How Often Should You Train to Build Abs?

• Chris Protein is often asked, “How often should you train abs?” and other questions about building a six-pack.

• The right training frequency and duration are key to developing abs.

• This blog post gives several tips on how to build abs.

• Many people see real results with the tips given at the end of this blog post.

Wondering what the best way to get your abs ready for your summer beach trip is?

You are not alone.

I've been helping people get abs for years, and this is one of the most frequent questions I get.

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding ab training, particularly on how much and how often you should train them.

But it doesn't need to be so complex.

So, in this article, I’ll explain how many ab exercises you need and how frequently you should train them for optimal definition and development, without excessive bulk.

What Creates a Six-Pack?

Wanting a six-pack is a goal shared by many gym enthusiasts, but few people know how to build abs the right way. There are too many outlying variables and questions like, “How long does it take to get a six-pack?” and “Can I do abs every day?” I also often hear, “Should you do abs every day?”

The answers to how often you should train abs may vary depending on your other training goals, but there are some universal truths to developing the washboard abs of your dreams.

The Importance of Reducing Body Fat

One of your primary objectives should be to reduce body fat. Lowering your overall body fat through diet and following your other fitness goals automatically makes your muscles look more defined. Figuring out how to build abs won’t matter if no one can see them!

Not having noticeable abs doesn’t mean you have a weak core, but there’s no way to show people your hard work through training your abs, regardless of how often you should be if you have too much subcutaneous belly fat.

Visceral fat, found beneath the subcutaneous layer, has a much greater effect on your overall health than subcutaneous fat. However, visceral fat won’t have much impact on the visibility of your six-pack. Reducing both is the key to showcasing a stellar six-pack and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so focusing on diet is a win-win! 

A well-balanced diet can help maintain or even boost metabolism, meaning that burning calories and losing can become easier.

There’s an unfortunate reality regarding who gets a six-pack and why—sometimes it comes down to genetics. Your genetic makeup influences where your body stores fat, which means it may be more challenging for some people to lose belly fat than it may be for others. However, it's not all gloom and doom when it comes to how often you should train your abs. You can still achieve your six-pack goals; you may simply need to get a bit leaner to see them.

Every person is different, so there’s not just one answer to a question like “How many times a week should a woman do abs?” vs. “How many times should a man?” That’s why the best way to create a six-pack is to get a personalized training program from a professional who understands what your body needs and what it’s capable of achieving, or experimenting with different volumes and frequencies to see what yields the best results for you (more coming on that).

The Extreme Ends of Ab Training

People typically either believe one extreme or the other: that abs need to be trained every day all the time, or that ab training is not necessary and should never be done to avoid making your waist bulky. Both of these ends of extremes are wrong and will not get you the best ab definition. Too much ab training is just wasting time, and too little or none will make it hard to bring out the best ab definition.

Abs: All Day Every Day?

First, we'll address how often abs should be trained from the point of view of the abs-should-be-trained-every-day-all-the-time camp. People in this camp will attend ab classes where all you do is train abs several times a week, dedicate several workouts to abs each week, or do hundreds of crunches every day. This isn’t necessary, and here’s why: once you have maximally stimulated muscle growth, you aren't going to get any more out of additional ab exercises. Continuing to train abs (or any muscle) after it’s already sufficiently trained just fatigues it further without any additional gains. This is also known as “junk volume.” So, you may be wondering, how many times a week should I do ab exercises?

Thousands of crunches and multi-hour ab workouts aren’t necessary to stimulate abdominal muscle growth. It could even cause your physique to suffer by wasting time on junk volume that could be better spent working out other muscles. If you’re overdoing abs at the expense of the rest of your body, you’re just going to make the whole process harder on yourself.

Abs: Not Even Once

The other camp will typically claim that training your abs will make your waist big and your stomach look bulky, and as a result, ab training should be avoided entirely. I've often even heard of people recommending not to do squats and deadlifting to avoid any ab growth whatsoever. This is complete nonsense, as these exercises don't even develop obliques and abdominals significantly. 

While training abs will certainly help develop them, it’s unlikely that you'll gain enough muscle to make your stomach look too big. The bodybuilders in the photo below have bloated stomachs due to PED abuse and eating a huge volume of food to maintain their size. Not from doing a few sit-ups.

You need to do a lot more than a few sets of planks to achieve abs like that.

How Many Times a Week Should I Do Abs?

How often should you train abs to get those stone slab abs, and is it bad to do abs every day? Also, can you push yourself to the limit and focus solely on your core?

It doesn’t matter which muscle group you’re working on or your fitness goals. Everyone needs rest days. Muscles need time to heal from workouts—it’s during this time that they grow back bigger and more noticeable. If you’re always going as hard as you can with your abs, they’ll never get the time they need to regenerate and recover better, faster, and stronger.

Rest should play a significant role in your fitness goals, especially if you train your abs often. You want to ensure that you’re getting enough quality sleep, and you should get at least seven to eight hours a night. Sleep is the most regenerative time for the body and helps stave off weight gain as well.

However, your abs won’t require as much rest time as other muscle groups. Your core is somewhat used to constant work since you engage it to support your posture. That means you can probably sneak in some extra workouts that you otherwise wouldn’t if you were focusing on your chest or legs. 

However, if you feel that your abdominal muscles have been overworked, it's important to listen to your body and allow them to rest. Be sure to incorporate rest days into your workout routine. This could mean shifting your focus to other types of exercise, such as cardio. You can still pursue other fitness goals while treating it as a “rest day” for your abs.

Training Frequency

So how often should you train your abs? It’s recommended to work on your abs two to three times a week, incorporating two to three exercises in each session. This frequency is sufficient for optimal development without risking overtraining. If you already have a workout routine that includes three to four sessions per week, you can simply add two or three ab exercises at the end of your workouts.

Training Duration People often ask me, “How many ab exercises should I do?” When it comes to how long your ab workout should be, balance is key. A duration of 5 to 30 minutes allows flexibility based on core strength emphasis. If you want a more targeted session, 5 minutes is enough to engage the abs. For something more comprehensive, you can push that to 30 minutes.

Top Ab Exercises Some of my favorite exercises for abdominal development include decline sit-ups, cable crunches, and weighted abdominal machines. I also find leg raise variations, such as hanging leg raises and weighted cable leg raises, to be excellent for targeting the lower part of the abs.

The Most Important Part

To see defined abs, how often should you train them? The most important factor is reducing your body fat percentage enough to see them. This almost always requires a strong focus on nutrition, so make sure you have a plan in place to lower your body fat to about 8-12% for men or around 15% for women. Without reaching these body fat levels, no amount of ab workouts will make a difference.

How to Build Abs

Before you’re set loose with a renewed sense of purpose, let’s quickly review what you’ve learned about how to build abs. You can easily reference these tips to create a customized ab-building workout that makes sense for you and aligns with your body’s needs and limitations.

Set Clear Fitness Goals Make your goals crystal clear. Go beyond telling yourself you want six-pack abs. Ask yourself important questions like, “How many ab exercises should I do?” and “Is my workout plan balanced around how often to work out abs so I don’t burn out?” Get as specific as possible regarding the number of reps, times of day, and other expectations. Focus on Diet A healthy diet and a caloric deficit are crucial if you’re going to see clear-cut results. A diet that creates a moderate caloric deficit and is high in protein is best for facilitating weight loss and maintaining muscle. This type of balanced diet will reduce your subcutaneous fat, which is key to making your abs appear more defined. Perform Core-Strengthening Exercises Your core is a muscle group that needs some focused attention to get stronger. Focus on building muscle within your core to get that really shredded stomach look you’re after. When it comes to how often you should train your abs to work out your core, two to three times per week is an ideal amount. You can supplement some of your ab exercises with an additional core exercise to round out your routine. Include Compound Movements Compound movements are the best way to get the most bang for your buck. They work out multiple muscles simultaneously, giving you a more well-rounded workout, and should generally be the foundation of your workouts. You also expend more energy performing them when compared to isolation exercises, which can help create a greater caloric deficit. Leg raises and planks can help you add muscle definition, but capitalizing on compound movements builds strength and is more efficient than other workouts.  Use Progressive Resistance No matter how often you should train your abs, the last thing you want to do when reaching your fitness goals is to hit a plateau. Don’t hesitate to challenge yourself by using progressive resistance. Increasing the resistance, reps, or weight as your strength improves is one of the best ways to consistently build muscle.

Prioritize Proper Form You can search endlessly for the answer to “How many crunches do I need to do to get abs?”—but no number can replace the importance of proper form. Without good form, you won't maximize your workouts, and you may even risk injury, which can delay your progress. Don’t Forget About Cardio Cardio is an exercise Swiss Army knife; don’t neglect it just because you want to focus on muscle growth! A good balance of cardio and weightlifting is required if you want to see the most returns. Cardio will supplement your days off and help you with endurance and heart health. Cardio can also make it easier for you to have a calorie deficit, revealing those abs you’ve been working on a lot sooner! Get Enough Rest and Recovery Rest and recovery are just as important as keeping active. Don’t burn the candle at both ends, and remember to get enough sleep.  Stay Hydrated Hydration is always important, but it’s even more so if you want to get those rock-hard abs. Staying hydrated will keep you from getting fatigued and help you stay at peak performance levels. It’s best to focus on hydration before, during, and after your exercise so your body gets the nourishment it needs. Be Consistent If you’re going to take anything away from this article, it should be this: stay consistent. Working out with a consistent schedule is key to succeeding with your fitness goals. The moment you start to drift away from your schedule, you’re already fighting an uphill battle to stay motivated.

Sample Ab Workout

My clients often ask me, “How many times a week should I do abs to get a six-pack?” Here is a sample ab workout you can use. If you’re curious about when you should train abs, just add these exercises at the end of two to four of your existing weekly workouts to maximize development. You'll notice there is very little emphasis on obliques (side abs). This is intentional because a lot of oblique training can actually make the waist look blocky and doesn't add much to the six-pack anyway. For health and balance, there is still one exercise included for them, though.

Ab Workout 1 – Definition/Development Focus

• Decline Sit Ups – 2-3 sets of 8-15 reps

• Cable Weighted Leg Raises – 2-3 sets of 8-15 reps
  

Ab Workout 2 – Definition/Development Focus

• Roman Chair Leg Raises – 2-3 sets of 8-30 reps

• Cable Weighted Crunches – 2-3 sets of 10-30 reps
  

Day 3 – Health/Core Stability Focus

• Side Planks With Rotation – 3 sets of 10-20 reps

This is enough to maximally stimulate growth for most people without overdoing it. It isn’t the end-all, be-all of ab workouts and is designed for development, not strength, stability, or performance. For more on those objectives, see this article on core training tips. Start on the low side of the recommendations and adjust as needed.

Hope this helps you in your six-pack quest and answers how often you should train your abs. If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message. We're happy to help. 

Meet Your Fitness Goals With Chris Protein

There’s no easier way to meet your fitness goals than with help from a professional fitness expert who can keep you motivated and on track. Chris Protein’s one-on-one personal training program in Austin, TX, is designed to do just that. With a holistic approach to fitness, including getting a personalized nutrition and exercise program, round-the-clock support, and personalized goal tracking, there’s no objective you won’t be able to smash, including getting that six-pack for the summer!