Should I Do Crunches Everyday?

I was chatting with a fellow gym junkie (yes, I am calling myself a gym junkie despite the current state of affairs which I will tell you about in a sec') and we get to talking about abs. I share with him my current routine...

2 sets of 25 crunches
2 sets of 25 bicycle crunches
1 set of 10 hanging leg raises
2 planks - 1 @ 1 minute, 1 @ 30 seconds.

He then asks how often I do this and I proudly share that I do it every time I go to the gym. So he tells me I should not be doing ab work on consecutive days, "abs are muscles just like all other muscles and they need time to heal before working them again." I know I've heard this somewhere before but something just makes me feel like I should do them every time I go to the gym. I don't always go on consecutive days so it's not always an issue, but when I do, should I not do abs? This is important because I want to get the most out of my workout, but it's even more important because I don't exactly love working my abs. An excuse to pass on them now-and-again would be nice. Might even motivate me to hit the gym two days in a row! It would also occasionally save me time. Of course, it would also cut down on the overall ab work I do, but maybe that's okay? I tried this out last week, skipping abs if I had done them the day before. What do you think?

So this question would be even more interesting if I were actually going to the gym. Yep, it's been over a week since I've been. The last time I went was last Friday (not this past Friday but the one before that!), some, er, 9 days ago?! There are some small good moments tucked into this week, all thanks to my new mommy friends. On Thursday evening I went for a nice long walk (thanks Lauren!) and today I went on a nifty little 10 mile bike ride (thanks Michelle!). But, alas, no gym. I've slipped into a bit of a funk and I'll let you know more about why once I figure my way out of it. I just don't feel like going into the downer details just yet.

In any event the bike ride today was good for my spirit. You might remember the last time I got on my bike wasn't so inspiring. This time was great, I felt stronger, even though I was slow as molasses, and had a fun time. It helped that I had some good company. Not riding alone makes a difference. So we meant to ride 11 miles so (the other) Michelle could get a feel for the tri ride (she's doing the tri with me and it's her first one and I'm so excited for her!). But my bike computer wasn't tracking distance for some reason and despite my stopping to fiddle with it I couldn't get it to work. We had to guess on distance and ended up doing only 10 miles. It was great, the weather was lovely, it wasn't too windy and my legs held up just fine. It actually made me remember why I was getting so much into road cycling before pregnancy derailed me (ha! a pun) for a bit.

Speaking of road cycling, I still really like my bike. I felt so comfortable on it today, once I was warmed up I actually felt like I could go on a longer ride. That's a good feeling! And I think I have finally decided on my name for my bike. Tillie. 10 points if you can guess why I chose that name. So Tillie and I are looking forward to the Tri for Fun in two weeks. I need to figure out what I'm going to wear. The clothes I wore the last times I did it might be a wee bit tight on my bigger post-baby body. I'll have to figure something out.

Well, Marek is waking up. Mommy duty calls. I'll close with a picture or two...

At the free SF Symphony in Dolores Park. Man, it was a HOT day! Don't worry, I kept Marek in the shade once we snapped a couple pictures. I went to this event last year too.


Later that day the three of us having dinner at Pacific Catch. Such a funny face on Marek!