How Many Times a Week Should I Do Abs Reddit

Why Training Abs More Than 3x a Week Is Wasting Your Time

The answer to 'how many times a week should I do abs reddit' is 2-3 times per week, because the real reason you can't see your abs isn't your training frequency-it's your body fat percentage. You could have the strongest, most developed abdominal muscles in the world, but if they are covered by a layer of subcutaneous fat, you will never see them. Think of it like having a brand new sports car parked under a thick, heavy tarp. The car is there, but nobody can see its shape or details. Training your abs is building the car; diet is removing the tarp. For most men, abs start becoming visible around 10-14% body fat. For most women, that range is closer to 18-22%. Doing 500 crunches a day won't burn the fat off your stomach. That's called spot reduction, and it's a myth. Fat loss happens systemically across your entire body when you are in a consistent calorie deficit. So, while direct ab training is crucial for building the 'bricks' of a six-pack, it does nothing to remove the 'mortar' of fat between them. Training them more than 3 times a week doesn't give them enough time to recover and grow, just like any other muscle group. You're just spinning your wheels and creating fatigue without stimulus for growth.

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The Ab Training Mistake 90% of People Make

The biggest mistake people make is treating their abs differently from every other muscle in their body. You wouldn't go to the gym and train your biceps with 100 reps using a 2-pound dumbbell every single day and expect them to grow. You'd laugh at that idea. Yet, that's exactly what people do for their abs: endless sets of bodyweight crunches, leg lifts, and planks, day after day. Your rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle) and obliques are muscles. They respond to stimulus, recovery, and progressive overload just like your chest, back, and legs. To make a muscle grow (hypertrophy), you need to challenge it with resistance that brings you close to failure within a moderate rep range, typically 8-15 reps. If you can do 50 crunches in a row, the exercise is no longer building muscle; it's training muscular endurance. It's the equivalent of jogging for your abs. It creates a 'burn,' which people mistake for an effective workout, but it provides almost zero stimulus for growth. The key is to make ab exercises hard enough that you can only perform 10-15 reps with perfect form. This requires adding weight. That is the secret. Stop thinking of ab training as a cardio finisher and start treating it like a real strength-training session. That is how you build abs that 'pop' once your body fat is low enough. So, you know now: treat abs like any other muscle. Train them heavy, 2-3 times a week, and add weight or reps over time. But let me ask you this: what weight and reps did you use for cable crunches 4 weeks ago? If you can't answer that in 5 seconds, you're not using progressive overload. You're just guessing and hoping for growth.

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The 2-Day Ab Protocol That Actually Works

Stop the random '10-minute ab workouts' and start a structured plan. This is a simple, twice-a-week protocol designed for hypertrophy. You will perform Workout A on one training day (e.g., after your upper body workout) and Workout B on another non-consecutive day (e.g., after your leg day). Give at least 48 hours of rest between ab sessions.

Step 1: Choose Your 3 Core Movements

Your ab workouts should include three types of movements to ensure complete development:

1. Top-Down (Spinal Flexion): This is where your shoulders move toward your hips. Think crunches. The best version is the Cable Crunch or a weighted crunch on a machine. This allows for easy progressive overload.
2. Bottom-Up (Hip Flexion): This is where your hips move toward your shoulders. Think leg raises. The best version is the Hanging Leg Raise or Captain's Chair Leg Raise. These are incredibly effective for the lower portion of the rectus abdominis.
3. Rotation/Anti-Rotation: This targets the obliques and deep core stabilizers. The best and safest are anti-rotation exercises like the Pallof Press or Wood Chops (Cable Chops). These teach your core to resist twisting forces, which is its primary function.

Step 2: Structure Your Workouts

Here is how you'll set up your two weekly workouts. The goal is 3 sets of 10-15 reps for each exercise. When you can complete all 3 sets of 15 reps with perfect form, you must add weight.

Workout A:

• Cable Crunches: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
• Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets to failure (aim for 10-15 reps)
• Rest 60-90 seconds between sets.

Workout B:

• Pallof Press: 3 sets of 10-12 reps per side (hold for 2 seconds)
• Decline Bench Weighted Sit-up: 3 sets of 10-15 reps (hold a 10-25 lb plate)
• Rest 60-90 seconds between sets.

Step 3: The Progressive Overload Formula

This is the most important part. Progress is not optional. Every week, your goal is to do more than you did last week. This can be one more rep, or 5 more pounds.

• Example for Cable Crunches:
• Week 1: 50 lbs x 12, 11, 10 reps
• Week 2: 50 lbs x 13, 12, 11 reps
• Week 3: 50 lbs x 15, 14, 12 reps
• Week 4: 50 lbs x 15, 15, 15 reps -> SUCCESS!
• Week 5: Increase weight to 60 lbs. Your reps will drop to ~10. Now, you start the process over, building back up to 15 reps.

This systematic approach guarantees you are providing the stimulus needed for muscle growth. Without tracking your lifts, you are simply exercising, not training.

What Your Abs Will Look Like in 90 Days (If You Do This)

Let's be brutally honest about the timeline. Seeing your abs is a two-part project: building the muscle (training) and revealing the muscle (diet). Assuming you are doing both, here is a realistic timeline.

Month 1: The Foundation

You will not see your abs in the first 30 days. What you will feel is a dramatic increase in core strength. Your weighted ab exercises will go up in weight or reps. Your core will feel like a solid block of concrete during heavy squats and deadlifts. You might notice your stomach feels 'harder' to the touch, but visually, little will have changed. This is the most important phase; do not get discouraged and quit.

Month 2: The First Glimpse

If you have been consistent with your training and your diet has brought your body fat down, this is where you might get your first reward. For men dropping below 15% body fat or women below 22%, you may start to see the faint outlines of the upper 2-4 abs, especially in the morning or with favorable overhead lighting. They won't be deeply etched, but the 'lines' will start to appear. This is proof the process is working.

Month 3: The Reveal

After 90 days of consistent, heavy ab training and disciplined eating, the results become undeniable. For a man at 10-12% body fat, a clear six-pack will be visible. For a woman at 18-20%, a defined and toned midsection with clear abdominal lines will be present. The lower abs and obliques are the last to show up, as this is where most people store their most stubborn fat. Seeing your full six-pack is a long-term commitment, but following this protocol ensures that when the fat comes off, a well-developed set of abs is waiting underneath.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Role of Compound Lifts

Heavy compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses build immense core stability and strength. They teach your core to brace under load, which is critical. However, they are not optimal for ab hypertrophy. They provide an isometric contraction, not the full range of motion needed to maximize muscle growth. Do both: use compounds for strength and isolation for building the muscle.

Best Exercises for 'Lower Abs'

Technically, you don't have a 'lower ab' muscle; the rectus abdominis is a single sheet of muscle. However, you can emphasize the lower portion. Exercises where your legs move towards your torso, like hanging leg raises and reverse crunches, preferentially recruit and challenge the lower fibers of the muscle. These should be a staple in your routine.

Training Abs While Overweight

Yes, you absolutely should train your abs even if you have a high body fat percentage. Building a strong core provides back support, improves posture, and increases your performance on all other lifts. When you eventually decide to diet down and lose the fat, you will have a strong, developed set of abs ready to be revealed, instead of having to start from scratch.

The Importance of Diet for Abs

The phrase 'abs are made in the kitchen' is about 75% true. You can do this ab protocol perfectly for a year, but if your body fat is too high, you will never see the results of your hard work. To reveal your abs, you must maintain a calorie deficit to lower your overall body fat percentage. There is no way around this.

Dealing with Ab Training Soreness

When you first start training your abs with weight, expect to be very sore for 2-3 days. It might hurt to laugh. This is normal and will subside after the first couple of weeks as your body adapts. If the soreness is debilitating, you likely did too much volume. Next time, reduce your working sets from 3 to 2 and slowly build back up.