Coach’s answer: If you want to directly target them, do twice a week and whichever exercise lets you progressively add load over time. Things like the crunch machine (if your gym has a good one) or kneeling cable crunch are great for this. You can also hit obliques with anti-rotational cable movements like the Pallof press or wood chops.
Your core gets a lot of work from compound movements like squats and deadlifts, but for many people it won’t be enough to really optimize ab hypertrophy. Like any other muscle, your abs respond best to direct work.
How often should you train your abs?
Train your abs directly about twice per week. A 2016 meta-analysis found that muscles trained twice per week grew more than muscles trained once per week. The higher-frequency groups showed a hypertrophy effect size of 0.49, versus 0.30 for once-weekly training.
How many ab sets should you do per week?
Aim for at least 10 hard sets of direct ab work per week. In a 2017 meta-analysis, Schoenfeld and colleagues found that each additional weekly set was associated with about 0.37% more muscle growth, and higher-volume groups gained roughly 3.9% more muscle than lower-volume groups. Ten or more sets per week is a reasonable starting point. Spread those sets across your two sessions instead of cramming them into one.
Which ab exercises actually build muscle?
The more common mistake for abs is picking exercises that you can’t progress. Bodyweight crunches stop challenging your abs once you can pump out 50 of them per set. Same goes for stuff like the ab roller wheel, sit-ups, and planks you can hold for more than about a minute. Go with movements where you can add a little bit of load at a time.
- Kneeling cable crunch: easy to set up on a cable station (or maybe with some resistance bands) and you can bump up the weight in small increments over time.
- Crunch machine: if your gym has a crunch machine that doesn’t totally suck and feel uncomfortable or have a limited range of motion, this can also be a great option.
Steady progression is what builds muscle over the long term, so options where you can gradually increase the weight are crucial.
How do you train your obliques?
Train your obliques mainly with anti-rotation work. The Pallof press and cable wood chops train your core to resist twisting, and you can load both progressively. Dumbbell side bends aren’t anti-rotation, but they can also be used for the obliques if the wait for the cable machine is too long at your gym.
Will training your abs give you a six-pack?
One big thing to keep in mind here is that while the direct ab work will build the muscle, it won’t burn off the fat sitting on top of your abs and hiding your six-pack (or eight-pack if you hit the genetic lottery). You can’t target fat reduction on your abs. This was tested in a 2011 randomized trial.
Visible abs come from lowering your overall body fat, usually by tracking your calories and being in a modest caloric deficit. You can estimate your maintenance calories with the TDEE calculator, or check out my full calorie needs guide. Training your abs directly still matters, because it makes them thicker and more developed once the body fat comes off.
Common questions
This article is education and not medical advice. Talk to a qualified medical professional before changing your training or diet. See my full disclaimer.
Sources
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2016;46(11):1689-97. PMID: 27102172
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2017;35(11):1073-1082. PMID: 27433992
- Vispute SS, Smith JD, LeCheminant JD, Hurley KS. The effect of abdominal exercise on abdominal fat. J Strength Cond Res. 2011;25(9):2559-2564. PMID: 21804427
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