Insights on Ab Training
Most people want to reduce their waistlines and display a set of well-defined abs. The problem is they usually go about it the wrong way. A lean and muscular midsection is the product of abdominal muscular development combined with a low-level of body fat. Since the abs are a muscle, they are also stimulated by overload, not high rep sets of crunches. You can’t spot reduce fat around your abdominal region by doing mass amounts of crunches, so don’t waste your time and energy.
Your abs get a lot of work throughout the week stabilizing your upper body when you are performing free weight exercises, therefore they don’t need as much attention as many people think. Do a few sets with some resistance to help increase your abdominal development and focus on lowering your body fat with some cardio and attention to nutrition and supplementation. This combination will help you get the coveted “six pack”.
The Role of Recovery
After you complete the cycle, you will begin again with day one the following week. Make sure to give a full 7 days rest in between workouts for a specific muscle group. During these beginning stages, I would suggest taking a day off in between your workouts to help maximize your recovery.
A big misconception with weight training is that as you progress you add more and more exercises and sets. This is not true. There are certain ranges of sets that effectively and efficiently stimulate the muscle. Exceeding this range can actually impede your progress. In this case, more is not better.
As you get more advanced you will increase your weights but your volume of total sets will stay virtually unchanged.
