Should You Do Ab Workouts Everyday?

Hi there! My name is Taylor Kelley, and I'm a Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach, which means I help people lose the weight, get in shape, and promote a healthy lifestyle.

A video I posted Wednesday was about whether or not you should do ab workouts everyday.

If you are a visual learner, Click this link to the video! 

But if you are more of a reader...then read on.

(and btw, I'm not one of those guys who scripts the youtube video verbatum, so you will see something slightly different in the video and something slightly different in the post below.)

To answer the question.... let me first give you a little perspective on my answer.

I was told from the get-go that you have to do ab workouts everyday. My football coach told me, my martial arts instructor did, some weight lifters have ect. The list goes on.

However, after further research and studying of the effect of DOMS *delayed onset muscle soreness and human anatomy I came to this conclusion.

Your abs...are very thin, and you use them all the time whether you realize it or not. You should treat abs like your lower body. Would you train legs everyday? Of course not, you would never recover (considering you went hard each and everyday, I'm not talking about those people at the gym who just chill on the leg extension machine....)

So how often should you train abs? I would say once or twice a week IF you are working out regularly and other muscles. You should train them like any other muscle group. The fact that your ab muscles are relatively small means they can tear faster. (I highly recommend time/tension type of training for abs)

A good idea would be to incorporate ab workouts on your leg days. That way, you are incorporating the fact that abs need time to rest just like your legs do. On the plus side, if you train legs as hard as I do, then training abs in between some exercises will give you a little bit of rest time.

However, I know some of you reading this might stick to your guns anyway and continue to do ab workouts everyday and that's okay. Your results may vary from someone else, but this is what I've observed over many years.

If you decide to do ab workouts everyday, I just recommend you go at a lower intensity 7 days a week. And on a side note, if you're dying to get a six pack, keep in mind that your diet is a HUGE factor when determining the definition on them. You could do ab workouts all day, but if you never watch your body fat percentage, you won't get the 6 pack ab definition. If you would like some workout routines that I've made check them out here, and here.

So there you go, if you found this blog post helpful, let me know in the comments below! And if you haven't already, subscribe to my Youtube channel, as I post videos 7 days a week , and you also qualify every month for a chance to win free online personal training there.

Best,

Taylor Kelley

P.S

If you are more of a facebook person, check out my facebook page by clicking here. There you will ALSO have a chance of getting 1 month of free online personal training by myself personally.