Every infomercial for an abdominal exercise machine promises a well-sculpted mid-section. Technically you don't need any exercise equipment to work your abs at all, and not every piece of ab equipment lives up to its promises. But a few pieces of equipment are worth the investment, offering definite benefits for training your major abdominal movers: the inner obliques, outer obliques and rectus abdominus.
Stability Ball
You can put stability balls to a number of uses: balance training, weightlifting, stretching, bodyweight-resistance exercises, Pilates and yoga. You can even use a stability ball as an office chair. But no matter what you use the stability ball for, your core muscles -- including the abdominals -- must engage to keep you steady against the ball's constant instability. In a study commissioned in 2001 by the American Council on Exercise, doing crunches on a stability ball was shown to be one of the best all-around abdominal exercises. The ball produced significantly greater activation in both the rectus abdominus and obliques than doing regular floor crunches.
Resistance Bands
Lying down and pulling on a resistance band anchored above your head as you crunch adds extra resistance, which in theory provides a better workout. But in the same ACE-commissioned study, the resistance band flopped as an ab training tool. "Exercise tubing pulls" generated only 92 percent of activity in the rectus abdominus when compared to a traditional floor crunch, and 77 percent of activity in the obliques when compared to the crunch.
Bosu Trainer
Sometimes misleadingly known as a Bosu ball, the Bosu trainer resembles half a stability ball mounted on a flat, rigid plastic disc. The word Bosu stands for "Both Sides Utilized"; you can use the Bosu trainer with either side facing up. Place the ball dome-side up and it generates constant instability like a stability ball -- but the Bosu trainer doesn't roll, making it much better suited to standing balance exercises than a full stability ball. Turn the Bosu trainer dome-side down and the flat-disc side functions like a balance board or wobble platform.
Captain's Chair
The captain's chair, also called a Roman chair, resembles a chair back and arms elevated to torso height. A sturdy metal frame supports the seatless "chair." The captain's chair serves a number of purposes, including a self-assisted pull-up machine, dip bars and hip flexor exerciser. According to the ACE study, the captain's chair excels as an ab machine. Support your lower body with your forearms on the captain's chair arms, then squeeze your abs to keep your spine stable as you bring your knees up to hip level. Keep your abs tight as you lower your legs, then repeat. This causes your obliques and rectus abdominus to work significantly harder than during a regular floor crunch: 310 and 212 percent of muscle activity, respectively. (See Reference 2)
Member Comments