Do you work on Abs everyday?

I know there are different thoughts on rather or not you can overwork your abs. I usually try to work them a few times a week but notice that i haven't been doing that. I work them during Zumba and Pilates but i guess its not really a targeted workout and with my belly being the place where fat clings on my body i wonder if i should work them hard each day. I know that diet is the most important factor in losing belly fat but wondered if anyone recommends doing a targeted ab workout each day when it is the problem area.

Your abs are like any other muscle in your body. You can over train them. They need rest to grow and get stronger.

I do something that engages my core almost daily. I've been increasing my ab workouts (Ab Ripper X and similar) so now I only do an actual ab workout every other day (3x per week). I notice I'm getting mroe results than before when I was doing abs (crunches, etc) every day.

Funny that you bring this up now...or ironic. I have hit abs hard (maybe too hard) for the last several days in a row. I'm feeling the pain and was wondering if I should alternate that area just like I do the rest of my workouts. Thanks for bring this up!

Considering the nature of the muscle...YES.

If you call working abs isolation excercises, then NEVER.

Isolated abs training is unnecessary and pointless and if you need it that means you're not doing enough full body movements in the rest of your training. A proper workout consists of doing full body exercises that consist of integrating the core into the movements.

Doing countless hours of ab work will indeed make them stronger but it will not get rid of the fat clinging to the top of them.... Diet is the biggest factor. Eat clean and build muscle to improve metabolic burn.

You don't have to eat clean, just eat at a caloric deficit for long enough to lose fat. Make sure you lift and get plenty of protein so the majority of your weight loss comes from fat, instead of losing muscle.

First, the "spot fat reduction myth" - because the fat is on the belly, doing targetted exercises for a body part will not shift the fat any faster - you will tone or build the muscle.

Second, the "ab craze" - once such a minor uninteresting body part and now the fitness juggernaut of cash is on to promoting ABS we cannot look but through a sea of crass useless devices and fad diets.

Third, a well rounded exercise program as already hinted at works your core muscles just fine.

Fourth, there is a UK fitness trainer calleds "Abs Man" - Natural Bodybuilding Champion for a number of years. He states that he does NO ABS EXERCISES accept close to competition to get a pump.

The ABS like the trapesius and the obliques respond really well to weighted training, thus spending to much time on them overdevelops them in relation to other muscles (overdevelop as in disproportional). Other muscles need more time, much more useful muscles like rotator cuff, core stability, balance, hips.

Lastly, someone wrote that the ab exercises are mainly shortening exercises like the crunch and then said that the plank is better. The plank is a great core exercise, it is not that great for targetting ABS. However, you can stretch the ABS by laying on your stomach and reversing the crunch and there are many alternatives where you can lengthen, stretch the abs and not just shorten the ABS.

Hope this helps.

ps.Compound lifts the squat,deadlift,chest press- not old hat but there are ways of really hitting the core dynamically and as stabilisers and the old compounds are pretty much stabiliser. You core twists and turns, goes back and forth not just strict form weight lifting!

First, the "spot fat reduction myth" - because the fat is on the belly, doing targetted exercises for a body part will not shift the fat any faster - you will tone or build the muscle.

Second, the "ab craze" - once such a minor uninteresting body part and now the fitness juggernaut of cash is on to promoting ABS we cannot look but through a sea of crass useless devices and fad diets.

Third, a well rounded exercise program as already hinted at works your core muscles just fine.

Fourth, there is a UK fitness trainer calleds "Abs Man" - Natural Bodybuilding Champion for a number of years. He states that he does NO ABS EXERCISES accept close to competition to get a pump.

The ABS like the trapesius and the obliques respond really well to weighted training, thus spending to much time on them overdevelops them in relation to other muscles (overdevelop as in disportional). Other muscles need more time, much more useful muscles like rotator cuff, core stability, balance, hips.

Lastly, someone wrote that the ab exercises are mainly shortening exercises like the crunch and then said that the plank is better. The plank is a great core exercise, it is not that great for targetting ABS. However, you can stretch the ABS by laying on your stomach and reversing the crunch and there are many alternatives where you can lengthen, stretch the abs and not just shorten the ABS.

Hope this helps.

Think you have gone slightly off OP topic re-asserting spot reduction myth (which I do agree is a myth) OP said they know that doesn't work

I do agree though that the fitness market heavily targets the abs which do not need working in isolation. But its simple - abs are last to show through minimum fat. I know super fit cool looking people, they still struggle and moan about abs - its a marketing dream which is perpetuated through ignoring fat/food is more important than exercise for abs

Most people who work abs directly in hope of definition are many stone, %age bodyfat, months even years away from achieving them

bump

Nope! Besides doing planks, I could go for months and not do abs. Its all about diet. Plain and simple.