Has anyone tried one of those ab wheel things?

[Guest]

I bought the torso toner that comes with a Denise Austin tape. I am trying to get back in shape after my baby and do some tummy toning. It seems to be using my abs. I can feel the pull in those muscles. My boobs are sore now too from the pushing and pulling on those wheels. Has anyone else tried a similar product? If so what were your results?
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[Whispersecret]

I don't have one, but I'm tempted to buy one of those roller things. I hesitate because I bought one of those cage things that supported your head and never used it. It's hanging in our garage. Still, I'm attracted to the fact that it supposedly works a lot of muscles in a short amount of time. Since I abhor exercise, if it only takes a couple of minutes, I could maybe force myself.

I'd be interested in hearing from someone who's used one.

 

[Closet Desire]

Treading carefully...

I spent most of my adult life being incredibly unhealthy and unfit. I only got it together about six years ago. I was more than 100lbs overweight, couldn't climb stairs without gasping...pretty sad. I can say it's never as easy as the promoters promise.

My wife (who is lovely, slender, and fit) and I both work out and we learned that moderation and simplicity is the key. We replaced running (weather here in England is horrible) with an elliptical trainer and we lift weights. We use the trainer three times a week for 30 minutes which meets the American Heart Association's guidelines for cardiovascular health. We do the weights two to three times a week and it takes about 30-40 minutes. We're not trying to be body builders or bulk up, just enough work to keep toned, flexible, and reasonably strong (it works). It doesn't involve pain or failure. There's a tendency for people to want to achieve dramatic results and they overdo it, make it a competition. Do it the same way you walk in the park. Put on music, chatter with each other, and it's more pleasant than watching TV.

About the abs. I've learned this about machines and gadgets...it doesn't matter what it is...it involves work. I think you can accomplish the same results, without a machine (without weights for that matter), and in the same amount of time as promised by the ab machines. Three basic exercises will tone most of the ab muscles, including the obliques (which define the waist). The humble situp, scrunches, and a rotation exercise. The routine should take no more than 5-10 minutes.

Situp--forget the high school nonsense. Lie down with your knees bent, arms on your lap, and sit up. Start small and easy until you work up to doing 15-30. If you want more work do two or three sets. Don't jerk, don't go fast, and don't strain. Stop when you can't do it easily. If you can't make it up all the way, go as far as you can, the muscles will get stronger. Just go a bit farther each time. If you want more resistence, cross your arms over your chest. If you want more still, then touch your ears with your fingers. Don't put your hands behind your head as this puts pressure on the neck and spine and doesn't increase the load on the abs.

Scunch--lie on your back, put your hands wherever you want, draw your legs up as far as you can toward your chest and let them back down until they are straight and lying on the floor. Do the same reps as for situps.

Rotation exercise--there are a number of these but here are two. Standing--put your hands behind your head and simply twist as far as you can in each direction. If you have weights use a bar to add resistence. Bending--hands on your waist (no...you are not a little tea pot!), bend over and touch your hand to the opposite foot, repeat for the other hand and foot. Go as far as you can but don't strain. As you get stronger add weights or fill a couple of soda bottles with water and use them.

It turns out that most back pain and many back injuries are actually due to weak ab muscles so this improves a lot of things.

I found the real key is consistency. Do it regularly, don't overdo it, don't stop doing it. You don't have to keep getting better at it. Steady out with what's comfortable and keep it up. The improvement in looks will come with time.

If you're interested in more you might want to have a look at a book called "Getting Stronger" by Bill Pearl. It's an old book, but still in print. It runs the range from toning the body effectively to bodybuilding. An excellent reference.

I know this is long. My wife says I'm worse than a reformed smoker! It took me twenty years to convince myself I was fat and unfit. I'm not really a fanatic, but it is part of day to day life now.

Good Luck!!

 

[JadedHeart]

I have a Torso Track, and I like it. It does work more than just the abs, and I like the fact that I seem to get the workout I want in less time. I don't know if it's right for everyone, but this is my opinion.

 

[Closet Desire]

That's the rub isn't it?

I think you're spot on. Any activity that you like and that you're comfortable doing is going to be a good thing. I see men and women around me, same age, but heavens do they seem old. Lots of people will sit around and argue about this machine or that exercise or this diet, but never stick with anything. I watched most of the sedentary people in my family get stiffer, slower, and older decades before they should have. I had one uncle who was always active. Walked several miles a day (he was a lawyer in a small city). When he was eighty he was still going fishing in Canada, deer hunting in Colorado, backpacking in Shenandoah. When he was 84 he came back from a backpacking trip with a bacterial infection apparently from some stream water. Six months later he was dead. But the point is, he really LIVED until he died. I truly believe activity helps keeps you ALIVE until you die.

 

[Stormy]

Yes, Suzie, those ab rollers do work. I have three kids,8-5-2. I was really obsessed about getting my body back after all three. In 8 yrs, I've done every diet imaginable, exercised like a fein, and taken more than my share of diet pills.
What I've found since the 2 yr old was born is that...only the fun things work! The ab roller takes the gruel out of the work-out. Of course I still do crunches, but try activities such as riding bikes, jumping on a trampoline, horseback riding, swimming, etc. You'll have so much fun with these things that you'll never notice that your body is getting back to pre-pregnancy state.
However, please stay away from the diet pills and starvation diets. They're not worth the health risks involved. Because of them, I am now on blood pressure meds at the age of 30! Also, as long as you are active, your metabolism will change to accomodate more calories. I can pretty much eat what I want as long as I exercise. Have your partner join you and the benefits will double..*wink*. As for striving for a "six-pack"...it can be done but, only after your body fat reaches about 16-18%. The whole number game drives me crazy! Above all...if you dread doing the work, then what's it all worth? Make it fun.
If you'd like, I can email you some info. that has really helped keep me motivated and a few "secrets" that will help you, as a mom, get back that "before babies" body. hope I've helped.

 

[Thumper]

They work..but,

to trim the inches off you have to combine it with an aerobic(fat burning) exercise. Doing abdominal work doesn't necessarily trim the waist. It buiilds the muscle underneath but it doesn't specifically remove the fat from that area alone. When you burn fat it is removed from the body as a whole. Walking is a great exercise. Walk fast and work up a sweat. Added bonus..exercise releases endorphins and can make ya quite horny...

A guy walked by me at the gym the other day and patted his rather rotund belly..
He said, "See that? Hard as a rock. I do two hundred crunches a day!"

I just said, "What kind, Nestles?"

 

[Guest]

Thanks everybody, and yes Stormy I would be glad to have any information you have that may help. Or any thing helpfull anyone else may have for that matter. It's New Years Eve and time for those resolutions we all hate to make ... but need to. I am going to start my regular exercice and eat right plan more strictly starting tomorrow now that the holidays are over.
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