Abdominal muscles are probably the number one most sought after body part.  They are also the most highly subjected to various opinions and ideas.  Once and for all, let’s clean things up for you and give you something easy to live with.  Despite what you may have heard, abs are like any other muscle in your body.  You wouldn’t work your chest 5 days in a row would you?  Why would you overtrain your abs? 

There are going to be people who say, “my buddy does 500 sit ups a day, 7 days a week…and his abs are awesome!”  To that I reply, that’s nice, but how awesome would his abs be if he was actually training them properly and giving them rest time?  Like all muscles, when you work out you are actually breaking the muscle down.  Those hundreds of crunches are breaking the abdominal muscles down.  It is when you allow them to rest and provide them proper nutrients that they grow and become more defined.

Something else to keep in mind; if you are able to knock out 200 situps in a row you probably aren’t doing them right.  25-50 reps with great form is much better than 200.  You should feel that dull burn slowly build in your midsection.  If you aren’t feeling that until you’ve hit about 100….something is wrong with what you’re doing. 

Great abs are part building up the abdominal muscle and part stripping away the fat covering them.  A healthy dose of cardio combined with 3, 15-minute sessions of core work is all you need to have a well-defined 6 pack.  It really is as simple as that.

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Matt

Co-Founder at Share It Fitness

Matt has been involved in the fitness industry for over 10 years and has worked with, and helped countless individuals improve their lives. After college, Matt started his fitness career working in the trenches as a personal trainer for a big corporate gym. It was here he saw how impersonal Big Fitness really was. Clients weren't people, they were just sales waiting to be made. After branching out and starting his own personal training business in San Diego, Matt soon developed the idea of Share It Fitness and started our (now highly successful) blog. A fitness junkie himself, Matt knows the importance of incorporating exercise into your life. When he isn't working at Share It Fitness, you can find Matt running, biking, taking yoga, or pumping iron around San Diego.

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