Exercise Equipment For Abs

Hundreds of abdominal exercise gadgets flood the fitness equipment market. Some efficiently tone the abdominal muscles. Others merely slenderize your wallet. Effective abdominal equipment must facilitate movement related to any, or preferably all, of the abdominal muscle functions. These include postural support, spinal flexion, torso rotation and lateral bending. The Federal Trade Commission warns against passive abdominal exercise apparatus, such as the electronic muscle stimulation belts. Likewise, an American Council on Exercise study examined various home exercise gadgets. Lead researcher Peter Francis reported that most of these machines provided only minimal abdominal muscle fiber stimulation.

The Slant Board

The slant board is one of the oldest and most basic forms of abdominal exercise equipment. The device enables abdominal exercise at various angles of resistance. Most slant boards enable you to stabilize your feet under two foot pads. The board's angle either adds challenge or provides assistance in performing the exercise. Placing your feet on the high end and performing sit-ups challenges the abdominal muscles to work against gravity. In contrast, placing your head on the high end provides gravity assistance and may be suitable for people with tight neck, hip flexors or back muscles. The reverse curl, performed by lying supine and lifting the pelvis, is more challenging when performed with your head on the high end of the slant board.

The Stability Ball

The stability ball, which imposes a balance challenge, scored highly in the American Council on Exercise study. In January 2008, "IDEA Fitness Journal" presented an overview of the research that supports a correlation between balance equipment and core activation. Ball exercise requires deep core muscle activation in order to maintain dynamic stability. The deeper core muscles therefore support the spine during stability ball abdominal flexion, rotation and side-bending exercises.

The Captain's Chair

The American Council on Exercise research team gave the captain's chair superstar status. This is one of the few exercises performed in an upright position, which means that it has a direct carryover into daily activities. Despite its stellar reviews, the captain's chair has some issues. People with weak upper body strength may find it difficult to support their weight while resting their forearms against the armrests. If you have tight hip flexors, they may overcompensate for your abdominal muscles when lifting your legs toward your chest.

The Roman Chair

The Roman chair enables spinal flexion, rotation and side-bending exercise. It also increases abdominal exercise range of motion by facilitating spinal hyperextension. Fitness professionals have mixed opinions about this feature. Some praise the Roman chair for its ability to strengthen the abdominal muscles while enhancing flexibility. Others, such as Phil Kaplan, criticize its potential hip flexor compensation and excess compression forces on the spinal disks.