Posts Tagged ‘ab machines’

Are ab machines an effective tool?

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

I’m certain there’s  numerous potential customers watching ab machine commercials who are curious as to whether the machines featured on television actually give results. Part of this, I am sure, stems from the fact that there are late night infomercial pitch men pushing all sorts of hard to believe gadgets.

I get a little dismayed by some of their tactics. A few of these machines are trash and do nothing to help you successfully tone up the abs. Some are good pieces of equipment, but are overhyped and you will need to be critical in your inspection of the machine.

If you’re at a loss for how to chose a good piece of ab equipment, I found a good review of ab machines, which you might find useful.

Ab equipment must target the abdominal muscles effectively, or else it is useless. A way equipment can be of assistance is to provide you the ability to intensely focus on your various abdominal muscles much more than say crunches or sit ups. A great way to work the muscles over your midsection (rectus abdominals) is to do crunches.
But, you still have to concern yourself with your other muscles like your obliques, transverse and lower abdominal muscles.

A different angle and different exercise is required for these different muscles Every one of these muscles must be worked, in order to have an effective ab routine. Not every muscles must be exercised every time, but they need to be in the rotation of exercises that you do.

This is where an ab machines can come in handy and provide that variety you need. These can, in fact, increase the effectiveness of the motion, too.  One way they do this is by allowing you to apply resistance to the movement.. A few do this with additional weight, a few do it through forcing you into a position which uses more of your body weight to resist the movement.

I have discovered that many people are more motivated to work regularly on their ab muscles, if they have some equipment at home. Variety provides mental advantages, as well as physical advantages. Generally, when people follow the same routine day in and out, focusing on one or two exercises, this gets old fast. They tend to cut their workouts short and pay less attention to their form. But, varying the activities and exercises naturally rejuvinates people. In short, they work harder and see better results..

So, I have come to the conclusion that ab machines really do work to improve your abs. In order to get results, you will have to invest the time.

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Wayne Lance provides tips and insights on working out and weight loss. You can get more
ab exercise equipment
info at his website www.ab-machines.net

Ab Exercise Machines

Monday, October 12th, 2009

We’ve all seen those informercials for abdominal exercise machines. Do they work as promised?

If you’re considering buying one, you want to read this first…

Infomercials advertising abdominal machines are made to make you believe that a gadget can give you lean, hard abs.

The truth is that yes, a machine can help - if you already have low body fat. For men, body fat levels need to be around 10% for ab muscles to be visible. For women, the magic number is around 14 – 18%.

If fat is covering your abs, you need to lose the fat with a sound exercise and nutrition program before you think of buying any equipment.

Ab Exercise Machines Pros and Cons

Some of the benefits of ab machines are…

1. They add variety. Using an ab machine can stress your muscles differently.

2. They can add some interest to your routine. Doing the same rotation of exercises over and over can become a drag. Using new equipment can keep workouts interesting.

3. Ab exercise machines isolate your ab muscles. They’re usually made to target just your abs. If you have a low body fat percentage and you want to define your abs, isolation is good for that.

The thing you should know about ab gadgets like belts and machines is that they can’t melt fat off your stomach. You can strengthen your abs by using machines, but you won’t drop fat from your abs by using them.

Also, abusing ab machines can cause muscular imbalance, and that can be potentially dangerous! The muscles of your abs and lower back work together whenever you move or pick things up.

Abdominal machines focus exclusively on your ab muscles. If your abdominal muscle strength is way superior to your lower back muscles, this imbalance can eventually lead to injury.

Hopefully you now have an idea about whether or not you should buy an ab exercise machine!

Terrence Banks has a site about building muscle fast. You can read more about ab exercise machines and the fastest way to build muscle.