What's going on nation? And welcome to bench break episode 12. How often should I train my abs?
Now before we get started with this video
I'm sure you know you guys are wondering where I got this kick-ass Inuyasha shirt. I got it from hot topic
I actually have a whole closet full of anime shirts
And I keep getting questions on my videos if I like anime if I like all these different ones
And I do so I figured I'd start whipping out these shirts and showing you guys which Animes
I like this was actually a shirt I wasn't going to get and Erika convinced me to buy it. We're at hot topic and
she's over here the day that we got the shirt
I actually went to my dad's house, and all my brothers said I was wearing a Hello Kitty shirt
and then that was pretty fun to deal with
Yeah, it was the last time we saw them Inuyasha's badass, so I don't know why they were complaining
They just aren't into anime as much as I am but whatever you know it was a fun day
but let's get back on track with this abs video, so
How often I should train my abs?
This is a question that I'm asked a lot and being in the fitness industry as long as I have I've heard many different
answers and explanations
So here's my disclaimer guys everything
I say here is based on a mix of research my experience with my [own] body and my experience with
Clients not one thing works for everyone because we're different so you can use this as a general guideline and with time
[Fine-tune], what works best for your body
Now first let me start by saying that there are two categories of people
Those who just want a nice [tight] and lean core and a lot of women fall into this category
And those who want the big blocky very visible six-pack. So keep this in mind as we go through this video
Now let's start talking about what types of exercises to do now
I've seen people say that you never have [to] train abs because they're worked hard enough during intense compound lifts like squats
Or deadlifts
[I] actually talked [about] that in this video right [here]
if you fall under the first category
And we're talking strictly about core engagement and not building and sculpting blocky
Abs you might be able to get away with this now if you want to grow your six-pack, you will need to do abdominal
isolation exercises on top of the compound movements
Just like you would for [any] other muscle group for example if you want to grow your biceps
You don't just do pull-ups [you] add some curls to your program to isolate and Destroy a specific muscle
Group right well your abs are the same so stop [giving] into these gimmicks and work your abs the other point
I want to make is that if you're always relying on the
Assistance from a weight training belt when performing your lifts such as the squads or the deadlifts
Although you're engaging your core
You'll quickly find that your core will be much weaker than someone who does not
There is nothing wrong [with] using a [belt] nation just understand that the more you use it
The more you need to spend time training your entire core which consists of your abs lower back and obliques to make it stronger
[the] best thing to do would be to train without a belt when doing your lighter sets and only use your belt when you get
Into your heavier more intense sets now. Let's talk about frequency. I've found that abs are a lot like our calf muscles
[they] need a lot more volume in order to grow so I myself do not do [abs] just once a week
I actually hit them four times a week
And I separate my ab days into an upper and lower ab workout
And another day focusing on lower and obliques. [I] also do abs at the end of the workout after I do whatever muscle split
I'm doing that day
Ultimately, how often you will train your abs will come down to personal preference and how much time you have available
But let's talk [about] my training schedule my ab schedule is very simple
And [I] even have two videos you guys can check out if you'd like to follow my routines starting Monday
I like to train two days of abs rest on Wednesday then repeat Thursday and Friday
Weekends are like ab rest days for me keep in mind
This is not set in stone
Sometimes if I'm in a hurry, [I] will do my regular muscle split that day and leave the ab workout for the weekend
So it doesn't have to be exactly like this, but if you want to follow along day one focuses on upper and lower
Abs and you can check out my V cut six-Pack abs killer workout from my 2010 series it's an older video
Doesn't mean it's not amazing, and I still do this workout to this day day two of focus on lower
Abs and obliques and this is called the ultimate core workout targeting lower
Abs and obliques once again a part of my be a 10 2010 series those of you who haven't seen it now
There's a lot of debate that you cannot target upper or lower abs because the rectus abdominis
Is one big long muscle to these people
I say lie on the ground and perform a reverse crunch with a 25 pound dumbbell between your feet and tell me what part of
Your abs hurt the most in addition to this
I'm also not claiming that if I'm focusing on lower
Abs that the upper portion isn't being worked at the end of the day both areas are
Activated, but we can be creative and perform exercises that will target the area we intend to work more the reason
Why I have one day to focus on lower and upper and the other to focus on lower and obliques is because it's my belief
That you're targeting upper abs the majority of the time when training and if you really want to bring out the lower portion
They need to be focused on a bit more in fact one of the most common questions. I get is Scott
How do I bring out my lower
Abs? Now guys obviously a low body fat percentage is key here
But to me it proves my point that the area of the rectus abdominis that needs the most
[attention] for most people is the lower abs now for the last part of this video
Let's talk about reps and sets typically what I like to do is on the first two days
I focus on heavy weight as much as possible for 12 to 15 reps
Just like any other muscle to build blocky abs you need to resistance train
So you have to bump up the way on the next few days your abs may still be a bit sore
So I focus on high reps anywhere between 30 to 50 reps per set per exercise, [but] there is one myth
I would like to dispel before I end this video nation and that's that the weighted oblique exercises will give you a huge waist
This is a myth
The only way you will gain a huge
Waistline is by gaining fat or doing a cycle of roids [the] reason why gaining fat can increase your waistline is pretty obvious
[the] reason why Roids play a huge part is because you're not only unnaturally increasing the size of your muscle
But your internal organs as well. It's called a roid gut or a distended belly now let me make it clear guys
I'm not judging anyone who uses roids. It's yours decision, and I respect that [it's] just a point
I need to make for those of you who are watching this video who might be new to
bodybuilding and are afraid of increasing [your] waist size if you'd like to learn more about
Information about this topic guys I talked about it here this is a video
I did a little while back
but it goes over all of this and has a lot of great info for you guys to listen to
before we wrap this video up if you're lacking time in the gym and can't possibly train your abs as
Frequently as I do a great way to still get them in and hit them as hard is to
[Superset] them between your regular routines so for example if you're going to the gym today to hit chest
Instead of taking a two minute break between sets use that time to hit an abdominal exercise
Now I hope you guys enjoyed this video and it brought some clarity to [a] lot of questions
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