Do Ab Exercises Ever Get Easier?

The abdominal muscles may receive more attention than other muscles in the body, but they are not physiologically different. They are made up of muscle fibers, just as your quadriceps or biceps muscles are. Muscle fibers adapt to exercise. The exercises get easier, and you have to alter your program to continually challenge your abdominal muscles.

Abdominal Muscles

The rectus abdominis and obliques make up your midsection. They are responsible for spinal flexion and rotation -- bending your torso forward and twisting your torso to the side. Muscle fibers are categorized as type 1 or type 2. A study in "Acta Physiologica," a scientific journal published by the the Scandinavian Physiological Society, tested the abdominal muscle in 13 subjects. The abdominal muscle fiber was 55 to 58 percent type 1 fibers. These are more aerobic-oriented fibers. They are designed for low-force and high-endurance activities. Type 2 fibers are more anaerobic in nature.

Adaptation

The overload principle of strength training states that you must increase the challenge of an exercise program to keep making physical gains. This principle applies to the abdominal muscles, as well. If you perform the same exercises in the same way with the same resistance, they become easier as your abdominal muscles become stronger and more efficient.

Overload

You can increase the difficulty of your abdominal workout in several ways: increase the resistance, raise the volume of work with more sets and repetitions, shorten your rest periods or change the exercises and the order in which you do them. Altering any of these factors can be enough to increase the intensity of an abdominal exercise once it becomes too easy. However, you can increase these factors only so much. For example, if you started with 10 crunches, but now that is too easy, you can increase it to 15. But if you are able to do 50 crunches easily, you need to change a different element of your program, as the volume already is too high.

Considerations

Before you alter any of these factors, make sure you are performing each abdominal exercise slowly and with the proper technique. If you are using momentum or improper technique, the exercise may feel easier, but this is not due to an improvement in the strength or endurance of your abdominal muscles. Focus on form first and then add intensity in the form of resistance or volume.