How often should you work on your abs?

DeepGreen

DeepGreen

New member
I see some people at my gym doing abs every day for at least 20-30 min?

I on the other hand, only do them every other day, for like 10 min max.

What is the reccomended amount of working out your abs? I'm really curious, because I see all these people going nuts with this core training. (and I looked, if there's already a post devoted to this, i apolegize)

Am I doing enough ab exercises, or should I do more???

Thank you so much,

Adam
 
I do Swiss Ball crunches ( 3 x 10 ) on one day, and reverse crunches (3 x 10 ) on the fourth day of every week.

Most of these people doing all that insane ab work are under the delusion that spot reducing is a real phenomenon.
 
Right-o Tom-o :)

Abs need rest like any other muscle group, most people don't know what they are doing in a gym, so be careful who you copy and take cues from.
 
Thats what I thought Leigh and Tom, and often time, I would try to mimic people at the gym because I have no experience, and then, upon reading stuff on there, and researching, I realize that those people don't even know what they are doing, even though they look really fit.

Am I doing my own abs too much, or is my current pace all right?
 
You should train abs just like any other muscle...abs are muscle tissue just like legs and arms are muscle tissue. Train them with resistance (not just bodyweight) just like you would train any other body part - hundreds of crunches a day will do very little because

#1 they need time to rest and grow
#2 doing hundreds of reps will only improve muscular endurance, not strength, so if you want a healthy looking stomach you'll need to do low reps for strength

There are lots of weighted/resistance exercises for abs. The weighted crunch is one. If your gym has a low cable machine you can lie at the foot of it and grab the cable with your arms behind you head, and pull it up during your crunch. If there is no low cable machine you can do it reverse...get on your knees and grab the cable from above, and bend down towards the floor.

Also don't forget that the 'core' includes back muscles as well...many people neglect back and just do abs every day.
 
Also don't forget that the 'core' includes back muscles as well...many people neglect back and just do abs every day.
Click to expand...

I love how all the so-called experts in the gym are always going on about "strengthening your core," yet totally ignore squats and deadlifts.
 
Ya, the whole idea of spot training is so ridiculous. Doing ab workouts for 20-30 minutes at a time is not going to be helpful in any way. There's no real advantage to creating endurance in your core. The point of ab workouts is to strengthen your core. ie. less reps with some resistance. I personally do 3 sets of 20 reps when I work my abs, and like to use a little resistance. For example, the captains chair with light weights, reverse crunch with light resistance on your legs, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top