Overtraining abs?

splinter

Ive have been speaking to a few friends who do such training as martial arts and boxing etc! And I ask them how do you get a six pack the way you do! They say just by doing 500 - 1000 sit ups per day!

If I was to implements the bench ab training I do! And rope work etc! With an addition 500 sit ups variable! 4 times a week so about 2 hours in total.

Really want my six pack going on a 4 at the mo with a tincey bit of fat at the bottom.


Would you class this as over training? Because if the results are there.. :?

Young Gun

Yes this is overtraining. But abs is a funny one. But overtraining them you can shrink the midsection giving a better look.

Also the best way to get your abs out is by lowering your bf hence why your martial arts friends look good. Try heavy weighted ab work to build up the muscles and cardio in my opinion.

Also some reccomend sit ups etc in high quantities to work the fats twitch fibers which it is true do have the most potential for growth but personally i HAVE FOUND THIS DOESN'T WORK VERY WELL FOR ME OR ATLEAST GIVES MY ABS A LOOK i DON'T WANT.

splinter

Yeah I do weighted work! High resistance.

I do cardio about 3 times a week trying to trim the fat before I do my weights workout. Im currently about 10 - 12% at the moment.

Young Gun

oh shit sorry must have hit caps when i wrote that didnt mean to emphasize anything. Good going you will be there in no time mate.

TheDaddy2003

ive got a question on this one too, when i was younger i would do 100 sit ups every night without fail. Had a low bodyweight too so it looked good (got my first blow job with my 100 situps a day )

Anyway its clear to me that doing the same muscle group everyday is overtraining.... but is it?

Im only doing my abs once a week at the minute and thats to failure.

A guy in the gym told me once that by doing them every day your abs dont have time to grow.

FierceFrets

How do you mean 'expand'. I never know how much to train them myself. Some guys say everyday, but i know a BB competiter that never trains them! I havent done them in a while. When i go back to the gym next week (resting an injury at the mo) i'mm gonna start doing them every 4 days i reckon.

:twisted: Fierce

splinter

At the moment I do them 4 days a week. Each time about 30 - 45 mins.

But the exercises vary alot!

But what I have found im not to sure how to work the lower abs I can really feel it in the top abdominals and they are coming out but what about the bottom!

Post some exercises please.

RJ Magnus

Splinter, check out this link

http://groups.msn.com/yourbodyyourte...32801063670759

The Jane Fonda's are a bit tricky to get a good form for, but once you do you can really feel the burn in the lower abs, theyre my favourite.

FierceFrets

Yep, the leg raises are what I would go for. Try to keep you heels off the floor by about an inch for the entire set though. Its a killer.

:twisted: Fierce

razg

This sounds like your standard exercise myth nonsense. With regards to overtraining, it's about intensity. Given that situps aren't particularly taxing, doing 100 a day probably isn't enough to provide a huge muscle stimulus - that said, you're bound to have very hard muscles from the constant use.

Like any other bodypart, the abs are a muscle (or set thereof) - go heavy, go hard, and change up the exercises you do regularly, and you're guaranteed growth - you aren't going to get a Ronnie style GH belly just from training them hard.

I find declined weighted situps to be amongst the best for good growth. That said don't forget to include core stability exercises into your ab training - any case where you're overbalancing abdominals vs lower back/glutes with regards to strength can cause potential back problems which you will want to avoid.