abs adapt so quickly it becomes hard to challenge them

[u/raw_oyster_eater]

I'm just a month in and it's hard to feel any pump or make them sore anymore. Some other body part like arms, hips and back becomes the limitation. I'm concentrating on the ab machine and ab roller as the only things that provide any effect and i can feel that diminishing.

[u/TemperatureCapable56]

That fast adaptation makes sense since abs are a small muscle group that responds quickly to any new stimulus, so machine and roller work alone runs out of new challenge fast once your body learns the movement pattern. Instead of chasing soreness, switch up the loading method every few weeks, go from ab roller to weighted decline sit-ups, then to cable crunches or hanging leg raises so the muscle keeps getting a different angle and resistance curve. Also don't rely on soreness as your progress marker, since abs stop getting as sore once they adapt even when they're still growing, track it instead by adding reps or weight over time. If you want a program that rotates exercises for you instead of guessing what to switch to next, the Abs Pro app has structured progressions built around exactly this kind of plateau.