frequency of ab training?

i havnt found what really works for me. most of my other body parts, i have it mostly figured out what works for me.

i've tried abs daily, every 2 days, twice a week, once a week...

every 2 days seemed the "best", but - i dunno. even at my leanest, i just dont have the brick seperation like most (maybe my genetics??)

any suggestions?

yes, i know diet is KEY - im not a tard.

but i'd like to do as much progression now in the "off season" (aka, fatter season), so when i cut in the spring, i look monsterous ;)

and, may aswell put my "HRT" testosterone to good use.

ill try and some this up. I am not you nor is anyone else. Experiment and find what works for you. Lower your bf% and you mite get more separation.

what about weighted abb exercises?

what exercises have you been using?

lower leg lifts using a decline but facing reverse, ab ball leg lifts, captain chair leg lifts.

crunches, cable pull down crunches (mild weight), decline ab seat on a high angle, and a few others.

the basis of my question is mostly, what is "over training" for abs. no one in thier right mind would do chest every day....

I would use weight with decline sit ups and also hanging leg raises with a DB between your feet. See if that helps. Also try some oblique things so it can give u some separation between your abs and your obliques.

Normally I would stay away from any type of weight for abdominal exercises because it actually thickens your waste, but if u have NO abs at a low BF% you need to try so different things.

I work my abs 5 times per week.

Fastest recovering muscle...

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Originally Posted by Vitruvian-Man

I work my abs 5 times per week.

Fastest recovering muscle...

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5 x a week?.........maybe the fastest recovering muscle group(ill take your word for it)...but training every day means your not giving them anytime to recover....

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Originally Posted by Nicotine

lower leg lifts using a decline but facing reverse, ab ball leg lifts, captain chair leg lifts.

crunches, cable pull down crunches (mild weight), decline ab seat on a high angle, and a few others.

the basis of my question is mostly, what is "over training" for abs. no one in thier right mind would do chest every day....

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thats a tough question....everyone has different views on this...if we go off how we train other muscle groups...then maybe 2 x a week or even only once...id hit them twice....

looks like youve tried lots of dif ways and prob know better than us what worked and what didnt for you.....

I have acquired some very good abs in my opinion from supersetting. I will do a set of weighted situps for example (my gym has a great machine for this) and then follow it up with decline leg raises. Ill do 3 sets (so really 6 sets) and do it 2-3 times per week. I really like this method and it has worked

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Originally Posted by AlphaMaleDawg

I have acquired some very good abs in my opinion from supersetting. I will do a set of weighted situps for example (my gym has a great machine for this) and then follow it up with decline leg raises. Ill do 3 sets (so really 6 sets) and do it 2-3 times per week. I really like this method and it has worked

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I do almost the exact same thing. Only difference is I do hanging leg lifts.

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Originally Posted by killface

I do almost the exact same thing. Only difference is I do hanging leg lifts.

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i do those too sometimes. I was just giving examples of two exercises but I mix them up every workout

Get on a decline ab bench and get a big weight on your chest and do 3 sets of 12 reps.

Next same thing but stay static in the half sit up position and hold the weight in front of you and turn to each side rotating your obliques.

Then id do kneeling cable crunches

and then leg raises.

. . . In short . . .

Sets : 3
reps : 12

weighted crunches
weighted turns
kneeling cable crunches
leg raises

hope this helps.

I hace actually found the p90x ab work out to be really good, 3 times a week and then twice a week just a quick sit up on the bench, its been working for me

I'm 29 and have been training for 13 years, always lacking in the ab area I felt.

I'd look in the mirror, and all that was missing was abs.

even with sub 8% bf, they just were not developed enough to satisfy.

Just this year, a friend of mine came to town, my old lifting partner. He'd always been bigger and stronger than me, the kid just had amazing genetics. He had more body fat at this point that I did, and I have caught up to him almost just from hard work and dedication.

His abs looked better than mine, despite I was 4% less body fat. He just has deep, thick abs.

I started working abs more, because I use to always go by the philosophy "Abs are earned on cardio and diet". And I've found this to be untrue.

I started focusing on abs, working them about 3 times a week. The best exercise I found is on the decline bench, have a partner throw the medicine ball at about your fore head on the way down, you have to slow the momentum of the ball on the way down, and come up with enough force to throw it back. You can have them throw off to the sides, and catch the ball one handed to focus on a different area also.

I also have found, just hanging from the pull-up bar, with a 35lb dumbbell between your feet and crunching that up, works very well also.

Doing this, I've certainly noticed a big change in my abs. I broke up with a girl friend 18 months ago, and we started dating again about 2 months ago, and it was the first thing she noticed about me when I took my shirt off.

I can and do train my abs almost everyday. That is the way I have always trained them, and they look pretty good. I am not trying to build muscle in them any more, because they area already big enough. The main thing is for me to keep the fat off of them, so they are visible. In the past I have overworked my abs and they stuck out more than my chest. So, when I put on some fat and buried the cuts on my abs, it just looked like I had a big belly. But really there was a lot of muscle under there. The fat wasn't that deep, but deep enough to bury my definition. I trained my stomach muscles for reps and definition, not to handle the most weight after a certain point years ago. If my chest gets giant in the next few years, since I am lifting a lot again maybe I will try to add more mass to my stomach. But right now I just try to keep the fat off, so it has definition where it is.

Hope one day you realize that the abdominal group is no special super healing muscle. It is the same as any other one.

I trained them every day for 3 years once and never had a problem, not weighted at all either!

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Originally Posted by alpmaster

Hope one day you realize that the abdominal group is no special super healing muscle. It is the same as any other one.

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I am no fan of the musician Usher. He is famous also for his ab muscles. He states in many places that he does 1000 crunches a day. Would you like to email him to back off and "one day maybe he will realize" his folly?