Is doing ab exercises everyday alright?

I was told once that they can be worked everyday without problem.
I am currently working out my whole body everyday and sore muscles are not happening and if I do need a rest I take one but I listen to my body.
If it screams at me to stop, I stop.

Do what feels right for you.

Good Luck

I joined a new gym near my house at the beginning of June. I have been using this site for about 3 weeks now, with success. The problem I am having is that my problem area is my mid-section and I figure ab workouts would be of great help in this regard. I had always heard that it was alright to do ab work everyday, but the trainer at the gym said it is better to skip a day. Unfortunately, I am just not getting the results in my mid-section area that I would have expected by now and am wondering if going ahead and doing ab exercises everyday would help.

Anyone had any positive experience in this regard?

Thanks!

That seems like too much. Like most muscles, you should only work abs 2-3 times per week. Also, are you doing various core exercises, or just 'abs'? If just abs, I recommend you expand your routine to also bring in other core work.

But really, every day is too much for any muscle, except (from what I heard a loooong time ago) the calves. Apparently, you can work your calves every day, because they're designed to be used heavily every day - a la, walking.

Recently, there have been some studies that suggest that fat near an exercised muscle does tend to metabolize faster than fat in other areas, so your thinking in that regard is solid. But assuming you are, over the course of the entire week, working your entire body, you have all your bases covered.

your ab muscels are a smaller muscle group and can be worked and recover every day. However, if your goal is to reduce the size of your midsection, ab workouts will not help too much. You cannot spot train. In fact, you should probably be emphasizing work on larger muscle groups, think quads, chest and back, to gain more muscle and consequently burn and lose fat. I would recomend a good full body work out 3 times per week, you will have lots more success with that and a cardio program...

have fun

You will NEVER lose fat around your mid section by doing ab exercises. You will get some nice abs hidden behind fat. The ONLY way you are going to lose fat is with cardio. A lot of it, often. Interval training is the best. Don't just jog at a steady pace, but add ups and downs.

I suggest you join a specialty gym that does boot camp/interval training type work outs. At least for a month or two. You will learn how to do that workout on your own and you won't need to pay for it. and it will be expensive, probably about $100/month.

But doing crunches won't help you lose fat around your waist! Jump on the treadmill or elliptical for at least 30 minutes, at a brisk pace!

Good luck,

Mike

You shouldn't have a problem - little chance of hurting them - but as already stated here, you need to listen to your body. It will tell you when you should take a break. If it hurts to sneeze, you need to take a day off. Also already mentioned here - you cannot "spot train."

But there's an issue you need to take into consideration: you might already have a six-pack... you just can't see 'em yet.

Underneath the layer of blubber I am struggling mightily to eradicate, I am shredded! I can feel the muscles there - waiting to become visible.

They say "diet & exercise" for a reason - the two work in tandem to create change. You are on your way, so stay the course!

your ab muscels are a smaller muscle group and can be worked and recover every day. However, if your goal is to reduce the size of your midsection, ab workouts will not help too much. You cannot spot train. In fact, you should probably be emphasizing work on larger muscle groups, think quads, chest and back, to gain more muscle and consequently burn and lose fat. I would recomend a good full body work out 3 times per week, you will have lots more success with that and a cardio program...

have fun

This is great advice. If you have a decent amount of weight to lose, you can't see your abs anyway so working them at all is fairly pointless. Doing bigger and better exercises will burn more calories which will result in more fat being shed. This is what you want. Don't worry about your abs at all, all the ab exercise in the world isn't going to do anything regarding the fat around them. That's why you're not seeing any results. Do full-body exercises or cardio or something more effective. Focus on your diet first, losing fat is mostly about your diet and not exercise.

I've always been told that abs can be worked everyday as well!

However, I tend do do a workout like ab ripper x every other day, and then focus on my back and do planks on the other days.

No! Keep it to two or three times a week. Only exception, if you're doing light total body work everyday with a program like Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred or Ripped in 30. Then yes, that's okay. Otherwise, your abs need to rest just like any other muscles in your body!

The problem I am having is that my problem area is my mid-section and I figure ab workouts would be of great help in this regard.

You can't trim fat in your midsection with abdominal exercise anymore than you can dry out one corner of a sponge while ignoring the water in the rest of it. I think it's already been stated but you can't categorize fat as leg fat or abdominal fat. As far as your body is concerned it's just in one compartment. You have to burn through it all at once. Exercise and eat on a slight calorie deficit. Nothing wrong with making your abs stronger but you won't see them till your body fat is under 20%.