to those who seek a 6 pack - would doing crunches everyday hinder or help?

[WOLVERINE1]

ok. so would doing ab exercises EVERY DAY OR EVERY OTHER DAY hinder or help a person to get a 6 pack? And I mean all kinds of ab exercises that do not involve weights, because I've heard you should do weighted ab exercises only about twice to three times a week. So I'm talkin about stuff you do in your room as soon as you wake up in the morning, like sit ups, crunches, leg raise thingy (to work out your lower abs), situps with your legs straight in the air, that kind of stuff. oh yeah that bicycle kick stuff and oblique crunches as well. Thanks!

oh btw, I do not believe spot reduction is a myth.

 

[WOLVERINE1]

oh yeah reason i ask is because ive heard you could do push ups every day. so i said why not do abs everyday then?

 

[spockafina]

Working your abs everyday or every-other-day will only lead to over-training. Your ab muscles need adequate time to rest and build, just like your tris and delts, etc.

Getting a six-pack to show through is really all about eating clean. No matter what amount of exercise you do, nothing is going to get you a six-pack unless you eat clean.

 

[WOLVERINE1]

yeah but can you do stuff like crunches everyday? Not weighted exercises.

 

[spockafina]

yeah but can you do stuff like crunches everyday? Not weighted exercises.

It would still be over-training. Abs don't need a whole lot of weight anyways to get strong.

 

[WOLVERINE1]

ok so if I'm "overtraining my abs," what will happen to them? and how often should I do crunches? every other day?

 

[spockafina]

Work them like any other muscle - 2-3xs/week is usually good. I do my abs on Tuesdays and Fridays. I must add that I am pretty proud of mine... I'm a girl and I have a great 4-pack... currently working on a 6-pack.

 

[WOLVERINE1]

so do you got a thing for Spock? He's the best star trek character ever (in my opinion). Nice work with the 4 pack. but what will happen to my abs if I "overtrain" them?

 

[spockafina]

Overtraining, essentially, is when you damage your muscles and you don't allow them time to recover and build. Therefore, they do not get any stronger.
Damaging muscles is good - that's what we do when we lift - because muscles rebuild and recover afterwards which is what makes them bigger and stronger.

If you are overtraining, you're basically just taking a step backwards.

I am quite fond of Spock. I convinced my mother that I think I am a Vulcan - so she now thinks I am crazy. I think it's pretty darn funny. (Obviously, I don't think I'm a Vulcan! I'm really NOT crazy!)

 

[Entz]

if you do not notice that your muscles are weaker if you do abs everyday - you are NOT working them hard enough. Try at least 5 different ab excersises in one workout, make sure you do so much that you fail and can't do any more. If you were to repeat the same thing on the next day youl wouldn't be able to do nearly as much, this is why you need to rest. Also don't do pushups everyday, I was foolish enough to do some pushups with friends the day before my workout ... and during the workout my muscles felt tired half way through.