Abs and Calves

[sublime35]

I know this is debatable topic so i thought i would see what everyone things. Why do people think abs and calves should/can be worked more frequetly, or whats the thinking behind it. To me they are just the same as any other muscle, in fact you probably use those muscles everyday and more often just by doing regular daily things. i.e. walking, bending, lifting etc.. what do yall think on this.

 

[KIAN]

Calves are trained more frequently (or the individual would like to do so) usually because they are one of the hardest muscle groups to develop significantly. It is true that you will use all the muscles of the leg to some degree through everyday activities but to get well defined mass you need to isolate each muscle through a range of specific motion. Otherwise everyone you passed on the street would have legs like the road-runner. Some guys though are lucky to be able to develop well defined diamonds without much effort. We usually call these guys 'bastards'. (excuse my language)

As to abs .. for the serious bodybuilder they are important for core strength development and become the centre through which other exercises depend. For someone who is just interested in fitness, they are more like 'eye-candy' as in 'hey look at me, I am fit'.

My personal opinion is that I would be more likely to work my abs back-to-back than I would any part of my legs but I wouldn't suggest doing that for any muscle group really.

 

[musketeer]

I think that it is a recovery issue. If a muscle recovers and grows then you are ready to hit it again. Calves and abs are almost entirely made up of slow twitch (red) muscle fibres. The in comparisson fast twitch fibres, slow twitch fibres hardly grow after each session and are liable to shrink if they are not trained often. I'll hit my calves as often as I can because the more workout and recovery cycles I can fit in the faster they will grow. I don't really train my abs very often because if tey are sore then I am weakened for my core lifts - which seem to hit them nicely!

 

[sublime35]

What i meant bout the muscles getting used everday was that it seems like since they get used more often u think you wouldn't want to train them too much, so to let them rest. But yeah i do isolation workouts for each. I didn't know that bout the different muscle fibers. Guess i shoulda payed more attention in Human Anatomy.

 

[eat big]

I definitely got the strongest best looking calves and abs through using heavy weight at least three times a week. I used dumbells for ab exercises for months and my abs were so big you could see them easily with high bodyfat.

 

[mad_monkey59]

dont quote me on this but I read somewhere that abs have a higher proportion of low twitch fibres and therefore can be hit more often and harder then other muscle groups.

I have a sneaking suspicion it was mens health so doubly dont quote me on it.