abs everyday?

[miamibodybuilder]

when i'm getting ready for a competition, i do abs every day i train or do cardio. but what i do is alternate between resistance abs and bodyweight abs. so mondays, wednesdays and fridays i'll do my abs with weight and lots of heavy resistance, then tuesdays, thursdays and saturdays i'll do light bodyweight ab workouts. sundays i take it completely off. i've been doing it this way for years now and i love it.

[PrinceAikins]

My workout friends told me that I can and should work my abs/obliques everyday to get my six pack out more... So yesterday, I decided to start working them everyday. When I woke up today, they were sore, but I decided to go ahead and do them again today because of what they said.

Anyways, when I went to the gym and started to do some ab exercises, leg raises, ab crunch machine, etc, my abs hurt really badly and I couldn't do as much weight and reps on my exercises.

Does my body just need to get used to it? Or should I do them maybe every other day? Any suggestions?

Thanks

Down to intensity...
It's your own bodyweight, not recommending it but you CAN work them out everyday at low intensity but damn, if you're sore it's no crime to take a day or two off.

[Mikebrah22]

Your abs are just like every other body part. It is a myth that you need to work them more often. Training them more than twice a week will lead to overtraining. If you are doing your abb workout properly and efficiently, then twice a week at the most is all you need. In order to get your abs to show, do more cadeo.

No, abs are not like every other muscle. Abs and calves can be trained effectively every 48 hours as oppose to every 72 hours with most other muscles (give or take depending on your personal need for recovery). Abs tend to respond better to the higher rep ranges like 12-15+. Also, abs are made in the kitchen, and on the treadmill. In order to get them showing you need to drop the bf %.

[Rocketman2442]

There are different ways to look at it but your way is wrong. You need more rest than every other day. Your abs are a muscle just like your arms, so this means that they can recieve extreme injury. Working abs should be done at the end of a workout. After a workout of different body parts leaves your abs vulnerable to progression because the abs help the other bodyparts in reps and sets in a workout. This also works vice versa. Doing this will bring your abs out at a less dangerous extent because your body is now going to limit you rather than having you work to a long unnecessary time. This will leave you a soreness that shows your progression the next time you workout. Leave time in between for your muscles to repair. Every time you workout, your mucles tear. You need rest and protein to repair them. This way, you have progressed.

"To rest is to progress"

[Kayris]

your friends a dum dum, six packs are made in the kitchen yours abs are always there they are just covered by some fat. Depending on your goals (mass gain or cutting) you should train them like you would any other muscle, 6-10 reps, you'd be suprised at the six pack you can get from proper diet and a workout program that includes squats and deadlifts. Try training your abs no more than 3 days a week to insure they have time to rest.

this exactly. got abs in less than 4 months like this..

[Tjet612]

I work my abs 3-4 a week. Some days are more intense than others though. Like on my back/biceps day i do the most intense ab workout. Leg raise, resistance band/weighted leg raises, weighted decline situps, ect. In all probably 15-30 mins of abs. I work out solo now so not many breaks. Then my other days on the week i may spend half the time or if they are too sore i know my work is done. I kinda use working my abs as a way to let the main groups im working that day recover for a bit. That way im still having a more intense workout and i dont leave my abs out. I dont have a six pack but my abs are pretty strong pound for pound id say. Ive noticed gains each month. I work out 4-5 times a week. At the worst 3 times. Id say everyother day or about 4 times a week not everyday.

[thezone74]

so if you work abs everyday you never let your abs rest then. Which actually would pump cortisone to your body and might deplete muscle mass in other parts of the body including abs. They need at least 48 hours of rest but if you feel like you must target the core everyday then try one day upper and lower abs then the next day obliques but it really isn't necessary if you are really going to muscle failure on those muscle just like any other muscle group then it would be extremely hard to work them out the next day.

[gavinjenkins12]

you can work your abs daily, they will be sore at 1st maybe for the 1st two weeks, but your soon overcome that pain and will find it easy after a while

[kotsios555]

calm down everyone. For those who say that you should treat abs as other muscles, they are obviously wrong. Because your core and thus your abs is used everyday for stabilization purposes and so they adapt and recover faster, its optimal to train them more frequently to get good results, lets say 3-4 times a week. Or at least you should train them at least twice and harder. So if you follow a workout routine lets say 3 days a week full body and you hit indirectly the abs 3 times a week, then you could also hit them directly the other 2-3 days...its fine. You could even hit them everyday depending on your fitness level...

[johnfranzinc]

I pretty much agree with this statement. I work out abs 5-6 days every week for roughly 20 minutes doing medium-high reps (anywhere from 15-30) with minimal break time between sets (30-45 seconds). I have a very clear 8-pack, absolutely no posture problems and my abs tolerate it very well, but I am also at about 8% body fat, which really helps in seeing the abs. I alternate my days with a variety of full range exercises followed by a variety of plank position exercises the following day. I always do my abs later in the day and sometimes follow it with cardio, I never do them at the same time I do my weights in the late morning.

This is just the way I do it, I'm not suggesting everyone should do this. I experimented for years and read hundred of articles before defining what works for me. You can get nice abs from doing compound movements and keeping your body fat at or below 10% but if you want truly eye popping, head turning abs, you have to work really hard, and the more you can tolerate working your abs, the better you can make them!

You obviously know NOTHING about getting a six pack. Your abs should be trained every single day, low intensity HIGH VOLUME. This is how you get abs.

[nexthype123]

I am sick of reading so many inconsistent and contradictory lifting techniques. Some people say don't do abs at all, others say everyday, others say twice a week. Some people say to never do peck flies, yet i see the biggest people in the gym doing them. Some people say not to do cardio after a workout as you lose your muscle doing so. I am just gonna start doing what I think is best and change it up if i dont see results.

[TakingTheThrone]

I really don't understand this strange conception people have that abs are somehow not a muscle, and are vastly different from every other muscle on your body. Do you train any other muscle every day?
No.
...... Then why would you train abs every day? I do not understand it.
I do abs every other day. That's the absolute max you can do, and that's after much work out in and your body can handle it.
Other than that, I would say twice a week, at least until you get to that point.