Truth About Ab Workouts: Debunking Common Myths

Key Takeaways

• Your six-pack won’t show up unless your body fat drops below 12–15%.
• You need to treat abs like any other muscle — load them up, push them hard.
• Your 100 daily crunches are about as effective as scrolling Instagram mid-set.
• You grow obliques by holding one dumbbell, not playing tug-of-war with two.
• Your waist gets a bit bigger with ab training — but not “I need new jeans” bigger.

Want to build stronger, thicker abs that actually grow?

In this expert review, we analyze, critique, and expand on Dr. Mike Israetel's guide to training abs for real muscle growth. His approach, rooted in hypertrophy science, challenges common gym myths and offers clear direction on what actually works.

Why should you listen to us?

• Our team includes experts who’ve published over 300 articles and trained in the gym for 20+ years.
• We include little-known tips to help you get more results from fewer sets.
• You also get a full ab workout plan based on Dr. Mike’s key insights, built for hypertrophy.

If you're training abs for size, not just soreness, keep reading. This guide shows you how to lift smart and build real ab muscle.

Related:

• Ab Workout for Hypertrophy? Pro Tips & Examples
• Unlock Your Six-Pack: Top 5 Best Exercises for Abs & Lower Abs
• Elbow-to-Knee Sit-Ups: A Full-Range Core Exercise for Stronger Abs

In a Nutshell: Abs Aren’t Magical

Why Everyone Wants a Six-Pack

Let's be honest — everyone wants a six-pack. Why? Because a six-pack is the ultimate symbol of fitness and sex appeal. You imagine yourself looking shredded, confident, and maybe even getting some attention at the beach or the club.

But let me break it down for you. Having a six-pack doesn’t mean you’ll be having sex on the beach (which is often uncomfortable, sandy, and illegal). Instead, it means you’ll look good at places that don’t involve sand or legal trouble — like a club, or even a Walmart bathroom (yes, that’s totally fine and condoned).

So, if you want to be the “sexy person” that turns heads, you might think you need to train your abs. But is that really the case? Can ab training alone get you that ripped midsection?

What Does Ab Training Actually Do?

Let’s get one thing straight: you train your abs to make the muscles bigger. That’s it. Your abs, along with your obliques (the side muscles on your waist), can grow larger just like any other muscle.

Here’s a quick tip if you want to train your obliques effectively: don’t do side bends with a dumbbell in each hand. Why? Because the weights cancel each other out, and you won’t get the tension you need. Instead, hold a single dumbbell in one hand, keep the other hand behind your head or out for balance, and bend sideways. That will target your obliques better.

When you grow your abs and obliques, your whole core "pops" a bit more, making your midsection look more defined. But here’s the kicker: this effect is small. Very small. The muscle growth will make your waist a little bit bigger, too. So, if you’re aiming for a large, muscular midsection — a "muscle daddy" look — then yes, hard ab training makes sense.

The Trade-Off: Bigger Abs Mean a Slightly Bigger Waist

When you add muscle to your waist, it naturally increases in size. This is simple logic. Bigger muscles take up more space. So training your abs will make them more noticeable, but it will also make your waist a little wider. The difference isn’t huge, but it’s there.

If you want to look like a lean, sleek athlete with a razor-thin waist, heavy ab training might not be the best route. But if you want a burly, muscular midsection, train your abs hard and consistently.

What Ab Training Will NOT Do

Now that we know what ab training can do, let’s talk about what it absolutely will not do.

• Ab training will not shrink your waist. Bigger muscles don’t make your waist smaller. You can’t mechanically contract your waistline by training your abs.
• Ab training will not make your abs visible at high body fat levels. If you’re carrying 20% or more body fat, no amount of ab training will reveal your six-pack. The fat layer simply hides the muscles underneath.
• Ab training will not spot reduce fat. Doing crunches or planks won’t burn more fat in your belly than anywhere else on your body. Fat loss happens systemically, not locally.
• Ab training does not burn a significant number of calories. It’s not an effective way to lose fat compared to activities like walking or full-body training.

Most people train their abs expecting to burn belly fat and get a smaller waist. That’s a big misconception. You can train abs all day long and still have a layer of fat covering them if your overall body fat is high.

Why Most People Don’t Get Results From Ab Training

Here’s the harsh truth: most people train their abs all wrong. They do hundreds of crunches or hold planks for long periods, but they never see the results they want. Why? Because they’re not training abs like a muscle.

Let’s compare it to training legs. If someone wants bigger legs, and they do 100 bodyweight squats every morning without increasing resistance or challenge, their legs won’t grow much after a few weeks. The same logic applies to abs.

Training abs effectively means:

• Using resistance — machines, free weights, or weighted exercises.
• Progressively increasing the challenge over time — more weight, more reps, or harder variations.
• Training with proper form, including eccentric (lowering) control.
• Training abs 2-4 times per week.
• Performing 3-6 working sets per session.
• Doing 5 to 30 reps per set, depending on the exercise and load.
• Going close to muscular failure with low reps in reserve (0-3 reps left before failure).

Without these principles, ab training is just a waste of time

Why Planks and High-Rep Crunches Fall Short

Planks are isometric — meaning you hold a position without moving. This is fine for endurance but doesn’t stimulate muscle growth effectively. Crunches performed with high reps and no effort won’t fatigue your muscles enough to grow.

In gyms, you often see people doing 25 crunches, then checking their phone, then doing 30 more crunches with plenty of reps in reserve. This "training" won’t build muscle or reveal abs.

How Long Does It Take to See Ab Training Results?

If you’re expecting to do some crunches for 3 weeks and suddenly have a six-pack, prepare to be disappointed. Building visible abs takes time — years of consistent, hardcore training.

Just like you wouldn’t expect massive biceps after a month of curling light weights, you won’t get a chiseled midsection overnight. Ab training is no different.

And remember, visible abs depend heavily on body fat levels. You can have strong, big abs under a layer of fat, but they won’t show until you reduce your body fat.

Why Losing Body Fat Matters More Than Ab Exercises

If you want to see your abs, the first priority is lowering your body fat. Losing fat is what reveals muscle definition.

Instead of obsessing over ab exercises, focus on:

• Maintaining a caloric deficit by controlling your diet.
• Incorporating full-body resistance training to preserve muscle.
• Increasing daily physical activity to burn more calories.

Once your body fat is in the right range (usually below 12-15% for men), your abs will start to show. At that point, ab training can help your abs pop a little more.

Beware of Scams and Quick Fixes

There’s a huge industry built on fooling people into thinking they can get abs without effort. From "miracle" gadgets to juice cleanses and electric belts, these products promise abs without fat loss or training.

Don’t fall for it. The truth is simple: no gizmo or magic pill will give you abs if your body fat is high. The only way to get a six-pack is through proper diet, fat loss, and effective training.

Should You Train Your Abs?

Here’s the bottom line: if you want a bigger, more muscular midsection and are okay with a slightly bigger waist, then yes, train your abs hard and smart. But be prepared to commit for years and accept that the difference will be mild to moderate.

If you want a lean, slim waist and visible abs, focus more on fat loss and less on ab training volume. Training abs excessively won’t make your waist smaller or magically reveal your six-pack.

For those who want to train abs effectively, follow these guidelines:

1. Use resistance exercises that put tension on the muscles throughout the range of motion.
2. Train abs 2-4 times per week with 3-6 working sets per session.
3. Perform 5-30 reps per set, depending on the load and exercise.
4. Push sets close to failure, with 0-3 reps left in reserve.
5. Progressively increase load or reps over time.
6. Periodize your training to avoid plateaus and optimize growth.

Apps like the RP Hypertrophy App can help program your ab training effectively.

The Truth Bomb Ab Workout

Tired of chasing six-pack myths? This ab-focused program cuts through the fluff and gets to the real work. Inspired by Dr. Mike Israetel and built around the key insight that abs grow like any other muscle, this workout uses resistance, progression, and structure to develop core strength and visible definition — without wasting time on high-rep fluff.

Overview

• Ideal for: Lifters who want stronger, thicker abs and a defined core
• Equipment needed: Dumbbells, cable machine, ab wheel, decline bench (or floor), pull-up bar
• Training frequency: 2–4x per week depending on recovery
• Workout goal: Muscle growth in abs and obliques with progressive overload

Workout Split

• Train abs 2–4x per week
• Add ab training to the end of full-body or upper-body workouts
• Alternate between Workout A and B, with at least one rest day in between
• Use moderate to heavy resistance and train near failure (0–3 reps in reserve)

Workout A: Weighted Abs + Obliques

Pro tips

• Keep constant tension on the cable — no relaxing at the top.
• Control the lowering (eccentric) on leg raises.
• Use one dumbbell only for side bends to avoid canceling out resistance.

Workout B: Stability + Resistance Core

Pro tips

• Keep the plate tight to your chest during sit-ups — don’t swing.
• Keep abs braced and avoid arching lower back on rollouts.
• For cable twists, rotate through the torso, not the arms.

Notes on Program Execution

• Use progressive overload: add weight, reps, or difficulty weekly.
• Take sets close to muscular failure (0–3 reps left).
• Don’t rush reps — eccentric control builds more tension and growth.
• Rest 48 hours between ab sessions for recovery.

Building abs isn’t about daily crunches or long planks. It’s about treating them like any other muscle: resistance, progression, recovery. This workout gives your core the same serious attention you’d give to legs or chest — and it pays off when paired with proper fat loss.

Want to automate that workout and more? Put your progress on autopilot with Dr. Muscle AI. Try it free.

Expert Corner: Proven Strategies & Hidden Gems

Practical Applications

• Train abs like you train legs or chest. Use resistance (cable crunches, decline sit-ups, weighted leg raises), and aim for 3–6 challenging sets, 2–4x per week. Skip the fluff, chase the burn.
• Stop doing crunches with zero effort. Add a plate behind your head or use a cable stack. Aim for 10–20 reps per set with a weight that makes you work for the last 3 reps.
• Ditch the double dumbbells for obliques. Do one-arm side bends with a heavy dumbbell in one hand only. Do 3 sets of 10–15 reps per side. Keep the tempo slow on the way down.
• Lose the fat first. Focus on dropping body fat to 12–15% (or lower) before worrying about ab definition. Use a calorie deficit, get your steps in (8k–12k/day), and lift heavy.
• Don’t plank for 5 minutes. Instead, do weighted planks or switch to exercises that involve movement (like ab rollouts or weighted sit-ups) to actually challenge your abs.

Examples

• Swap 100 crunches for 4 sets of 15 cable crunches with a moderate weight and 2–3 reps in reserve.
• Do 3 rounds/week of hanging leg raises (10–15 reps) + one-arm side bends (15/side) for visible oblique work.

Fact-Check of Key Points

• Ab training doesn’t shrink your waist.
  True, mechanically speaking. Training your abs won’t reduce your waist circumference the way fat loss does. However, stronger core muscles can improve posture and abdominal control, which may make the waist appear tighter, especially in front-relaxed poses or under clothes.
• Planks don’t build muscle.
  Mostly accurate. Planks are great for building core stability and endurance, but they aren’t ideal for hypertrophy. That said, for beginners or those with poor core control, they can be a useful starting point just not the main event if you're chasing growth.
• You need to be under 12–15% body fat to see abs.
  Generally true. Most men need to drop into this range to get noticeable ab definition. Still, genetics play a big role some people show abs at higher percentages, others have to dig deeper to see anything past a blurry outline.
• Training abs makes your waist bigger.
  Technically correct. Hypertrophy adds mass, and your midsection is no exception. But unless you’re heavily overloading your obliques or doing high-volume weighted work every week, the size increase is usually minimal, not enough to blow out your jeans.
• Doing crunches doesn’t burn belly fat.
  Completely accurate. You can’t target fat loss in a specific area with exercises. Crunches train the muscle, not the fat on top of it. Fat loss is systemic, driven by diet, energy balance, and overall activity level.
• More Little-Known Tips for the Truth About Ab Workouts
• Start with abs if you never get to them. If abs always come last in your workout, you're probably half-assing them. Flip the script. Hit them first once or twice a week when you're fresh and focused.
• Slow reps > fast reps. Everyone loves to speed through crunches, but the real muscle-building magic happens in the eccentric — the lowering phase. Go slow on the way down. Make every rep count.
• Train abs like legs — with intent and load. Nobody builds legs with flailing bodyweight squats. Same goes for abs. Use machines, cables, or weight plates. Push sets until you’re 1–2 reps from failure.
• Cycle your ab training. Don’t hammer the same 3 sets of leg raises all year. Do 4–6 week cycles where you increase weight, volume, or difficulty. Then switch exercises and start building again.
• Forget 30-day ab challenges. If someone promises visible abs in 30 days, they’re selling you bad advice — or a blender. Muscle takes months, fat loss takes discipline, and the "truth about ab workouts" is this: no shortcut beats consistency.

Abs Training for All Levels

This is not one-size-fits-all. Your ab training needs to match your current fitness level if you want results without frustration or injury. Here's how to adjust your movements and volume based on where you're at.

Beginner

• Exercises: Bodyweight crunches, lying leg raises, incline sit-ups
• Volume: 2 to 3 sets, 12 to 20 reps
• Tips: Control the movement, avoid momentum, and focus on feeling your abs work
• Goal: Build coordination, confidence, and base strength without overdoing it

Intermediate

• Exercises: Cable crunches, hanging knee raises, one-arm dumbbell side bends
• Volume: 3 to 4 sets, 10 to 15 reps
• Tips: Use resistance, take sets near failure, and tighten up form on every rep
• Goal: Add visible muscle to your abs and obliques with more effort and load

Advanced

• Exercises: Weighted hanging leg raises, ab wheel rollouts, heavy cable twists
• Volume: 4 to 6 sets, 8 to 12 reps
• Tips: Load smart, maintain form under fatigue, and push for progression each week
• Goal: Maximize hypertrophy and detail with challenging movements and consistent overload

No matter your level, the truth about ab workouts is this: effort matters more than volume. Start where you are and train with intent. Results follow work.

Science of Ab Workouts for Hypertrophy and Strength

Abdominal training can improve core strength and muscle tone, but its role in driving significant muscle hypertrophy and strength gains is more nuanced. Reviews and meta-analyses suggest that ab-focused exercises alone may not be optimal for maximizing hypertrophy, especially compared to broader resistance training programs.

Key Findings from Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

• Resistance training is superior to aerobic training for hypertrophy and strength. Resistance training leads to significantly greater hypertrophy than aerobic exercise across both type I and type II muscle fibers (Grgic et al., 2018).
• Ab-specific training contributes less to hypertrophy compared to multi-joint resistance exercises. Whole-body resistance training is more effective for hypertrophy, and abdominal exercises may be better used for targeting endurance or muscle tone rather than size gains (Benito et al., 2020).
• Adding single-joint (e.g., ab-specific) to multi-joint training may enhance regional development. While overall hypertrophy is similar, combining single- and multi-joint exercises might help develop specific areas like the rectus abdominis more fully (Rosa et al., 2022).
• Training volume and load are key drivers of hypertrophy. Higher resistance loads and multiple sets yield greater strength gains, although hypertrophy can be achieved with a wide range of loads when volume is equated (Carvalho et al., 2022).
• Split vs. full-body routines do not significantly impact hypertrophy or strength when volume is matched. This allows for flexible programming of ab exercises in either format based on individual preference (Ramos-Campo et al., 2024).

Practical Applications of Science

• Combine compound lifts (e.g., squats, deadlifts) with ab-specific work to maximize both strength and targeted core development.
• Use 2–3 sets per exercise for ab training, potentially increasing volume for advanced trainees aiming for hypertrophy.
• Choose split or full-body training based on convenience—both are effective when volume is consistent.

Scientific Conclusion

Ab training is beneficial, but meaningful gains in hypertrophy and strength are best achieved through comprehensive resistance programs that also engage the core indirectly.

My Opinion on the Truth About Ab Workouts

I think ab workouts have become a sort of fitness cult. Everyone acts like crunches are sacred and planks are penance for eating carbs. But let’s be honest most of it is busywork disguised as effort. The truth about ab workouts? They’re mostly just noise if you don’t get the fundamentals right.

Some people swear by daily ab circuits, claiming it “activates the core” or keeps the waist tight. I get it, it feels productive. But just because you're sweating doesn’t mean you're progressing. Sweat is not a sign of muscle growth. Tension is. Load is. Effort is.

I treat abs like any other muscle group not some mystical centerpiece. I don’t chase the burn. I chase results. Results come from proper resistance, controlled repetitions, and a plan that doesn’t rely on wishful thinking.

You don’t need abs every day. You need a smarter plan and a lower body fat percentage. The rest is mostly filler content for Instagram.

The Final Word on the Truth About Ab Workouts

Most people have the ab game completely backwards. They grind through high-rep crunches and 5-minute planks, hoping for fat loss and a tighter waist. But the truth about ab workouts is simple: they build muscle, not burn fat. If you want visible abs, drop your body fat. If you want thick, defined abs, train them with intensity.

The real win comes when you combine both a smart diet and proper ab training. That means lifting heavy, going close to failure, using resistance, and tracking your progress like you would for any other muscle. Anything else is just spinning your wheels.

Want to skip the guesswork? I recommend the Dr. Muscle app. It automates your workouts, applies progressive overload, and even periodizes your training for you abs included. Try it for free, and get your training dialed in like a pro.

FAQ

Can you get visible abs by doing only ab exercises?

Visible abs depend primarily on body fat percentage, not ab exercises. Ab workouts can strengthen the muscles, but they won’t be visible unless body fat is low enough—typically under 12–15% for men.

Do crunches or ab exercises help burn belly fat?

Ab exercises do not burn belly fat. Fat loss occurs systemically across the body and requires a calorie deficit through diet and overall physical activity.

Is it effective to train abs every day?

Training abs every day is unnecessary and often ineffective. Like any other muscle group, abs respond best to 2–4 sessions per week with proper intensity, resistance, and recovery.

How often should I train my abs for optimal results?

Abs should be trained 2–4 times per week with 3–6 working sets per session. Each set should be taken close to failure, using resistance and proper form for muscle growth.

Will training abs make my waist bigger?

Training abs can make the waist slightly bigger due to muscle growth in the abs and obliques. The increase is typically minimal but noticeable if hypertrophy is the goal.

What’s the best way to train obliques?

The most effective way to train obliques is by using weighted side bends with a dumbbell in one hand. Holding dumbbells in both hands cancels out the tension, reducing the effectiveness.

How long does it take to see results from ab training?

Visible results from ab training take months to years of consistent effort. Muscle growth depends on progressive overload, and visible abs require a reduction in body fat.

Are planks effective for building abs?

Planks build core endurance but are not ideal for muscle growth. They lack dynamic movement and eccentric loading, which are important for hypertrophy.

Should I focus more on fat loss or ab exercises?

Fat loss should be the priority to reveal abs. Ab training can enhance muscle shape and definition, but without low enough body fat, they won’t be visible.

What are the best exercises for lower abs?

The article does not specify individual lower ab exercises. However, it emphasizes using resistance-based movements and progressive overload for effective ab training overall.

How does diet impact the visibility of abs?

Diet plays a critical role in reducing body fat, which is essential for visible abs. Without a caloric deficit, ab muscles will remain hidden under a layer of fat.

What role does body fat percentage play in revealing abs?

Body fat percentage directly affects whether abs are visible. Most people need to reach 12–15% body fat or lower for their abdominal muscles to show.