Dispelling the Myths and Abs

Posted by Cathy Dickerson


The most common question I get asked has to be 'How many times a week do you train your abs?'

There are so many different views on how you need to train your abs to gain size as well as definition. The most over-looked factor has to be diet..... you can train your abs for years and still never get a 6-pack unless your diet is on point. Your body fat has to be low enough for them to show through. The upper abs are the most dominant and we generally hold more fat lower on our stomachs making it harder to get the lower abs out.

I personally train my abs 1-2 times a week depending on goals, for roughly 45min a session. When I'm in a bulking phase I train them once, and when cutting I train them twice. I only train them once while bulking purely for the fact that I'm looking to gain some thickness to them so recovery is key. When cutting I hit them twice, once heavy and weighted (reps around 8-12) like I do when I bulk, and a second time much higher reps and more cardio based exercises (reps around 12-20).

Another massive factor when training your abs is technique. It's key you engage the core throughout every exercise and keep the tension where we want it to be. It's too easy to let other muscles take over the exercises so focusing on the core every rep is crucial.

At the end of the day if you are breaking down the muscle, letting it recover and have low enough body fat you will improve your abdominals.  For all my ab workouts join the team today by clicking on my Complete Cutting Plan