Ab training every day?

[FlickerEdge]

Can exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles be done every day, or should they be allowed to rest for at least a day in between workouts? I mean just bodyweight exercises such as crunches, leg raises etc.

[jackmcmanus21]

Abs are fast twitch muscles so they don't need as much rest as other body parts. I wouldn't do abs every day though...it could be a lot of strain on your lower back and other body parts

[kanik]

I allways thought abs were primarily slow twitch... hence the reason you have to really realyl work them to get the most out of them.... anyway maybe i'm wrong. One thing I do know is for sure, depending on the exercise, its fine to do training every day. The way I see it, if you do somthing and the next day arent sore, stiff, or kinda worn out from it, you may as well do it again, but harder. Haha.... just listen to your body really. if you feel you can train again that day, then do so.

[Ghost]

It doesnt work like that. The body when repaired wont ache but it doesnt mean you have got stronger from it.
When you have exercised your body goes through 2 stages (very basically) 1)repair 2)supercompensation
when you have repaired you are good to go again but you havent benefited from your rest yet. You have simply repaired the damage you did before. so you can train just fine but you arent going to be making much progress.
Stage 2 requires rest on top of stage 1, this will allow your body to make new adaptations on many levels which will see you perform better next time.

Stage 2 tends to take place after you feel recovered.

I allways thought abs were primarily slow twitch... hence the reason you have to really realyl work them to get the most out of them.... anyway maybe i'm wrong. One thing I do know is for sure, depending on the exercise, its fine to do training every day. The way I see it, if you do somthing and the next day arent sore, stiff, or kinda worn out from it, you may as well do it again, but harder. Haha.... just listen to your body really. if you feel you can train again that day, then do so.

[kanik]

It doesnt work like that. The body when repaired wont ache but it doesnt mean you have got stronger from it.
When you have exercised your body goes through 2 stages (very basically) 1)repair 2)supercompensation
when you have repaired you are good to go again but you havent benefited from your rest yet. You have simply repaired the damage you did before. so you can train just fine but you arent going to be making much progress.
Stage 2 requires rest on top of stage 1, this will allow your body to make new adaptations on many levels which will see you perform better next time.

Stage 2 tends to take place after you feel recovered.

Yeah I know all that, because of my course i'm doing. All i'm saying is, I get much better results listening to my body than I have ever got following the rules. I aint saying it works for everyone, but it wqorks for me, and I feel stronger than ever. And what i mean by listening to myself, is not just stopping if I feel an ache, I stop before I feel an ache, I dunno how to explain it, but I can tell when my body can do more or when it needs a time out, before it gets to the muscle pains and aches stage.