Working out ABS

[Aimster]

I normally work them out for 30 minutes a day. (on my 3rd day now)
Is this good enough?

The rest of my body is fine. Been going to the gym for a year+ now. Just been lazy with the ABS.

 

[GenHoth]

No, your abs are just like any other muscle. They need rest

 

[crt1530]

You should up it to 45 minutes per day.

 

[KoolDrew]

Do you sit there and workout your arms 30 minutes every day?

 

[Aimster]

To the people above,

how many of you look nice when you take off your shirt?

& no I work out every other part once a week. I just heard that you can work out your abs every day.

 

[crt1530]

I can't think of a response that isn't really mean, so I'm going to pass.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

i have a decent six pack and i work it out no more than once a week. at no point in my life have i ever worked my abs every day to get said six pack either, since what i eat makes my abs. working it out just helps me shape it and makes it sort of get bigger.

if you are asking if you can physically work out your abs everyday? yea i guess, why not, except you might over train it, and/or not get any gains from it, and ultimately just waste your time. if you're correctly doing core exercises, you should not need to work out the abs more than once a week.

my typical routine, usually after running a couple of miles:
3 x 10 decline sit up with 25 lb weight
3 x 10 crunch machine with 85 lb resistance/weights
3 x 10 hanging leg lifts (while doing pull ups)

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Aimster
To the people above,

how many of you look nice when you take off your shirt?

& no I work out every other part once a week. I just heard that you can work out your abs every day.

Having visible abs has far more to do with your diet than your ab training.

That said, abs are a muscle like any other and should be trained as such. I normally train them once per week, although there have been periods where I found it helpful to train them twice per week.

 

[skace]

I do recall reading that the core muscles of your body, within your abs, repair quicker than other muscles. Or perhaps your body puts more priority on repairing them. I don't feel like looking this up right now, but my understanding was that this priority allows you to work the abs out more often than other muscles. I would still recommend making your workouts HARDER instead of more common.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: Aimster
To the people above,

how many of you look nice when you take off your shirt?

& no I work out every other part once a week. I just heard that you can work out your abs every day.

Having visible abs has far more to do with your diet than your ab training.

pretty much

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: Aimster
To the people above,

how many of you look nice when you take off your shirt?

& no I work out every other part once a week. I just heard that you can work out your abs every day.

:Q

those 'people above' are man-apes. see here for reference

 

[TheNinja]

1000 crunches a day will not give you a defined 6 pack. If you want a defined 6 pack I recommend 2 things

1. Work abs heavy and hard 1-2x a week like any other muscle. But work them hard, not 50 sissy cruches. Do weighted exercises in the 12-15 range. This will help your ab muscles become larger and allow them to "pop" and flex.

2. Watch your diet and do cardio to get your body fat down. You could have the strongest abs in the world but if they are covered in fat you won't see them. Again, crunches will not "spot reduce" your midsection. You need to lower your overall bodyfat.


So no, I would not do abs everyday unless you are just doing it for stretching and health reason, just to stay active and have fun.

Easier said than done though.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Originally posted by: TheNinja
1000 crunches a day will not give you a defined 6 pack. If you want a defined 6 pack I recommend 2 things

1. Work abs heavy and hard 1-2x a week like any other muscle. But work them hard, not 50 sissy cruches. Do weighted exercises in the 12-15 range. This will help your ab muscles become larger and allow them to "pop" and flex.

2. Watch your diet and do cardio to get your body fat down. You could have the strongest abs in the world but if they are covered in fat you won't see them. Again, crunches will not "spot reduce" your midsection. You need to lower your overall bodyfat.


So no, I would not do abs everyday unless you are just doing it for stretching and health reason, just to stay active and have fun.

Easier said than done though.

Well spoken. It's a shame that the common misconception of getting a "six pack" is an endless amount of situps or crunches.

That being said I work mine 3x a week. Just declined weighted situps. With either db side crunches or leg lifts in between (depending what day). And while I don't have an overly defined midsection I went from barely being able to complete 3 sets of 10 at the lowest angle with no weight to being able to do 3 sets of 12 at "illegal angle" with a 10lb weight behind my head in a period of 4 months, so progress is being made.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: crt1530
You should up it to 45 minutes per day.

LMAO

 

[mflacy]

I do about 300 crunches split between 12 different ab exercises twice a week.

But like everyone else says, you will never see your abs unless you reduce your belly fat through a proper diet.

 

[EGGO]

I do it twice in a week and then once the week after. Alternating from Russian Twists, woodchopper(I think that's what they're called), and other things for the obliques.

Weighted cruches have become my best friend, I hate cable crunches because it always hurts my fingers because of the sheer weight. Leg lifts with raises also has become a recent staple. Also, if you do pullups, you'll feel it in your abs too.

Combined with proper diet, these are my results so far.
http://img297.imageshack.us/my...?image=dsc00971br3.jpg
http://img504.imageshack.us/my...022804287001630nc9.jpg

[edit]Excuse the low light and blurriness in them. Old camera and it was the day to see how far I've come.

 

[skace]

I know what leg lifts are, but what are "leg lifts with raises"? Leg lifts are so awesome for your lower stomach area.