Abs twice a day?

[xgrowler14x]

Just started being "healthy" 3 weeks ago. Eating 5-6 times a day, 40-50 grams per meal, takin a good multivitamin, n doin medium impact cardio daily. My question is about ab training....heard its best to train abs daily until they appear, n then every other day after that...would it be benificial to do them twice a day, once in the morning after cardio, n then again at night after another 30 of cardio until they appear?

[stahlhart]

I wouldn't even train them daily, let alone twice a day.

Why would they be different than any other muscle group in your body -- those other ones that require 48-72 hours of recovery time between workouts...?

I only train mine once a week -- but I hit them hard enough that they're usually still sore 2-3 days later.

C.K. (reply that disagrees with this in 3... 2... 1... )

[IRONMARK2003]

I think at most you should train them every other day.

[DJohnson]

Once a week as heavy as possible, just like everything else. Abs are the hardest muscle to grow. They're not gonna get all huge.

[travis h]

If you're doing the right lifts, you're hitting your abs during each lifting session for core support. And if you have a good lifting schedule, you're not doing it more than 3-4 per week unless you're in the upper 10% of recovery. Abs don't need anywhere near the isolation training people think they do. Try close grip chins and full ROM squats and tell me you're not working your abs like hell.

[dugnom]

2x a day is overkill, abs are the fastest recovering muscle in you body, but to grow it needs some time. If you want to work them everyday, I would recommend one day for lower abs, one day for upper abs, and then one day for obliqs, and repeat. But never the same muscle everyday.

[stahlhart]

If you're doing the right lifts, you're hitting your abs during each lifting session for core support. And if you have a good lifting schedule, you're not doing it more than 3-4 per week unless you're in the upper 10% of recovery. Abs don't need anywhere near the isolation training people think they do. Try close grip chins and full ROM squats and tell me you're not working your abs like hell.

Outstanding point.

C.K.

[dugnom]

Abs don't need anywhere near the isolation training people think they do. Try close grip chins and full ROM squats and tell me you're not working your abs like hell.

me personally, I'm now at 146 lbs and squat sets of over 300 lbs or more, I dont' feel a thing with my abs maybe the contraction. And I do 50 reps of wide or close grip chins, don't feel a thing in my abs. OH I use complete and proper form with every excercise.

[StrongEnough?]

Every other day

[zcsmith]

"I heard it's best to train abs daily until they appear..."

The only way that your abs are going to appear is if you are at a low BF% and you aren't carrying much fat around your abdomen. You can do ab work everyday until you're blue in the face, but they're not going to show if you have a layer of fat around that area.

No need to train them everyday, let alone 2x/day. They are just like every other muscle group (for the most part) as far as recovery goes. I've been working abs twice a week and seeing nice results.

As someone else stated, you're working your abs on many other exercises without even knowing it.

[IRCRomeo]

Abs are like any other muscle. Every other day is recommended.

[zcsmith]

Abs are like any other muscle. Every other day is recommended.

Don't you kinda contradict yourself there?

[Marx2000]

I wouldn't even train them daily, let alone twice a day.

Why would they be different than any other muscle group in your body -- those other ones that require 48-72 hours of recovery time between workouts...?

I only train mine once a week -- but I hit them hard enough that they're usually still sore 2-3 days later.

C.K. (reply that disagrees with this in 3... 2... 1... )

^agress entirely. Abs are just like arms or legs, muscle wise that is. ONce a week and proper nutrition and plenty of rest and they'll grow. I think i've heard pros dont evn train abs because of thier insane squats do the work in the process.

[shinobidoode]

Work em just like every other muscle. I personally do them twice a week just cus I like how they look afterwards.

[travis h]

me personally, I'm now at 146 lbs and squat sets of over 300 lbs or more, I dont' feel a thing with my abs maybe the contraction. And I do 50 reps of wide or close grip chins, don't feel a thing in my abs. OH I use complete and proper form with every excercise.

Well, you can't properly squat that much weight without a lot of core muscle recruitment. And we know the fact that you don't *feel* it doesn't indicate a good or bad workout. Isolation exercises have their place for abs, and maybe in your case if you're not happy with your development with just compound movements then some isolation work is the way to go. But don't discount the workout they're getting just because they don't hurt. They are masters of recovery compared to, say, your legs.

[IRCRomeo]

Don't you kinda contradict yourself there?

How? Do we not lift each part every other day, allowing one day of rest in-between?

[user903890348904]

Yeh

I train abs Monday - I do a decent work out..

Wednesday maybe a light work out

Friday - I go mentally HARD on them...

[JamerJay]

Abs aren't like any other muscle..

Firstly, you don't want them to grow the same as other muscles. You do not want huge, blocky abs, even if were possible. You want a tight and small midsection. Symmetry - Rule 1 of bbing.
Secondly, they recover a lot faster than most other muscles. Your core - it's always working. When you run, walk, etc. Your abs are activated. They can be trained at higher volume than a lot of other body parts.

I personally do weighted and gym ab work after most workouts. In addition, I will do a mixture of ab exercises every other night, when feeling like it.
If anything, this burns more calories = more fat loss = less body fat. I don't see that time spent as 'i just tonned my abs'. It's also to strengthen my core. A good squat or dead needs a good core.

Of course, none of this matters if your diet is off.

[Canadian Iron]

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=568934

"The Verdict: While we established earlier that loaded abdominal work in the hypertrophy zone should be part of your ab training program, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we should adhere to the exact same parameters as we use when planning the training of other muscles groups.

For one thing, the force production potential of the abs is lower than that of most muscle groups and they're less prone to suffering from a high amount of micro-trauma. Furthermore, the relatively short range of motion of most ab exercises means that the amount of work performed (work = force x distance) will be low. As a result, the ab muscles can be trained more often than most muscle groups even if loaded exercises are used. A frequency of 2-3 times per week is optimal in most cases."

[zcsmith]

How? Do we not lift each part every other day, allowing one day of rest in-between?

YOU might. I don't know of anyone around here who trains chest, or back, or legs, every other day. Sorry, 24 hours of rest is not adequate for most as far as working the same bodypart goes.

[LifeLiquid]

^agress entirely. Abs are just like arms or legs, muscle wise that is. ONce a week and proper nutrition and plenty of rest and they'll grow. I think i've heard pros dont evn train abs because of thier insane squats do the work in the process.

I could easily tell your ass has NO abs for that stupid statment just like the majority of people in this thread. Abs is different from all your muscles because its the only part of your body that you can do EVERY day. If you want abs do them everyday not ONCE a week, if u do them once a week ur NEVER going to get abs, I dont give a crap what anyone says. To get abs you must work them hard everyday, but dont do them 2 times a day because thats way too much. Just make sure to do about 100 reps a day for beginners.

[GTv8]

Like anything else there are probably 50 different training philosophys for abs and there are people who will get good results from all of them. The other day I read an abs article on the homepage of this site written by a fitness model and he stated he trained abs everyday for a year. His abs did look good and were not "big and blocky" as some say will happen. It just goes to show that there are no absolutes in bodybuilding and you just have to experiment to see how your body responds best.

[IRCRomeo]

YOU might. I don't know of anyone around here who trains chest, or back, or legs, every other day. Sorry, 24 hours of rest is not adequate for most as far as working the same bodypart goes.

It's not 24hrs of rest. Where do you get your information from? I know not everyone follows the same routine, so to each his own, but you are incorrect.


Example: If I work chest on a Monday and legs on Tuesday, my chest gets 48hrs of rest for a Wednesday workout. The schedule would be lifting 6pm Monday. Tuesday 6p I'm doing legs, so by Wednesday at 6pm, I have 48hrs of rest for my chest muscles.

[zcsmith]

It's not 24hrs of rest. Where do you get your information from? I know not everyone follows the same routine, so to each his own, but you are incorrect.


Example: If I work chest on a Monday and legs on Tuesday, my chest gets 48hrs of rest for a Wednesday workout. The schedule would be lifting 6pm Monday. Tuesday 6p I'm doing legs, so by Wednesday at 6pm, I have 48hrs of rest for my chest muscles.

My mistake - meant to say at least 48 hours (2 days).

I still don't see how someone can recovery that fast after an intense training session, where they can work the same muscle two days later. Either a) you're a noob and young, b) you have some light training sessions, or c) you have some "help". That's really the only way that I see it happening.

To each their own, I guess, but as someone else already pointed out, your Abs are not like any other muscle in your body. That's the point that I was trying to get across.

[IRCRomeo]

My mistake - meant to say at least 48 hours (2 days).

I still don't see how someone can recovery that fast after an intense training session, where they can work the same muscle two days later. Either a) you're a noob and young, b) you have some light training sessions, or c) you have some "help". That's really the only way that I see it happening.

To each their own, I guess, but as someone else already pointed out, your Abs are not like any other muscle in your body. That's the point that I was trying to get across.

What type of schedule would you recommend then? I personally train the same part every 72hrs. I also don't fit into any of your categories. =)