Question of the Day

This is a common misconception. I hear it all of the time. "Oh, the abs are a special muscle and they require daily workouts." The other variation is, "They are rapidly recovering so they CAN be worked out every day." Indeed, some people swear by it and claim that daily ab workouts is the KEY to having a defined six-pack. Is it true? The answer is NO! Let me explain ...
First, let's be clear so there is no debate: you absolutely, positively do not have to do a SINGLE AB WORKOUT in order to see six-pack abs.

Read that carefully and understand I am writing that not as opinion, but fact.

How can I be so confident? Because I've coached, met with, and personally experienced this fact myself. I've done many programs that involved zero abdominal work and had no trouble chiseling my abs. I've also met plenty of people who never train abs directly and look phenomenal. On the other hand, I've met a lot of people who train their abs every single day and are frustrated because they still can't see a six pack!

Now, I'm not getting into the debate over whether training them every day is BENEFICIAL. In other words, some claim you'll have a better chance of seeing your six-pack or may get there faster if you train like that, and that may be a possibility. I don't know because I haven't tried it and haven't recommended it. I just haven't been in a rush, neither have my clients, because we are focused on lifelong habits. Personally, I have no desire to knock out hundreds of crunches and sit-ups every day so if I can be shredded without that, I'm all for it.

I'm going to clear up another myth. It is very true that your abs, "sides" (obliques) and lower back are postural muscles. They are constantly worked to help you maintain posture and are involved in about everything you do. So, they have a higher ability to recover as they are designed to have constant work.

So why would I shy away from daily workouts?

Because if you are training correctly, you already ARE working them, even without knowing it. You see, if you are doing a bench press, a pull-up, a squat, a military press, a dead-lift, or any other compound movement with proper form, your abdominal muscles and lower back are working overtime to stabilize your body while you train. So why on earth would I ask you to take all of that hard work and then throw a bunch of exercises on top of it?

I don't get the special attention to abs, other than the fact it's what most people want to see, so they want to believe there is some easy way to train for them without understand you really need to master how to lose belly fat if you stand any chance of seeing what's underneath. It's plain and simple: it's fat that keeps your body from seeing the abs, and it's losing fat under the skin that is going to reveal them. That has more to do with your cardio, resistance training, and nutrition than any crunch you'll ever perform.

If you ARE training for abs, training to try and "define" them is the wrong approach. You don't want them to be bigger, you want them to be stronger. Properly training your abdominal muscles and your lower back will go a long ways to improved health, posture, diminished back pain, and help you excel in all other areas. The six pack will come from nutrition, but the ability to build muscle and perform well without injury is all tied to how well you train your core.

So, I'm going to leave you with a little homework.

1. Learn the proper methods of Abdominal (Core) Training, including doing it the right way so you don't end up with a stomach that sticks out or a sore back.
2. Learn the secret of The Stomach Vacuum, a little-known technique for achieving a flat stomach.
3. Finally, realize none of this is going to do a thing unless you master the Flat Stomach Diet.

Best of health and success!

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