Is it better to perform ab workouts each and every day, or are the abs like any other muscle where you're best off to take a day of rest in between?
Let's look at some things to consider.
Ab Muscles As Stabilizers
First, you need to realize that the ab muscles are going to act as stabilizers in the body, therefore any time you are doing any type of movement - be it a squat, a deadlift, or even getting up off the couch, those abs are going to be worked.
This means that whether you realize it or not, you actually are working your ab muscles each and every day you're moving.
Abs and Recovery
Next up, many people think that because the abs are a smaller muscle, they don't need a full day to recover.
There is some truth to this.
If you look at your body as a whole, what usually takes the longest to recover? Those pesky quad muscles.
Do a hard leg workout and those muscles will be sore for days.
Compare this to your biceps. How often do you find your biceps get really sore?
Usually, they don't. The biceps are one of the fastest recovering muscles in the body, unless of course your completely destroying them in the gym, or are attempting a movement that you've never done before.
Now, when it comes to the abs, a similar principle applies.
They are smaller muscles, so they won't take as much time to recover as the larger ones.
More than likely, unless you're doing heavy weighted abdominal work then, you can do some ab exercises each time you're in the gym.
But, Is It Beneficial?
To finish off this question though, you need to ask yourself whether or not all this additional ab work is really beneficial - or is it just a waste of your workout time.
Truth be told, spending hours on ab training a week if your goal is to get a six pack isn't really all that beneficial.
Why?
Because really getting those six pack abs to show is going to depend much more on body fat levels than the actual ab muscles themselves.
This then means that the time you spend on ab work would be put to much better use if you would instead spend it on more calorie-costly activities such as squats, deadlifts, and so on, or else spent on cardio training to help ramp up the metabolism.
Or....an even better plan would be to spend it learning more about nutrition, because that's what will really make the difference on whether or not you lose weight.
So, next time you're debating whether you should perform yet another ab workout, you might want to keep this in mind.
Not to say that ab exercises aren't beneficial - they are. Having a strong core is really important, just that they aren't really going to make or break your six pack plan. Your body fat level is.
