ab exercises....should they be treated like weight training
I was wondering many times due to having minimal time I try to squeeze my ab workout in whenever I can. That may be after a long cardio workout on an empty stomach or an hour after having just eaten, whenever I can. I never eat after I do them either, unless it is following cardio. My question is.......is it OK not to eat after doing ab training for 15 mins? Or should this be treated like a weight training session where I would eat right after?
Re: ab exercises....should they be treated like weight training
Basically doing abs is weight training. So I wouldn't do it on an empty stomach, and certainly not after a long cardio workout. Whether you should eat afterwards... Hm, 15 minutes isn't that long, but if it was intense I would eat a little something afterwards. Not like you would after one hour of weight training, but still something.
Make sure you don't overtrain your abs, 2-3 times intensely per week is enough.
Re: ab exercises....should they be treated like weight training
Hey Bluehen...Great question!
I'm curious lietchi, why should I not do abs after a long cardio. My cardio is usually 30 min on my resistance/weight training days and 45 min on the days I'm not working with weights. Is that a long cardio or did you mean like an hour of cardio? And what happens if I'm doing some type of ab work everyday. Not the same type of ab exercise, but I'm still working that area. Bad?
Last edited by frustrated35; 04-07-2005 at 08:42 PM.
Reason: spelling
Re: ab exercises....should they be treated like weight training
And what do you mean by intense, like i'm not sure what we should be feeling. If someone could shed some light it would be very helpful...my stomach is just so darn flabby :/
Re: ab exercises....should they be treated like weight training
I wouldn't do abs after a long cardio because cardio uses up your blood sugar. And blood sugar is exactly what you need to lift weights. No blood sugar means you risk damaging muscle instead of making the muscle stronger.
30 minutes is in a gray area, but I'd consider 45 minutes a long cardio. But of course it also depends on the type of cardio... I know people who call WALKING on a treadmill (I'm talking normal pace here) cardio, for that 30 minutes isn't long.
If you're doing intense ab sessions (listen to your body, when you've totally exhausted your abs you'll know it) don't do more than three times a week. You need to give the muscles times to "repair" themselves (weight training is actually a type of damaging your muscle) and to grow. I would prefer intense workouts 3 times a week to doing lighter workos every day.
