How many days per week do you work your abs?

[bambifox]

I just recently started an ab video (Joannie Greggains Super Stomachs - 12 min.). I did two days straight and then...BAM! My stomach hurt soooo much that I could hardly walk, I felt full all the time, and could not stand up straight. I was agonizing in pain! After giving my abs 2 days rest, I am finally able to use these muscles to let's say "get out of bed" again!

So, I became curious about how many of you out there have experienced this? and...How many days per week would be optimal for working abs? What r you guys/gals doing out there? Look forward to your comments.

P.S. I've always had a "flat to the eye" stomach and cardio always seemed to keep it flat, but never had a "six-pack". I'd say it's been 10 years since I did a "sit-up"! I'm really trying to go all the way this time so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

[Kai2008]

I used to only do abs two days a week and I've just increased that to every other day so I guess that's about 3-4 days/week now. I'm not sure how much more of a benefit you would get doing it everyday but I do think it's important to at least let your muscles recover. Also, it's more important to make every contraction count rather than doing tons of reps. Make sure to squeeze your muscles with each contraction.

[heidismommy]

I used to only do abs two days a week and I've just increased that to every other day so I guess that's about 3-4 days/week now. I'm not sure how much more of a benefit you would get doing it everyday but I do think it's important to at least let your muscles recover. Also, it's more important to make every contraction count rather than doing tons of reps. Make sure to squeeze your muscles with each contraction.

**bolding quote

Yes, definitely focus on form and quality rather than on quantity. Hold each contraction to really feel it.

I do ab wok every other day, though I've heard others say they do it daily. It is a good idea to give your muscles a break between workouts, even your ab muscles (though I've been guilty of training abs back-to-back).

[Verti-gal]

Your abs and calves recover quicker than your other muscles and do not need the 2 days in between, and they both work better on more reps than other muscles. You can definetly do them 3-4x a week and I've seen advanced workouts say 6 days a week. For a while (in expedition training 2 years ago) I was doing them 6 days a week and had some great results doing leg raises, crunches, knee-ins and v-ups (3 sets of 25 each). But I had to build up to it and my muscles recovered fine.

I'd just start slowly and don't try to over do it too much in the beginning, especially if you haven't worked them in a while. Work until you are sore enough to feel it a little bit, but not sore enough that it affects daily activity. Don't sacrifice quality for quantity. Its better to do 10 right than 25 sloppy, so build up to it. If the video is too much right now just don't do the first couple in each set and build up to the full video from there.

[elmariachii]

I USed to work my abs around 5 times a day...now that im bulking i only train one time (but a long session) and its keeping them

[bigdez]

i would just by looking at your body type i would do abs 3-4 times per week incorporating cardio to get that flat washboard look everyone wants

[SexyChic]

I usually work my abs after cardio... I usually do hanging leg raises because they are the most challenging for me.
Since summer is upon us, I think I am starting some weighted crunches as well.
I have pretty much given up on my abs until I get my legs to grow though, b/c it seems I can't have both lol.

[livingloca]

I have done abs everyday on most days (6x week). After getting them developed, I have gone to maybe 3-4 x week. Abs won't "look" cut until you have dropped enough bf for them to peek through. Although I began doing ab workouts when I had plenty of fluff around the middle, I knew that once the bf went down, those babies would be ready to shine!

Focus on the intensity of the ab movement. I have seen lots of people do the captains chair, swinging legs up and down, only to be using momentum to get their legs up, instead of their abs. (i don't use that, but that is the one that i see being used wrong all the time).

Keep training hard!