Over the years I’ve heard a lot of exercise mumbo jumbo, even found myself under the influence of fitness placebo at times. One of the biggest misconceptions about ab training is the idea that more is always better. More is definitely not better in the case of abdominal training.

I’m going to address the question of how frequent we should train our abs. I hear some people say they do them every day, but if you’re always training a muscle it doesn’t have time to recuperate and grow stronger. And don’t forget that this is the reason we’re training our muscles in the first place.

If you want Functional Abdominal and Core Strength – Your gonna want to pick exercises that are usable for sports activities. The main point to remember is to stick with exercises that use all the muscles in the above diagram as a whole. In addition you should do the exercise over a duration of time to build endurance that will help you run faster, switch directions, etc. Crunches done for 1-2 minutes without pause, Twists, standard and side planks, Medicine ball Core exercises, etc.

If you just want a Visible 6 pack – For the person that just wants a set of abs that looks good on the beach, you should Isolate the muscles above by choosing exercises that Target the areas you want to bring out. Deep abs require slow controlled repetitions and holding each one for a peak contraction. These exercises can be done at the end of your normal workout. If you have 6Pack Goals, diet is more important then even the exercises you choose. You can have the best Abs since D ‘angelo but won’t anyone know until you strip away the unwanted bodyfat.

It’s very possible to train your Ab once a week, maintain a good diet and still build a pretty good six pack.