This is a usual question among those how want a flat stomach. However, as you will see the answer is rather simple.
First and foremost, the most important thing you have to understand in order to get a flat stomach, you need to get rid of the fat covering your midsection. And this can be done by proper, healthy diet and cardio which serves to burn calories.
The level of you body fat should be around 15% for women, while this number is somewhere or below 10% for men. However, this depends on your body type.
Related reading: How much time does it take to get six pack abs?
Therefore, you aim is to reach that level to have visible abdominal muscles.
Of course, the ab workouts you do are also essential. There are some core exercises such as the mountain climber which burn more fat than the others. While most of the standard moves such as crunches, sit ups and others are better for toning and strengthening core muscles.
In addition, you should pay attention to train your entire core. These mean your obliques, abdominis, lower back, etc. Hence, you need to do various activities.
Overall, when you work your abs is not as important as it seems. It is far more crucial the quality of your routine.
Anyway, here are some suggestions on when you can shape your abs.
1. Abs Training after your Strength Routine
Most of the people train their core at the end of their usual routine. There are some advantages of this.
Firstly, your muscles, mainly your lower back, is already warmed up, so you can avoid injuries or strains.
The other benefit is that typically abdominal exercises are not as hard as the compound ones like dead lifts or squats, this way we still have enough energy for ab training.
However, this greatly depends on the activities you do. If you want to do numerous hanging leg raises or exercises with dumbbells in the end, you will need far more power.
A disadvantage might be that since we are already tired, we are more willing to neglect the training.
2. Work Your Abs During Strength Routine
This is what I do these days. I’m pretty satisfied with my other muscles groups, but not with my core, I want to pay more attention to it. Consequently, I perform harder core exercises which require more strength.
Working the abs during the workout has another benefit. Let’s say you have an arm day and you strengthen your biceps and triceps. You maybe do dips, dumbbell curls, etc. Between each set you do some abdominal movements such as planks, crunches, leg raising, etc. And you have only short rests between the sets.
This will raise your heart rate and force your body to burn more calories. This way you will be able to burn fat as well which is vital to build a lean midsection.
If your aim is to get six pack abs, I recommend you taking this method. However, you may have less power to perform the other non-core moves.
3. Having Abdominal Exercises at the Beginning
To tell the truth, I do this rarely. The reason is that I used to have lower back pain because I did not spend enough time on warming up.
If you begin your routine with core exercises, it is critical to warm up and stretch before you start.
The advantage of this method, if you do it correctly, is maybe that your spine and lower back is already warmed when you start doing your strength training. This helps to avoid injuries and strains.
4. Work your Abs on Separate Day
This method is the best for those who want to focus the most on their midsection. Since, we do not need to work the other body parts, we can perform a harder, more complex and longer abdominal routine.
If you have a training on a separate day, you will be able to do tougher moves for your midsection and ones which will raise your heart rate.
So for the question “What is the best time to work my abs?”, my answer is it depends on your aims. If you want to flatten your tummy faster having workouts on a separate day or during your general routines is the best solution. If not, I recommend doing them in the end.
Although, you should test yourself which works you the best.
Have you got any questions? When do you work your abs and why? Which method works you the best? Spend a little time to comment below.
FAQ
Should I workout my abs everyday?
Well, abdominal muscles are the same as all the other muscle in your body. With that, they require rest to recover from the workout. I know it seems to be a logical decision to do it each day to get a flat stomach as fast as possible. But, the body does not function like that. On the other hand, if you want to burn belly fat focus on cardio workouts and your diet instead.
More about training abs everyday here.
How often should you workout your abs?
3-4 times a week is enough. Plus, the ab workout does not have to be long but intensive and complete that works each part of the core. We train the abs for strength, size, and toning. For belly fat burning the key is cardio and nutrition.
What is the best time for abs workout for you? Share with use below.