Strong abdominal muscles come with many benefits, including increased balance and stability plus greater ease with everyday movements. While you don't technically need any equipment to work your abs, some types of equipment do open the door to more varied or effective ab exercises. Using ab workout equipment also keeps your workouts entertaining, which in turn makes it more likely that you'll continue doing them.
Exercise Ball
In a study commissioned by the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University in conjunction with the American Council on Exercise, exercise ball crunches were shown to be the most effective of all the ab exercises tested. Exercise ball crunches recruited significantly more activity in the rectus abdominus than standard crunches, while recruiting less activity in the hip flexors than other highly effective ab exercises.
Exercise balls are useful for more than just basic crunches. Try sitting or lying on an exercise ball instead of a weight bench when you lift weights. You'll work your abs at the same time you challenge your other muscles to stabilize the weights.
Bosu Trainer
The Bosu trainer, sometimes referred to as a Bosu ball, looks like the upper third of an exercise ball attached to a rigid plastic base. The Bosu trainer isn't quite as unstable as an exercise ball, but can still be used for a number of similar applications when placed dome side up. If you place the Bosu trainer with its flexible dome facing down, rigid plastic side facing upward, it becomes a wobble board.
Roman Chair
The Roman chair, also known as a captain's chair, ranked second in the San Diego State study for activity in the rectus abdominus and first for activity in the obliques.
To do an ab workout in the Roman chair, which resembles an elevated chair frame with no seat, place your forearms on top of the chair's out-jutting arms. Support your body weight with your arms. Squeeze your abs tight to keep your spine from flexing as you bring your knees up toward waist level, then lower them just in front of the line of your body.
Medicine Ball
Medicine balls have two purposes when it comes to ab exercises. First, they can be used, just like any other weighted object, for exercises like torso twists. Second, medicine balls can be passed back and forth, either while standing on a wobble board or moving in and out of a crunch position.
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