last.
 
^It could have been a preexisting condition that the deadlifting and squating made worse, or they may have not had an effect at all. That also brings form into question. If you use a belt and have good breathing and form this shouldn't be an issue.
 
Yeah i remember having slight pain after doing some machine ab crunches...then two weeks later i went for 550 on dead and my foot twisted out and i tore my hamstring and popped my stomach out through that taer. The doing abs thing definitly weakend by abdominal wall though and wasnt great for me. I use a real good belt and have great form, just my foot slipping on chalk killed me..
 
Hank Vangut said:
this is very common. fat deposits are typically higher in the lower abdominals.
take a caliper measurement on your upper abs and compare them to your lower. i guarantee your lower measurement will be higher.

doing all the lower ab work in the world won't help this.
diet.
Click to expand...


I totally agree! Don't sweat over your ab routine. Most exercises involve the abs in one way or another anyway. If you want your abs to show, diet is critical. All the ab crunches in the worl won't get rid of the layer of fat over your abs. Diet (80%) and cardio(20%) will!
 
Core strength is important, you don't have to train them everyday but it doesn't hurt. As far as I know doing flutter kicks and crunches after your workout won't affect your gains.
 
I know this might sound wierd but the less i train my abs the better they start to show(within reason). If i hit them to often my muscle gets stronger without the definition, if i only train them lightly once or twice a week at the end of a lift they burn and show better. A friend once told me abs are 80% diet, 10 % genetic and 10% training
 
I do abs till they burn, if they are sore the next day, then i won't but i usually have a fast recovery with them
 
I don't see the point in working out your abs more than once a week, considering you practically work them out each time you do exercises that solicit your core.
 
You don;t work chest every day...legs everyday...abs are muscles just as these are...train them as such...not everyday.
 
D3vildog said:
I do abs till they burn, if they are sore the next day, then i won't but i usually have a fast recovery with them
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Soreness isn't an indicator of growth and neither is the burning. The burning is the build up of muscle toxins like lactic acid. The soreness is caused by either new fiberal patterns (new exercises) or the build up of lactic acid the day before.

I get pumps but never burns and am seldom sore but still make gains.
 
try doing some plank type exercies to really build up your inner core. Ever since I started doing those, I notice my abs starting to protrude more. I hold a pose for 1 minute laying face down supporting myself on my forearms. I then switch to the sides. So i do 3 sets for a total of 3 minutes of holding my bodyweight up using only my core. Believe me, its tough. If 1 minute is easy, up it 15 to 30 seconds.
 
I never train abs, and I have a six-pack....personally, I think it comes down to doing the big compound lifts, and having a solid diet. Genetics probably plays a role, too, but I think it basically comes down to diet.
 
There is a great book out there made by Health for Life called Legendary Abs. I believe that there is also a second book that went into print. Very good info and has been around for a very long time. There is no need to do them everyday. Diet is the most essential aspect of having the abs show themselves. The correct balance of diet, exercise, and sleep must be found. OR ...take up slalom skateboarding...pumping upwards of 10 milesor pumping the deck uphill is the best cardio ab/oblique work out I have ever done.
 
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