How Often Should You Work Your Abs?

by Tom Venuto

Q: I would like to know how many days per week I should work my abs. I've been doing research online and seen conflicting opinions.

A: If you search online or watch people in the gym, you'll hear all kinds of different opinions and see all kinds of different practices with regards to ab training, mainly because so many people believe the abs are somehow different than other muscles. That's why this can be a confusing subject.

Some people believe the abs should be trained just like any other body part, typically 2 times per week. Others believe the abs can handle more frequent training, such as 3 times per week or every other day, and you'll always bump into people in the fitness industry who recommend training the abs almost every day.

Ab training frequency is one of those debates that may not ever end, and part of it simply has to do with different personal preferences and different goals. However, the science of resistance training has advanced to the point where we've got some good best practices that the majority can follow with confidence.

Is abdominal muscle tissue really different? First of all, it's a myth that the abdominal muscles are completely different than other muscles in your body (making ultra high reps or high training frequency necessary). Granted, the various muscles in your body may have minor differences in fiber type and the distribution of fiber type may also be influenced by genetics, but in terms of muscle cell structure, physiology and function, the abdominals are very much like other skeletal muscles.

This suggests that you should work your abs with similar training variables including the weight, sets reps, and the frequency as you would your arms, legs, back, deltoids, and so on. Many people prefer slightly higher reps for abs, but the abs respond to heavier loads and moderate reps as well, and differences in program design should have more to do with differences in personal goals than in muscle fibers.

Abdominal training and muscle recovery The abs also have similar needs for recovery in between workouts. After intense resistance training, muscle tissue is broken down (microscopic tears and inflammation, etc) and it takes time to rebuild and recover from that training stress. Allowing for muscle recovery is one of the reasons the abs should typically be trained with the same frequency as any other body part. That's usually about 2 times per week, give or take a little, though there may be exceptions. 

When someone wants to prioritize a body part that's lagging or simply wants to build a body part to the maximum, one way to do that is to train it more often. Still, even during priority training phases, every muscle requires a certain amount of recovery time which is usually at least 48 hours. That's why 3 times per week or every other day at most, is the highest frequency you typically see for resistance training, and that should apply to the abdominals as well. 

More reasons training abs every day is not necessary, even when it's possible When it comes to non-resistance exercises, which may include body weight exercises and calisthenics, along with low to moderate intensity cardio, it's often possible to do them daily and your body is able to recover. That's because most body weight only resistance exercises don't break down muscle tissue to the degree it does when you train with heavier weights and higher intensity. This is why you may occasionally see people - many who appear highly fit and look great - who do sit ups, push ups and so on, almost every day.

Most experts agree, and I concur, that training abs every day is unnecessary at least in the sense that there's a diminishing return from the additional time and effort spent beyond 2 ab workouts a week.When you're prioritizing ab training, you might bump the frequency to 3 days per week, but any additional benefit from more frequent training is likely to be so minimal that from a practicality viewpoint we could even argue it's time wasted.

Unless you're very sure about your abilities, you also have the question looming over your head of whether you are over-training and the muscles are not recovering, or whether you will start to incur overuse injuries.  

You may read about a fitness model training abs every day or see a Navy seal on You Tube doing sit ups, push ups and pullups every day, for hundreds of reps, but that doesn't mean everyone else should, or needs to. Remember that recovery ability may vary from one person to the next based on genetics, training experience, conditioning level, and skill level, among other factors.