Abs and Legs Question

[noriduffee]

How many times a week does everyone do an Abs Workout? How about specific Lower Body? Does Lower Body count as a strength day or a cardio day?

I have been doing Cathe's DVDs for a year, but really just do whatever I feel like on a specific day. I'm starting to do some rotations (ie, cardio a specific amount of days, strength a specific amount of days per week, etc) and just curious how to classify these.

Is every other day enough for abs? I am in good shape and an advanced exercisert--but I don't want to overdo it either!

Thanks!

Nori Duffee

 

[CollinsMom]

I try to do each [abs, lower body, upper body] 3 times per week. No idea if that is good....

 

[kathryn]

>How many times a week does everyone do an Abs Workout?
Ideally, 3-4 times a week (usually as part of another workout, but sometimes just core).

>How about specific Lower Body?
Depends: Ideally, 1-5 days a week. If I do a lot of step, which is a leg-intensive cardio workout, I do fewer lower-body specific weight workouts. If I'm doing a high-rep, no-to-light weights rotation (like Slim Series), I could do as many as 5 per week.

>Does Lower Body count as a
>strength day or a cardio day?
??? I don't understand the question. When people talk about a 'lower body' or 'upper body' workout, they are referring to resistance training for those body parts, thus to strength (or endurance) workouts.

Some types of cardio--step, stair climbing machines, cross-country ski machines and spinning, for example--also work the legs a lot, and can be considered leg endurance exercises (and sometimes strength, if higher resistance is used).


>Is every other day enough for abs?
IMO, yes. There seem to be two different schools of thought to this, though: 1) you can work your abs every day, because they are endurance muscles (as are your calves); 2) you should rest abs the way to do any other muscle, and not work them two days in a row. I think they two schools of thought also depend on what type of abs you want. If you want to build muscle (and get what I find to be a sometimes unattractive "developed" look to the abdominal muscles, like those on some Oxygen magazine cover models), then working the abs with weights, and allowing for recovery for growth would work best. For a leaner, 'flatter' look, working abs every day with no weights might work better.

Better than working the 'abs' though is working the core, which includes the abdominals, but also lower back. Overworking the abdominals without balancing out with lower back and spinal erector work can lead to a rounded over posture.

 

[LauraMax]

I do abs 2-3 times per week. I do legs (& all other bodyparts) once a week. Also circuit training (more of an endurance than strength training workout) once a week.

IMO every other day is too much for abs. If you overtrain a muscle you shrink it. If you want definition in your abs you need to build the muscle, not shrink it.

 

[noriduffee]

Thanks ladies! I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track! I did Leaner Legs the other day and wow were my legs cooking! I am pear shaped, and hope that more strength training on my lower half will help lean me out! We'll see....only time will tell

Thanks for your responses!