Abs: How often

amymeenieminymo

Since recovering (mostly) from a slipped disc in my back, my doctor advised me to start doing some abdominal work to strengthen my core so my chances of hurting my back again will decline. I'll admit, I wasn't very diligent with ab work before, but I want to try for a baby this spring and I do not want any back problems.

Since hurting my back I have been out of the gym for a while and recently returned. I pretty much go every other day, each time doing cardio (walking on the treadmill) and alternating between either more cardio (bike) or circuit training (like the express work out which alternates strength training and a little cardio).

How often should I be doing ab work? Everytime I work out (so every other day) or should I do it everyday? Does it matter what else I do when I do ab work?

pittmnjen

When I was working out with a personal trainer, he advised me that we would be doing abs everyday. We would alternate the legs, arms, etc, but abs were a everyday thing. Good Luck!

Kristy1214

I'm doing the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. it's a circut training video, there's 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs, the circut is repeated 3 times. the activities are different in each circut and she has 3 levels. I can feel a big difference in my ab's and i'm only working on them 3 minutes a day...

Natural

i would like to know too. as soon as i get rid of a little more fat, i would like to focus on my abs more. i'm sure i already have them, but they are covered over by fat.

i don't think there would be any harm with working them everyday for a few minutes. 10 minutes maybe. i won't do abs though until some more of the fat is gone.

lilRicki

i go to the gym 4 days a week, and i rotate abs and lower back...but pretty soon it will be p90x so it'll be every day...just start slow...go every other day and then up it a little more each day...because your abs are going to hurt...and when your abs hurt it feels like you have a stomach ache

rochelleac8

i agree to take it slow and go at your own pace. Especially with a previous back injury.

I go the gym Friday-Sunday for an hour work out and I always ENGAGE my abs in whatever i'm doing, but I usually alternate between arms, guts, and butts. (so one per day) added to my cardio.

Mondays and thursdays i go to the gym just for a quick 10 minute sprint on the eliptical and then I teach dance lessons so my abs are working then too. I guess the only time i give my abs a REAL break is Tues/Weds when i do NO working out of any kind....

smuehlbauer

i go to the gym 4 days a week, and i rotate abs and lower back...but pretty soon it will be p90x so it'll be every day...just start slow...go every other day and then up it a little more each day...because your abs are going to hurt...and when your abs hurt it feels like you have a stomach ache

If you do P90X Tony will tell you NOT to do abs every day.
You don't work out your arms back or chest every day, same with abs.
I'm not a trainer, but I ususally work on my every other day.
There's usually SOME abs in most of the work outs that I do, but I'll do a focused ab work out every other day.

BOGmama2010

i go to the gym 4 days a week, and i rotate abs and lower back...but pretty soon it will be p90x so it'll be every day...just start slow...go every other day and then up it a little more each day...because your abs are going to hurt...and when your abs hurt it feels like you have a stomach ache

If you do P90X Tony will tell you NOT to do abs every day.
You don't work out your arms back or chest every day, same with abs.
I'm not a trainer, but I ususally work on my every other day.
There's usually SOME abs in most of the work outs that I do, but I'll do a focused ab work out every other day.

Totally agreed!

TK266

When I started it was every other day, but now I do somekind of Ab work six days a week. Try to mix up what you do also: side bends, standing chrunches, isometric crunches ext

lilRicki

i go to the gym 4 days a week, and i rotate abs and lower back...but pretty soon it will be p90x so it'll be every day...just start slow...go every other day and then up it a little more each day...because your abs are going to hurt...and when your abs hurt it feels like you have a stomach ache

If you do P90X Tony will tell you NOT to do abs every day.
You don't work out your arms back or chest every day, same with abs.
I'm not a trainer, but I ususally work on my every other day.
There's usually SOME abs in most of the work outs that I do, but I'll do a focused ab work out every other day.

Totally agreed!

i wouldn't think working your abs every day would be a good idea...like you said you're not suppose to work the same muscle every day when you lift weights, why would you work your abs every day? that's why i like rotating lower back extenstions and ab crunches...at least i'm still working my core

TateFTW

If you ever have a "trainer" tell you to do abs every day, run. I mean it, RUN away. Or punch him in the face and steal your money back if you've already payed.

Now that you're at a safe distance, here's the scoop; Muscles don't get bigger and/or stronger when you work them out. That happens between workouts, when the broken down muscle rebuilds itself stronger then before to prepare for being exposed to those stresses again. Thanks, evolution! That's why you don't work your legs every day, and thats why you don't work abs everyday either. There are two types of muscle fibers; fast-twitch and slow-twitch. Fast-twitch muscles need a lot of resistance with lower reps to break down the muscle, and lots of time to recover in between. Guess what type abs are? Yup, fast-twitch. Most people work abs every day or every other day because their abs don't get that sore, so they assume the muscle has recovered and is ready to go again. NOT TRUE. Well, partly true. The muscles HAVE recovered, because you never gave them a good workout to begin with!

I hardly ever do more then 10 reps in a set while working my abs. I use resistance whenever possible, holding a weight over my chest during crunches or using the cable machine. I like to take a bench, turn it sideways in the middle of the cable station, then use the lower cable and a bar, holding the bar so that the cable passes by one side of my head and doing full range-of-motion crunches. I've gone up to 90 lbs. resistance on this exercise, and you better believe I FEEL it. If you don't have to roll out of bed sideways the next morning, you need more resistance or more sets. if you can do much more then 15 reps of an ab exercise, you need more resistance. After using that kind of resistance, you'll need atleast 2 days of rest before hitting it again. The first couple times you might even want to rest an extra 3rd day. The soreness won't be as bad after a few sessions.

It's not going to be easy or feel nice.

Rynatat

Coming from a family of PFT's, PA's, PT's and ex body builders, abs are not everyday work: keep in mind that when you work your legs, back, arms, upper body you're still using you abs/core so they are inadvertantly getting a workout. I also have serious back problems (car accidents destroyed me from the neck down) but looking at me you wouldn't ever know: no surgeries, no pills; Only exercise, and I alternate my workouts every day: I can feel when I need to slow down and do something like Tai-Chi or just brisk walking to give my muscles and joints a break.
Don't push it: ease into it, find out how your body works before you go to xtremes :happy: :flowerforyou:

ShaneT99

I do Ab Ripper three times a week to hit my abs and then I do core training twice a week to hit the things that Ab Ripper doesn't. My core workouts primarily consist of twisting movements, stationary movements like planks and side planks and lower back movements like supermans or hyperextensions.

amymeenieminymo

Thanks everyone, I'll take it easy to start, but it sounds like the consensus is not to work them everyday.

TateFTW

BTW, good luck on the wedding. I got married just before last summer. The whole day flew by. I had to force myself to relax and enjoy it towards the end. It was an amazing day!

ErinMarie25

I do my ab workouts every other day.

agdeierl

Coming from a family of PFT's, PA's, PT's and ex body builders, abs are not everyday work: keep in mind that when you work your legs, back, arms, upper body you're still using you abs/core so they are inadvertantly getting a workout. I also have serious back problems (car accidents destroyed me from the neck down) but looking at me you wouldn't ever know: no surgeries, no pills; Only exercise, and I alternate my workouts every day: I can feel when I need to slow down and do something like Tai-Chi or just brisk walking to give my muscles and joints a break.
Don't push it: ease into it, find out how your body works before you go to xtremes :happy: :flowerforyou:

Ok, I know I've asked this before on the forums, but you seem like exactly the kind of person i should be asking so here goes: I have VERY little experience working with weights ever in my lifetime, so starting the 30 Day Shred (assuming you have heard of this workout DVD?) I started with weights that I think are 2 or 2.5 lbs. So very small. Still, I'm wondering if, even though the workout's name implies you do this every day for 30 days, if I should have a day of rest in between, since it is using weights...though I know they're tiny. They do wear me out quite a bit, since I am so unaccustomed to even holding weights. So should I just plow through for 30 days or take breaks in between? I had sciatic nerve pain after the second day in a row, so I stopped and have been seeing a chiropractor. I feel ready to start back up, but worried that if I take days off I won't see results. But also dont' want to injure myself!

edorice

If you do P90X Tony will tell you NOT to do abs every day.
You don't work out your arms back or chest every day, same with abs.

correct

superwmn

Every morning when I roll out of bed I do 30 push-ups and two sets of the pilates ab exercise called 'The Hundred'. It's hardly extreme but I totally feel it when I'm done. Because it's not insane, I have no problem doing it every day.

Charmagne