well recently i've been trying to flatten my abs, and i've been doing crunches, reverse crunches, and a modified leg lift. My brother has this thing called an, 'ab slider'. I cant describe it, but heres a pic of it:
you get on your knees grab the handles, extend, then contract. i was wondering if this is any good to use, or if i should stick strictly to my original routine.
Originally posted by muffinman: well recently i've been trying to flatten my abs, and i've been doing crunches, reverse crunches, and a modified leg lift. My brother has this thing called an, 'ab slider'. I cant describe it, but heres a pic of it:
you get on your knees grab the handles, extend, then contract. i was wondering if this is any good to use, or if i should stick strictly to my original routine.
Why spend $$ on something that looks like a lady-bug when you could be doing the same excersize with a barbell and plates.
Originally posted by muffinman: well recently i've been trying to flatten my abs, and i've been doing crunches, reverse crunches, and a modified leg lift.My brother has this thing called an, 'ab slider'. I cant describe it, but heres a pic of it:
you get on your knees grab the handles, extend, then contract. i was wondering if this is any good to use, or if i should stick strictly to my original routine.
the first bolded and italicised (sp?) text says my regular routine
you can do the exact same thing with a barbell, so whichever one you want to use is fine.
Your diet and the rest of your exercise routine will determine what your abs look like. Doing all the ab exercises in the world wont help if you arent eating right. What does the rest of your workout look like? What does your diet look like?
First to answer your question. Yes, you can incorporate the use of one of these types of devices into your ab routine and they can be useful. Notice I said "incorporate it" not substitute or rely on it. I guess I could generalize and say it's like doing a dynamic or moving version of a 'bridge' or 'plank' exercise, which is commonly a static hold position. Applied properly and with good form in execution, it can be a useful tool to work the core stabilizers.
That being said, I agree with Anubis, why spend the money on this one when you can make essentially the same thing for free or next to nothing? The only significant difference is that the one pictured uses a torque spring to assist on the return. The further out you roll, the more the spring assists on the return stroke. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since as you roll out and start to really extend from the shoulder, a lot of stress is transferred to that joint and that's not the point of the exercise. Still, once you're conditioned a bit to it, you shouldn't need the assist.
So, like Anubis said, a dumbbell with a ten pounder on either side, loose enough to roll freely, is your "free" version. A bare bones commercial version that consists of basically a wheel or two on a handle/axle can be had for 6 to 10 bucks, maybe 50 cents at a garge sale. My personal homemade favorite consists of an 18" square piece of 3/4" plywood or MDF and universal caster wheels on each corner. This version will roll 360 degrees, requiring more work to stabilize and control direction. It's more versatile too, allowing for a greater variety of exercise, since you can put your hands, elbows, knees, or feet on it to roll forward, backward, or out to the side.
If you don't care whether you spend any dough or not, you're better off getting a swiss 'stability' ball. You can do pretty much all the same ab core exercises with it and then some, like for lower back and obliques, or involve it when doing exercises for other muscle groups.
Anyway, there's nothing wrong with the thing really, there are just a number of better options at your disposal. So again, yes, one of these kinds of things and the exercises you do with them can be very useful when added to a good ab routine. Hope this helps.
If you don't care whether you spend any dough or not, you're better off getting a swiss 'stability' ball. You can do pretty much all the same ab core exercises with it and then some
my diet is pretty much normal as usual. what kind of diet should i be eating? i have the machine already my brother bought it a while ago, i was just wondering if its any good. ie; its free for me. i have an exercise ball, it seems to me an exercise ball and a swiss ball is the same thing, am i right? what exercises could i do on the ball for my abs? alls i can think of is crunches on it.
sounds like your not too serious about lifting at the moment? are you planning on becoming serious?
to see your abs properly youll have to do a lot of work [img]smile.gif[/img]
list your current diet for us...
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