Question Regarding Muscle Building Exercises

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mcfly185
mcfly185 Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi folks,

I normally do resistance exercises every few days to let my body recover and repair, but i wonder in terms of exercises such as pushups or situps, and whether these should be done on a 2-3 day basis or not. I dont want to waste my time doing stuff that wont benefit me!

Thanks

Andy

Replies

  • Tarah1218
    Tarah1218 Posts: 36
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    I take the same stance on body weight exercises and ab works as the rest of my body. Muscles grow in rest, and the abs are a muscle group, so I give them a day rest between sessions. Core strength is extreamly important for your lifts. To build strength in your abs do the exercises with weight. I do my decline bench sit ups with a plate weight, always have. I got scolded by a personal trainer because it will make my abs big and bulky, lol, and women don't want that. Heck, if they are bigger maybe they will show at a lower bf percentage and if they are big they will look insane once you can see them.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    . I got scolded by a personal trainer because it will make my abs big and bulky,

    I sincerely hope you are not paying that trainer.
  • jwhitfield3
    jwhitfield3 Posts: 8 Member
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    Recovery is more about sleep, hydration and proper nutrition... seeing your abs happens to about pretty much the same things.

    It bothers me that people fear over-training when exercising only 3 days per week. You'd have to be doing 3-a-days on your training days for that to be a possibility. Someone getting 7+ hrs of sleep every night, drinking at least 12 cups of water a day, and taking in 1 gram of protein per pound of target body weight will recover quite nicely and be perfectly capable of training 5-6 days a week, no problem.

    I love bodyweight exercises for many reasons, especially the simplicity and lack of necessity of a gym to do them. I suggest doing bodyweight work like pushups, planks, side bridges, pullups, etc. on most days. I hate situps and will not have any of my clients do them - they put a lot of pressure on your spinal column, which is meant to stabilize us (prevent our bodies from collapsing) not scrunch us into a ball. Trust me, planks and bridges will tear your abs up just as much, if not more than situps and you don't risk spinal cord damage. If you want something with a rep count instead of a timer, go with leg lifts (keeps the spine in a neutral position).

    I hope this helps and you see the gains you want.

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