How often for abs?

[jc95605]

I'm just curious to hear what ppl think about working out their abs. I've heard different things about this and now i just wanna get everybodys opinion here. "Can you workout abs everyday?" I've heard you can, I've heard you can't. What do you think?

[whiteronniewannabe]

twice week. Once lower, once upper

[FreeDOOM]

I am reading a book now by arnold schwarzenegger called New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding it is a awesome book. He says to train abs every workout for 5 sets

[jc95605]

see already we have different reponses. Anybody else?

[hauss man]

how often do you train your other muscles?

[200byjune]

eod.

[hauss man]

eod.

you train each muscle group eod?

[Ronnie Rowland]

Once or twice a week like any other muscle. During a cut do them only once per week and they will stickout.

[pay tribute]

Once, twice a week max. Ab training got blown out of proportion by fatties

[jc95605]

ok so i'll do it twice a week then, great. I train the same muscle groups e2d, but i'm thinking of chaning to eod for a while. I'm not noticing good enough results and i think i could go again. The main reason why i first switched to e2d is because i was sore and needed more time to recover, now that i don't have that i'm gonna workout a lil harder. I wonder if i could do that while on cycle. Guess we'll see. Thanks again guys for your answers.

[whiteronniewannabe]

I am reading a book now by arnold schwarzenegger called New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding it is a awesome book. He says to train abs every workout for 5 sets

The legend that is Arnie also trained for 5 hours some days and trained his biceps 3 to 4 times a week?!

Would he get his pro card now? Doubt it. He is a fantastic guy and my hero but less is more has been found to be the right way

[binder]

i train abs every day.

not that i'm a badass or am a professional (yet) but i've had nothing but great comments from judges after contests on my abdominals and serratis development and conditioning.

[jc95605]

How has training them everyday been working out for you?

[200byjune]

you train each muscle group eod?

where the **** did you come up with this?

[binder]

How has training them everyday been working out for you?

if you are talking to me, then the answer is great. i train them every day and always receive complements on my abs.

abs are a core muscle and used frequently throughout the day. they do thousands of their own reps trying to hold your body upright therefore you have to shock them with tons of use to get them to grow. same with calves but i only do them 3 times a week so i can still function and walk like a normal human.

[HereWeGoAgain]

I do my abs 3x/week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and have been having great results. I don't know why people feel they only need to be hit once or twice a week MAX.

[Coop77]

I don't train them at all when bulking in the winter. In the summer i do it every day or every other day. I don't know how anybody can get any results training abs once a week.

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

Abs are like any other muscle.

To think abs are some special muscle and you gotta train them everyday or every other day is ridiculous.

I would go twice a week max.

Not to mention, 6 pack abs are all about diet anywho.


Also they get hit indirectly from many exercises, therefore a lot of people don't do them.

[FallenWyvern]

The legend that is Arnie also trained for 5 hours some days and trained his biceps 3 to 4 times a week?!

Would he get his pro card now? Doubt it. He is a fantastic guy and my hero but less is more has been found to be the right way

Hmm, tough choice for me.

[Sir Lifts-a-lot]

Abs are a muscle just like any other. You don't train your chest five days a week or your back do you? I feel that you will overtrain them very quickly.

I haven't looked through Arnold's Encyclopedia in a while but I believe (could be wrong) but I think he said to do Roman Chairs everday. These are more of a core movement. I do agree that your core should be trained more frequently then other groups but I still think everyday is overkill.

On another note Arnold's Encyclopedia is great BUT it is also out dated to a degree and it hits on a lot of routines that worked for him. I'm not saying that they won't work for you or you or you, but the man is a genetic freak.

[binder]

the reason for abs everyday is because they are a core muscle. they one used all day Long so they one used to constant stimulation. To get a muscle group like that to respond you must overtax them everyday.

[binder]

Hmm, tough choice for me.

looks like Coleman had a little too much GH cause big intestines. eww

[AcePowerZ]

For phatties like me, I train 2-3 times a week.

[Ajc330]

I don't train them at all when bulking in the winter. In the summer i do it every day or every other day. I don't know how anybody can get any results training abs once a week.

technically, your abs are there, it's just covered by fat, i know people who have great sixpacks and don't even train their abs, if you have low enough bodyfat % they will show

when you train your abs you are toning them,
999999999999999999999999999999 situps does NOT equal a sixpack
low body fat % = sixpack abs

[FallenWyvern]

I train mine once a week. Not that mine are great. Would twice a week help?

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=346549

[binder]

low body fat % = sixpack abs

yes exactly! I train them hard for development Cardio and lowering bf is what makes them show. I agree completely with this.

[Dukkit]

i train em once a week, sometimes i dont even train them. but i do focus on them during sex. hahah

[MFT81]

Abs Abs Abs Abs blah blah blah......

Heres my .02

when I first started working out I like many thought more is better, so I trained them 6 days a week for 15-30mins (yeah, really). I had a great set of abs 11 months later. I was also 185lbs at 6ft tall. so also very lean.

now days I NEVER train my abs and I have more detail when I diet down. I feel that through heavy shrugs, squats, rack pulls, RDL's I get more than doing a countless # of crunches.

However, Ive also had to deal with several small lower back injuries due to the fact that I dont do anything specific for my CORE. Your abs are apart of your core but not even close to being just the core. I also have several clients that also suffer from a bad lower back even though they do crunches, hypers, and a bunch of other machines.

True Core exercises (prone plank, Russian twist, and anything that involves working in either unsupported or unstable postion) will help build the prime movers in the core but more importantly the stabilizers as well. I will never have my clients work in any type of abb machine cause it overdevelops the prime movers and creates an imbalance.

so focus on the big movements such as deads squats etc. focus on the core with a couple conventional abb movements or better yet take yoga. diet hard and the rest will fall into place.

[binder]

and....don't leave us hanging.

i'm liking your point of view on the core system. i love working core. makes everything more stable

[FreeDOOM]

The legend that is Arnie also trained for 5 hours some days and trained his biceps 3 to 4 times a week?!

Would he get his pro card now? Doubt it. He is a fantastic guy and my hero but less is more has been found to be the right way

If you dont think arnold would get his procard today then its a sad day in hell, if arnold was put in his prime onto todays stage he would work as hard as anyone and be one of the best agian. As far as his book being out dated... it was just updated in 1998 some stuff is just timeless. If there is one thing I learned from the book it is routines and techinque. You must find what works for you. If joe smoe does ab 5x a week who cares. what matters is that you find what your body responds to best.

[Juice_E]

Abs are like any other muscle.

To think abs are some special muscle and you gotta train them everyday or every other day is ridiculous.

I would go twice a week max.

Not to mention, 6 pack abs are all about diet anywho.


Also they get hit indirectly from many exercises, therefore a lot of people don't do them.

that makes sense to me, but i was taught EOD as well as with the calves. i was told they recover much faster.

[binder]

that makes sense to me, but i was taught EOD as well as with the calves. i was told they recover much faster.

they do, much much faster because they are an endurance muscle with a high white fiber count.

[Qbertlift]

i train abs 3x a week....every other week. 1x a week....every other week.

[illwillogical]

If you do a lot of power movements i.e. squats and deadlifts without a belt you work your core pretty hard core. Personally I do abs every other day. I also do an hour of cardio. If I have to choose from the cardio or the abs though, cardio is more important hands down. You can do a thousand crunches a day and if you are a fat ass you won't see the abs, I'm sure they'll be hard underneath, but you are going to have to do that cardio to see them.

[AdamGH]

Should train your abs no more than 2-3 times a week and should take no longer than 5-10 minutes to do. Do it at the end of your workouts. Anything more could cause over training and bring your progress to a halt.

[binder]

Should train your abs no more than 2-3 times a week and should take no longer than 5-10 minutes to do. Do it at the end of your workouts. Anything more could cause over training and bring your progress to a halt.

yep. here is the key to this comment though, 5-10 minutes. THAT is why you can do abs every other or even every day.

i've never done a total workout for 1 hour on just abs. if i did, then i would only do it once a week. I blast each muscle group for a whole hour workout, except my abs and calfs. those are supplemental. i give htem good workouts, but not a dedicated workout that requires a weeks rest. if i only did 1 or 2 exercises for my biceps, i would probaly hit them more than once a week also. If you don't feel overtrained, then you aren't. I never wake up and say "man my abs hurt". If that ever happens, i would lay off abs that day, plain and simple.