Having a hard time believing this, couldn't find any threads on, so I thought I'd ask it here
Does direct ab work effect the amount of muscle you can build? No ab work = more muscle on your frame OR ab work = doesn't effect the amount of muscle one can gain. (Consider the diet and workout is perfect)

The gut of abs is just a small cosmetic problem. There's a far more dangerous beast hiding underneath.
Directly working your abs is the enemy of building muscle - especially doing it fast.
More directly: heavily exercising your abs directly will actually prevent you from building the amount of muscle you're capable of!
Due to the structure and function of the abdominals, working them out heavily results in a much bigger hit to your central nervous system than from any other exercise.
Think of it this way: have a strong person punch you as hard as they can in your arm, and it'll hurt a bit - then bruise up and be OK shortly after, if not a little bit sore. You could still perform bicep curls shortly after a hard hit to the arm.
But have that person punch you directly in the abs... and you'll topple over and feel weak over your entire body - not just localized to your abs.
And there's no chance you're going to be exercising at all for a while after that.
You may have experienced even a small version of this before - calling it "having the wind knocked out of you" - and it shows how directly the abs are tied to every aspect of the human body.
The goal of this program is to build muscle and lose fat at the fastest possible rate - and direct ab stimulation is counterproductive to that primary goal.
Can you build muscle and do direct ab work? Sure - but you'll build a whole lot more muscle if you leave the direct ab work out altogether.
The vast majority of guys who are struggling to put on muscle would change their results immediately by avoiding direct abdominal work altogether.
And here's the truth: to get a six pack fast, you don't even need the direct ab work anyway.
Directly working your abs is the enemy of building muscle - especially doing it fast.
More directly: heavily exercising your abs directly will actually prevent you from building the amount of muscle you're capable of!
Due to the structure and function of the abdominals, working them out heavily results in a much bigger hit to your central nervous system than from any other exercise.
Think of it this way: have a strong person punch you as hard as they can in your arm, and it'll hurt a bit - then bruise up and be OK shortly after, if not a little bit sore. You could still perform bicep curls shortly after a hard hit to the arm.
But have that person punch you directly in the abs... and you'll topple over and feel weak over your entire body - not just localized to your abs.
And there's no chance you're going to be exercising at all for a while after that.
You may have experienced even a small version of this before - calling it "having the wind knocked out of you" - and it shows how directly the abs are tied to every aspect of the human body.
The goal of this program is to build muscle and lose fat at the fastest possible rate - and direct ab stimulation is counterproductive to that primary goal.
Can you build muscle and do direct ab work? Sure - but you'll build a whole lot more muscle if you leave the direct ab work out altogether.
The vast majority of guys who are struggling to put on muscle would change their results immediately by avoiding direct abdominal work altogether.
And here's the truth: to get a six pack fast, you don't even need the direct ab work anyway.
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