Abdominal Myth?

Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

I found this site that gave me a home workout routine I wanted to try. I was
going to do it every other day (ie. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs, Sat,
repeat), but then I found another routine on the site that was designed for
your abs only and I wondered if the "Ab Myth" i had heard was true. My
bi-weekly schedule became this:
Mon, Wed, Fri - Home Routine
Tues, Thurs, Sat - Abs Routine, rest the rest
Sun - No Routine, just rest

I'm worried I might damage my abs or something with this new plan if the myth
is false, especially since the Ab exercises account for 1/3 of those in the
Home workout.

My best friend is leaving for a month and I wanted to have a noticable
difference by the time she gets back.

Thanks Again,
Jesse

The Kid wrote:

Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

I found this site that gave me a home workout routine I wanted to try. I was
going to do it every other day (ie. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs, Sat,
repeat), but then I found another routine on the site that was designed for
your abs only and I wondered if the "Ab Myth" i had heard was true. My
bi-weekly schedule became this:
Mon, Wed, Fri - Home Routine
Tues, Thurs, Sat - Abs Routine, rest the rest
Sun - No Routine, just rest

I'm worried I might damage my abs or something with this new plan if the myth
is false, especially since the Ab exercises account for 1/3 of those in the
Home workout.

My best friend is leaving for a month and I wanted to have a noticable
difference by the time she gets back.

How often you should work out depends on how you workout. I, for
example, train my entire body almost every day; because of the way I
train and my goals, it works just fine - I train for strength gains
only, not size, and I use short sets, long rests, and remain far from
failure at all times. But for someone else, training every day could
prevent them from making the kind of progress they're after.

You must try different few things to find what works for you. We can
generalize and say that, all other things being equal, one seems to be
able to train smaller muscles more often than larger ones, e.g., I find
I can press more often than I can deadlift or squat, but all other
things are rarely equal. If you are looking for stronger abs, by all
means train them every day; if you're looking to build up their size a
bit as well, you might have more success by taking your final set to
failure or nearly so and giving yourself a day of rest between workouts.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

The Kid wrote:

Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

I found this site that gave me a home workout routine I wanted to try. I was
going to do it every other day (ie. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs, Sat,
repeat), but then I found another routine on the site that was designed for
your abs only and I wondered if the "Ab Myth" i had heard was true. My
bi-weekly schedule became this:
Mon, Wed, Fri - Home Routine
Tues, Thurs, Sat - Abs Routine, rest the rest
Sun - No Routine, just rest

I'm worried I might damage my abs or something with this new plan if the myth
is false, especially since the Ab exercises account for 1/3 of those in the
Home workout.

My best friend is leaving for a month and I wanted to have a noticable
difference by the time she gets back.

How often you should work out depends on how you workout. I, for
example, train my entire body almost every day; because of the way I
train and my goals, it works just fine - I train for strength gains
only, not size, and I use short sets, long rests, and remain far from
failure at all times. But for someone else, training every day could
prevent them from making the kind of progress they're after.

You must try different few things to find what works for you. We can
generalize and say that, all other things being equal, one seems to be
able to train smaller muscles more often than larger ones, e.g., I find
I can press more often than I can deadlift or squat, but all other
things are rarely equal. If you are looking for stronger abs, by all
means train them every day; if you're looking to build up their size a
bit as well, you might have more success by taking your final set to
failure or nearly so and giving yourself a day of rest between workouts.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

"The Kid" wrote in message
...
Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is
this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially
as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

I found this site that gave me a home workout routine I wanted to try. I
was
going to do it every other day (ie. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs, Sat,
repeat), but then I found another routine on the site that was designed
for
your abs only and I wondered if the "Ab Myth" i had heard was true. My
bi-weekly schedule became this:
Mon, Wed, Fri - Home Routine
Tues, Thurs, Sat - Abs Routine, rest the rest
Sun - No Routine, just rest

I'm worried I might damage my abs or something with this new plan if the
myth
is false, especially since the Ab exercises account for 1/3 of those in
the
Home workout.

My best friend is leaving for a month and I wanted to have a noticable
difference by the time she gets back.

Abs are a core muscle and are used all day, every day. This does not mean
that they are being punished all day, every day. If your ab routine simply
consists of ordinary crunches, I'd say go ahead and do them daily. If it
involves weighted crunches or other punishing ab exercise, you would
probably want to do that only 2 - 3 times a week, just to give your abs time
to recover from the extra effort.

Just my $0.02

"The Kid" wrote in message
...
Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is
this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially
as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

I found this site that gave me a home workout routine I wanted to try. I
was
going to do it every other day (ie. Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, Tues, Thurs, Sat,
repeat), but then I found another routine on the site that was designed
for
your abs only and I wondered if the "Ab Myth" i had heard was true. My
bi-weekly schedule became this:
Mon, Wed, Fri - Home Routine
Tues, Thurs, Sat - Abs Routine, rest the rest
Sun - No Routine, just rest

I'm worried I might damage my abs or something with this new plan if the
myth
is false, especially since the Ab exercises account for 1/3 of those in
the
Home workout.

My best friend is leaving for a month and I wanted to have a noticable
difference by the time she gets back.

Abs are a core muscle and are used all day, every day. This does not mean
that they are being punished all day, every day. If your ab routine simply
consists of ordinary crunches, I'd say go ahead and do them daily. If it
involves weighted crunches or other punishing ab exercise, you would
probably want to do that only 2 - 3 times a week, just to give your abs time
to recover from the extra effort.

Just my $0.02

(The Kid) wrote in message ...
Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

You can...just like you work your legs everyday when you walk
somewhere. Most people aren't looking for bulky abs...just some
definition. If you were in the gym almost everyday you would likely be
working your abs indirectly anyway. A lot of lifters don't do any
specific ab exercises because they get worked in the normal routine of
a workout.

(The Kid) wrote in message ...
Hey Group!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my previous post ("Is this
good for me?"). I appreciate the help.

I'd like to ask you now to clarify something for me. I heard a while back,
probably from a website, that your abdominals can be worked out on a daily
basis. This seemed odd to me because I've always been told to, especially as a
beginner, take a day off between workouts.

You can...just like you work your legs everyday when you walk
somewhere. Most people aren't looking for bulky abs...just some
definition. If you were in the gym almost everyday you would likely be
working your abs indirectly anyway. A lot of lifters don't do any
specific ab exercises because they get worked in the normal routine of
a workout.

My rule is that all musles need 48 hours rest at least, except for calves
and abs. Arnold S promoted this in his first book (back in 1980 or so) and I
have always stuck to it. Not that I have the sharpest cut six pack and
chunkiest calves in the world (far from that!) but I have never ancountered
problems of overtraining.

I think that if you would train your abs extremely heavy (with added weights
and complicated machines) that you would need more rest. But ordinary, free
excercises (sit-ups, crunches etc.) and in particualr the right diet are all
you need for great abs.

I do calves three times a week (hate the excercise, makes me feel like I
have to pee), and abs after every workout, i.e., six times a week.

My rule is that all musles need 48 hours rest at least, except for calves
and abs. Arnold S promoted this in his first book (back in 1980 or so) and I
have always stuck to it. Not that I have the sharpest cut six pack and
chunkiest calves in the world (far from that!) but I have never ancountered
problems of overtraining.

I think that if you would train your abs extremely heavy (with added weights
and complicated machines) that you would need more rest. But ordinary, free
excercises (sit-ups, crunches etc.) and in particualr the right diet are all
you need for great abs.

I do calves three times a week (hate the excercise, makes me feel like I
have to pee), and abs after every workout, i.e., six times a week.