Should you work your abs everyday?

Hello everyone, I'm new to bodybuilding.com but I've been working hard the last two and a half months at "transforming my body" as they say.

I started dieting when I weighed in at 215lbs on August 23rd, 2008. I'm not exactly sure what my body fat was at the time but I would guess around eighteen or nineteen percent. I've since lost about forty pounds. I started losing the weight in what many would call an unhealthy manner, pretty much starving myself and walking a mile or two everyday. I did this for four to five weeks and lost the first twenty-five pounds to thirty pounds.

When I did eat, I ate only small portions of salad with no dressing. I was warned several times that by doing this I would gain the weight right back, but at that point I didn't care how I lost the weight, I was just sick of being fat.

I've since begun eating healthy and have lost another ten pounds and now weigh in at 175lbs. I've read up on healthy eating, and eat mostly fruit, vegetables, tuna and drink protein shakes after I work out. I've also read that a normal person should drink eight glasses of water a day but that if you want six pack abs to drink at least sixteen, so I've been doing that for the last three or four days as well. I eat six small meals a day and work out regularly. I do fat burn in the mornings for an hour, every two to three days I throw in 15 minutes of cardio into that hour.

At night I do weight training. I have never been one who was into weight lifting all that much, so I'm not exactly experienced in this department but here is what I do. Back & Bi's one day, Chest & Tri's the next day and then Legs & Shoulders the day after that. I usually do this six days a week and then take a day off.

I also have been working my abs everyday, hoping to get those elusive six pack abs. My stomach has flattened out considerably and I can start to see my top ab muscles getting a little definition, but I still have a layer of fat maybe half an inch to an inch thick covering most of my abs.

My question is this, is it counterproductive to work your abs everyday? I've heard some say yes, and that your muscles need time to heal after your work them, that's why you work them out in groups each day. I've also heard others say no, because abs are part of your core and can be worked out everyday.

So what is the best way to maximize working your abs? Working them everyday, or letting them rest/heal and work them every other day?

Most experts recommend 2-4 sessions per week.

If you want hypertrophy, train with weighted movements.

You don't really need a lot of ab training if you're incorporating the main compound exercises in your training program.

tw

[QUOTE=DJAuto;236716881]Most experts recommend 2-4 sessions per week.

If you want hypertrophy, train with weighted movements.[/QUOTE]

This is a joke, right?...like most dentists recommend oral-B.

If a person has a decent fat layer covering his abs why bother training them more than once a week just to keep them strong. Once or twice a week should be more than enough.

Ab work is pretty tedious at best, so why waste the time and energy which could be put to far better use on mass and strength producing exercises.

[QUOTE=tropo;236785681]This is a joke, right?...like most dentists recommend oral-B.

If a person has a decent fat layer covering his abs why bother training them more than once a week just to keep them strong. Once or twice a week should be more than enough.

Ab work is pretty tedious at best, so why waste the time and energy which could be put to far better use on mass and strength producing exercises.[/QUOTE]

They're slow twitch, so they can take a lot of work. And if a strong core can help tremendously in major lifts, why not try to make it strong?

Train your abbs high reps 3 times a week for injury prevention, but if you want boulders train them as any other muscle. Since I am getting back into karate I am doing high reps with no weight. Cardio is what helps get you a six pack. If you want a six pack do more cardio. Keep up the good work.

[QUOTE=RoPaWrastla;236789801]They're slow twitch, so they can take a lot of work. And if a strong core can help tremendously in major lifts, why not try to make it strong?[/QUOTE]

That's exactly what I said. Train them once or twice a week to make them strong.

If major lifts work the abs, then the major lifts should keep them strong, shouldn't they??

Abs are like any other muscle in that they have both slow and fast twitch fibers. How you train them will determine the exact percentage of each.

Thank you all for your replies. I had no idea what hypertrophy meant, so I looked it up, lol. Yes, I want well defined, increased in size ab muscles.

Basically I want to look like a superhero. Not the Hulk mind you, but Superman's build would be a good representation of what I'd eventually like to achieve.

I'll start increasing my cardio to at least every other day. Right now I've been walking on the treadmill on the Random Incline setting and I've made it to Level 20 (that's as high as it will go) for one hour at 4 mph. I had planned on increasing the speed everyday by .2 mph until I got to a reasonable running speed on that same Random Incline level. And I guess I'll reduce my ab workouts to four times a week and begin increasing the intenstity and using weight resistance. I'm going to feel like I'm slacking not doing them everyday but if that's what you guys recommend, you would know better than I.

Would you recommend changing that plan?

[QUOTE=StevenSykora;236862641]Thank you all for your replies. I had no idea what hypertrophy meant, so I looked it up, lol. Yes, I want well defined, increased in size ab muscles.

Basically I want to look like a superhero. Not the Hulk mind you, but Superman's build would be a good representation of what I'd eventually like to achieve.

I'll start increasing my cardio to at least every other day. Right now I've been walking on the treadmill on the Random Incline setting and I've made it to Level 20 (that's as high as it will go) for one hour at 4 mph. I had planned on increasing the speed everyday by .2 mph until I got to a reasonable running speed on that same Random Incline level. And I guess I'll reduce my ab workouts to four times a week and begin increasing the intenstity and using weight resistance. I'm going to feel like I'm slacking not doing them everyday but if that's what you guys recommend, you would know better than I.

Would you recommend changing that plan?[/QUOTE]


nah what ever works best for ya with the tredmill thing i use to go until i couldnt do it any more or i had puke come up into my mouth.

and ya i started training my abs better here latly theres this one routine i found on youtube and i can all ready feel my abs (cant see em but if i press i can feel) a bit bigger and harder feeling been doing his routine 3 times a week.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk_usVg7Fp0[/url]

i all so throw in around 3 sets more or less when i feel like it of weighted chrunches 15 reps.

all so the comment about the fat i am fat and i am loosing while i am weight training and seeing more muscle i train abs becuase i dont wanna look like stick boy when i shed of the fat.

Work your abs like every other muscle in the body. 2 times per week should be fine.

90% of your ab development will come from genetics.

tw

[QUOTE=Tommy W.;236886111]90% of your ab development will come from genetics.

tw[/QUOTE]

proof please?

[QUOTE=tropo;236785681]This is a joke, right[/QUOTE]

Nope. He doesn't want to "just keep the strong".

i work my abs on M, W, F...

i make sure i do different workouts every time..

3 exercises 12-15 reps....

every third day to get my 6 pacc

I can't get pass not doing abs everyday. Hopefully it won't hinder my improvement even if it doesn't help it. I just feel like a lazy@ss if I don't do them. At the very least it will help me burn some extra calories I guess.

As far as increasing my treadmill speed by .2mph everyday until I get to a good running speed, I'm not so sure I'm going to be able to hang doing that. Just increasing from 4.0 to 4.2 today (on Random Incline Level 20) was a beast of a difference. Even my calories burned shot up over 100 in the hour I was on there. Granted, I did run for about six minutes of it, which was gruesome. Truth be told, I ran for three then had to walk for four and ran the last three minutes (I was originally trying to run the last ten minutes.)

[QUOTE=StevenSykora;237006581]I can't get pass not doing abs everyday. Hopefully it won't hinder my improvement even if it doesn't help it. I just feel like a lazy@ss if I don't do them. At the very least it will help me burn some extra calories I guess.

As far as increasing my treadmill speed by .2mph everyday until I get to a good running speed, I'm not so sure I'm going to be able to hang doing that. Just increasing from 4.0 to 4.2 today (on Random Incline Level 20) was a beast of a difference. Even my calories burned shot up over 100 in the hour I was on there. Granted, I did run for about six minutes of it, which was gruesome. Truth be told, I ran for three then had to walk for four and ran the last three minutes (I was originally trying to run the last ten minutes.)[/QUOTE]

Abs is just like every other muscle group brah, you need to let them rest too.
Muscles grow while resting, doing them everyday is probably hurting you.

Do it 3-4 times a week every other day.

Do weight decline crunches 3x15 (decline the bench as low as it goes)
Hanging leg raises
and do another set of something..

I talked to the docs here and they seem to think that abs only need 12 hours of recooperation time and that the only thing that would stop me from working them out is soreness. My abs don't usually get sore though, so I figure I'm good. They did get sore for a few days when I tried using that "Negative Sit-Ups" machine doohickey though. Haven't tried those since then, lol. I think I may give it a shot again today though, it's been a while and I think my abs might be strong enough to support my weight without killing themselves.

Asking a Doctor about bodybuilding is pointless.

Working ANY muscle everyday is going to do more harm than good. Abs should be worked just like any other muscle. Weighted, and no more than twice per week. People who work abs everyday and have "six packs" have
their six packs because they are 6'3'' 150 lb. ectomorphs, not because they are working abs daily.

12 hour recovery time for any muscle group is laughable. Do abs the right way and it will hurt to sneeze 2 days later.

[QUOTE=Messiahtype;238811231]Asking a Doctor about bodybuilding is pointless.

Working ANY muscle everyday is going to do more harm than good. Abs should be worked just like any other muscle. Weighted, and no more than twice per week. People who work abs everyday and have "six packs" have
their six packs because they are 6'3'' 150 lb. ectomorphs, not because they are working abs daily.

12 hour recovery time for any muscle group is laughable. Do abs the right way and it will hurt to sneeze 2 days later.[/QUOTE]

Your abs are very small individual muscles that recover very quickly.

I work my abs 4 times a week (and I am fffaaattt), 5 sets 20-30 reps and I see some definition there.

Saying 'if someone is fat they shouldn't really bother much with abs' is a ridiculously retarded statement. If someone is fat but they spend all their time cutting really working on the abs, they are going to uncover and awesome set when they do get cut. Cutting and revealing a chiseled 6 pack = win, cutting and revealing barely defined muscles = lose.

I went the hypertrophy root with low reps and heavy resistance,

Except now im packing some volume into my hanging leg raises as my inner core isnt as strong as my back

Well being that I'm 5'10" and I started out 215lbs, I wouldn't exactly say I was an ectomorph.... [b]MAYBE[/b], mesomorph, but I sure felt like an endomorph.

Anyway, I uploaded a picture (as you can see) and my abs are far from chiseled but I've been doing them everyday and I don't think they look half bad so far. I think a lot of it has to do with your diet.

[QUOTE=DiMattia43;236932891]i work my abs on M, W, F...

i make sure i do different workouts every time..

3 exercises 12-15 reps....[/QUOTE]

Exactly the way I do it.... I work on them on T, THU, SAT... but I do 4 exercises 15-20 reps...

[quote=messiahtype;238811231]asking a doctor about bodybuilding is pointless.

Working any muscle everyday is going to do more harm than good. Abs should be worked just like any other muscle. Weighted, and no more than twice per week. People who work abs everyday and have "six packs" have
their six packs because they are 6'3'' 150 lb. Ectomorphs, not because they are working abs daily.

12 hour recovery time for any muscle group is laughable. Do abs the right way and it will hurt to sneeze 2 days later.[/quote]

i work my abs all the time and they are rarely sore i have tried all the usual exercises that are on the net. What do you do that makes it hard to sneeze two days later? I need that!!!!