The ads will claim, “Lose 25 lb in two weeks with the incredible ab machine” I hate to criticize products but I often see claims made by infomercials that make me ashamed to be fitness professional.

I should not be too critical, some times the products we are presented with actually work quite well, the problem is they usually don’t do what they clam to do. Some can be rather hazardous and can even cause or exacerbate injuries if not used correctly. 

 If the public still does not understand why these contraptions don’t do what they claim, is the fitness industry failing to get the education across? To some extent perhaps but there is a tremendous amount of good information now, so generally I don't believe lack of education is  the answer.  So why are these contraptions so popular? 

 If you ask most people what they would most like to change about their body , losing some weight  and having a smaller waistline,   I am guessing would be a couple of the most  popular reply’s.

 We want to believe ab machines  will melt away fat. The claims made seem to make sense. However it is not what is said, but whats left out that is key. 

 The frustrating thing for most of the proponents of these contraptions is that some of them can be quite effective at strengthening and toning the abdominal muscles. But will not make your waistline 1 inch smaller. Because they do very little to reduce the body fat that covers those abdominal muscles, this fact they often omit or they cloud the issue or straight out misinform you. Unless you turn it into an aerobic exercise doing hundreds of reps on these machines will not reduce your waistline.

  My aim here is to inform you how to work the abdominals effectively, but that is only half the battle , to attain that lean athlete looking midriff you  need to adopt the correct nutritional practice and maintain a regular cardio program, unless you are one of those people who is naturally lean, their is no getting around this fact,  there are no magic machines, but  when you do achieve the lean body you want, you will want those abs to be toned  hard, functional and strong.

Why most abdominal machines are hard on your back.

Full sit-ups performed correctly do have there place and I will go into that later. The problem with sit ups is although they do to some extent work the abdominals, the hip flexor muscles are also activated to a major extent. There is nothing wrong with having strong hip flexors. However I will make two points. First. If you want to concentrate on your abdominals why bring in this extra muscle group which takes over much of the work and makes the exercise less effective. at targeting the abs.

Secondly, and much more important. If you continually strengthen the hip flexors they become tight and short. This has the effect of pulling and tipping your pelvis forward. Instead of that nice neutral pelvis you become prone to lordosis sometimes known as sway back. If you do full sit ups or use an ab bench a decline bench or fix your feet in any way you will activate the hip flexors. As I said there is nothing wrong with these muscles being strong if they are long and flexible. If you absolutely must continue performing sit-up with your feet fixed. Be sure to do hip flexor stretches every day.

Hip Flexor Stretch

In fact if you were to only ever do one stretch. I would probably suggest this one.

Effective abdominal exorcises. 

 When I worked in a major fitness facility in Edmonton we would lead 15 minute ab classes 3 times a day, they were always packed with regulars .I would lead the class through 20 or so different exercises.  I can tell you with complete confidence, you don’t need to work your abs for 15 minutes, but people liked them  they were fun. If you like variation, keep an eye open on Fitquest for future articles.

You can work the abdominals very effectively with two or three exercise.

1) The Abdominal Crunch.

The abdominal crunch is a simple and effective exercise that will isolate the rectus abdominus quite well done correctly.  

Crunches. Start and Finish

Lie on your back (preferably on an exercise mat), with your knees bent at approximately a 90 degree angle, feet flat on the floor. Push you tummy toward the floor. A slight pelvic tilt should mean your lower back is now mostly in contact with the floor. You have a choice of three starting positions with your arms. If you are a beginner start with your arms down by your side, as you get stronger have your arms across your chest, and when get really tough put you hands at the side of your head. Changing the arm position will change your centre of gravity and therefore making the movement progressively harder. . Do not ever clasp your hands behind your head and tug as you do your crunches this may injure your neck.

Now during the movement your head should not move position relative to your body, don’t let your neck flex back and forth.

A couple of tips to achieve this.

Imagine holding an orange under your chin, or fix your eyes at a point on the ceiling. Keep them fixed on that point as you crunch.The movement is very simple think about moving you rib cage toward your hips. Don’t try to lift your body just make that distance between the ribs and pelvis as short as possible. Your shoulders can leave the mat but your lower back stays in contact with the floor.

Work up to 20 repartitions for two to three sets. Breathe out as you crunch and try not to hold your breath at any point.

2)Oblique Crunches.

Begin in the same position you would for performing crunches but this time cross the right leg over, so that the ankle is resting on the opposite knee. Perform the crunch movement only this time the left shoulder moves toward the right knee. Don’t lift your body to far up. For beginners stretch out that left arm toward the knee. As you get stronger put your hand at your head. 

To make the exercise easier grasp the right mid thigh with your right hand (the picture shows the arm out to the side).

   Oblique Crunch,(arm at side).

Same reps as the crunches two sets each side.

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There is continuing debate about whether or not you can isolate the lower abs. Although they may look like separate rows of muscle the rectus abdoninus is actually made up of continuous muscle fibers that are separated by fibrous bands giving them the appearance of rows of muscle. You cannot train part of a muscle fiber/ once stimulated the whole thing contracts. Based on this basic physiology I personally don’t believe you can isolate the lower abs. Most exercises given to work this area are actually often hip flexor exercises. If you really feel like you must do something for the lower abs, the reverse crunch is an exercise you can try. even if it does not isolate the lower abs it is at least a very safe and effective ab exercise.

3)Reverse crunches

 Lie back and flatten your back to the mat. Raise your legs until your feet point almost toward the ceiling, cross your ankle if you wish, bend your knees slightly and keep them that way thou out the movement. Now flex you hips and drive your feet toward the ceiling.

 Reverse Crunch

  Again do not push up to far a couple o inches is enough. Performed correctly this exercise offers much less risk of causing back problems than  all those supposed lower ab exercises that are actually hip flexor exercises.It is a little more advanced than  many abdominal exercises but will not cause back problems as all those leg raise can.

Ab Machines

When considering abdominal equipment heres are a few questions to ask you’re self.

Does it involve my hip flexors to a major degree, if you feet are fixed in any way it probably will,

Do I have to waist time performing hundreds of reps or can I add resistance as I get stronger to challenge the muscles and cut down my work out time.

 For those who really have trouble with crunches, or any of the mat exercises I have described, the Bowflex Ab Crunch  attachment is the best I have ever used, it does not affect the hip flexors and you can add resistance as you get stronger. Unfortunaltly you do need to have abowflex ultimate 2 to use this abdominal unit. If the ultimate 2 is a little out of your budget, try performing your crunches on a stability ball. 

Isolating the Abdominals-Reciprical Inhibition.

For most people without  a background in physiology this is a rather obscure mechanism of the human body , but  if you have moderatly well trained abdominals it can be very useful for isolating these muscles.

To explain Reciprical inhibition I will use the relationship between the bicep and tricep as an example. These are opposing muscle groups, when you perform a bicep curl there is a concentric contration of the bicep. the muscle shortens against a resistance. The tricep cannot contract at this time.

You can probobly guess how this can be used to isolate the abs, and not use the hip flexors.

Lie on your back, place your feet on a wall with your knees at a right angle. push your feet lightly against the wall as you perform your crunches.

Your glutes and hamstrings, (hip extensors) will contract, therefore  the hip flexors can not. Now when performing  crunches your abdominals are truly isolated and worked more directly.

You can also do this exercise in the same position only with your lower legs on a bench.