Hey Davey,
I’ve gotten plenty of tips for workouts from friends in the past but there’s one recurring rumor I keep hearing. To your knowledge, can ab exercises be done everyday? Or do you have to give them rest like you do the other parts of your body such as arms or legs?
From,
Max
Max,
Whether or not abs should be trained everyday is one of the million dollar fitness questions with elaborate theories for and against it.
Opponents of everyday ab training point out that our abs are just like any other muscle in the body – and that they can be overtrained. When we exercise with resistance, our muscles break down. Sufficient time is required for any muscle to rebuild, and so opponents believe that a day (or more) of rest is needed between ab workouts.
Proponents of everyday ab training believe that our abdominal muscles are unique. Because we use these muscles for almost any movement we make, it takes a lot of training to really fatigue these muscles. As such, it takes frequent training sessions for optimal results. And indeed, many bodybuilders do train their abs everyday.
I take a middle-of-the-line approach that combines both philosophies. I train my lower abs on one day, my upper abs on the second and my obliques (side abs) on the third. This gives sufficient rest to each area of my abdomen while still allowing more frequent ab training.
Of course, you’ll have to find what works best for you – and remember that you should never train a muscle that is still sore from a previous workout. Most people will be perfectly fine with 3 – 5 ab workouts per week.
Also keep in mind that, contrary to popular belief, the best way to improve abdominal definition is not with crunches or sit-ups. Any layer of fat (even a very thin one) will hide your six pack, and so it’s crucially important to engage in frequent and effective cardiovascular training (I recommend metabolism-boosting intervals).
I hope that helps!
Love,
Davey
I love River
lol
I adoreee River, he is so hot <3
I adoreee River, he is so hot <3
I found this article in Details about crunches and sit-ups VERY interesting… http://www.details.com/health-fitness/fitness-plans/201108/six-pack-abs-without-sit-ups-tone-strengthen-photos#slide=1
not everyday-you have to recover-and give them a rest-a chance to recover.
Actually, both are correct.
If you train your abs everyday, train them like an endurance muscle. Low or no resistance and high reps. This leads to a core that can handle endurance activities.
If you use high weight, do low reps (8-15), and use the same amount of rest any other muscle needs. This will lead to a strong core and bulking of the abs a bit.
You still need to do your cardio and eat right to reduce the stomach fat to be able to see the abs. They start to show around 10% body fat.
Lastly, the abdominal muscles (the six pack) or more accurately the rectus abdominis is actually one muscle. There are tendons that cross the abs and split them to give the appearance of a 6 muscles. The upper and lower are all connected. Thus, you can’t actually isolate either one. You can, however, concentrate on upper/lower with different exercises recruiting different ratios of muscle fibers. This should all be done in one ab session. If your lower abs are not showing it has more to do with body fat than not working them hard enough.
just a follow up for more details and inquiring minds who want amore technical explanation of how the core works: http://www.nogiec.com/articles/?p=215