Well, I suppose if all you want to do is to work your rectus, because that's the muscle that really looks the best when you take your shirt off, then you really don't need to think to long and hard about your ab workout. Get an ab bench or a swiss ball and do crunches to your hearts content.

However, this strategy isn't going to do much for your physical development. You'll end up with strong muscles on top of weak muscles. That's right, the rectus sits right on top and provides little in the way of a healthy core.  It won't help your posture, it won't improve your back, and it won't help your athletic development. In fact, it's lible to create an inherent weakness in your other muscles. So, don't listen to this idiot. Work your lower abs. You'll be a better athlete, you'll be much stronger, and you'll look more developed if you have balance.

So, with that my three  favorite exercises for the lower abs are as follows:

1. Reverse crunches. Easy to do, simply lay on the ground and bring your knees to your chest. The key is to hollow your stomach a bit and concentrate on bringing your lower body up one vertebrae at a time. If you have an ab bench, you can change the angle to get even greater resistance.

2. Captains Chair Hanging Knee Raises. Another great exercise, but it does require the Captains Chair. To do this exercise, climb onto the chair and bring your knees to your chest using your abs. The added gravity that the Captains Chair provides means you're getting a real intense workout. Just be sure not to cheat by using your hip flexors.

3. Crunches with an ab cruncher. One of the great thing about the ab cruncher machines is that you often can work the lower abs independent of the upper abs. And you can add weight to maximize your workout.

So, next time you're planning a vacation to the beach, just remember that to get truly great abs, you also need to work the often forgoten lower abs, too.

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Ab Bench / Back Extension Combo

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Before the Ab and Back Workout

It's  important to incorporate warm-up exercises before your workout. Now, you may think, why waste the time, but you absolutely do not want to skip this before you hop on your machine. A proper warm-up will get those  muscles loosened and help you avoid injury.

A few good warm-up exercises to use are jump roping, running on a treadmill for a few minutes, or even brisk walking. Once you've done something to get your muscles warmed up, then you can move to doing light stretching. Don't push your stretch, keep it light and easy.

During the Ab Back Workout

The first thing you want to check before you start your ab back machine workout is the amount of resistance or weights that you should use. First time users may not need any weights at all to start out, but might consider adding them as they progress in strength and learn the movements. If you do desire resistance as a first time user, however, I caution you to start out light. You don't want to get hurt your first time out - or anytime for that matter.

Now, decide which body part you're going to work first, your abs or your back. One mistake that I regularly see is that people often neglect their back in favor of their abs. After all, we all want that great six pack. But, your back is extremely important to every day movements and to a healthy spine.

Try to work on a balance between the two body parts. If you do 20 reps of your abs, do twenty reps for you back during the same workout.

In fact, a good strategy to really develop the muscles well is to do 3 sets of 20 reps of each exercise. And, keep track of your reps. Write down the weight you used because to create more strength and definition, you'll want to continually add weight.

That's one of the great things about these machines. A lot to the ab machines that you might see advertised are great for a few weeks, but they don't lend themselves well to adding weight as your progress. So, you're stuck with your own body weight as resistance the entire time. But, with most ab and back combo machines, you'll get to use the machine over and over again and still get a great workout every time.

Scheduling Your Workouts

A regular workout routine is a good thing to get in the habit of scheduling so that your body will become accustomed to the exercise and so that you'll achieve the best possible results. For ab and back workouts, using your machine a minimum of three times per week is recommended, but it's important to not overdo it. If your body is telling you it's sore, don't push it. Rest and recovery is as important to your muscle development as your workout.

As you become more used to using your ab and back machine, you can schedule mini-workouts at various times throughout the week and even add other exercises to your routine to give you a full body workout.

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2. Guide To Using An Ab Bench

Star Trac Multi Ab Bench

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Before you hop on your bench, you'll want to make sure that you're warmed up. To prevent injury, it's best to do this. Start by doing a light jog or some other easy cardio work that will get the blood flowing. After about 5-10 minutes, then do some light stretching. You want the muscles to be stretched, but you won't want to force the stretch as that will potentially damage the msucle. So, keep it light.

You're almost ready to get on your ab board. Before you do, decide how to adjust your bench. You can vary the angle, and different models allow for different levels of adjustment. In general, the greater the angle, the harder you'll work your abs. So, it's best if you're a beginner to keep the board flat and build up your strength.

A stronger person will want to take advantage of the deeper angles. This will allow them to work their abs with more intensity. If you're unsure how strong you are, I would suggest starting with no decline. After a few workouts, change the decline to the next lowest setting and see how that feels.

Once your adjustments are made climb on the bench. Pull in your stomach, not hard, but you do want to move your belly button closer to your spine to get better results. Now, pull yourself up, exhaling as you pull forward.

Be sure not to swing your arms or your head to gain moment. Let your abs do the work. If you can't go all the way up to start, that's fine. Just go as far as you can. You'll build up to a complete range of motion, if you keep at it.

I'd suggest 3 sets of 20 repetitions. When you're done, move on to the next exercise which works the lower abs.

To hit your lower abs, you will find it easiest to change positions so that your head is where your feet normally are anchored. Hold on to the ab board by grabbing either the board or the foot anchors with your hands. Again, bring your navel to you spine, exhale and curl your knees towards your chest. That's one rep. Do this exercise 20 times for a total of 3 sets.

As you progress, you can add weight to your exercises. For the crunches and sit ups, you can hold a weight across your chest. For the lower ab exercise I described, you can add ankle weights to give you more resistance.

CAP Xodus Ab Crunch Bench

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Body Solid Powerline Ab Board

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MultiSports ROM Ab/Back Machine

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First, look at which abdominal muscles the machine works the most. If you want to get the best possible results from your machine, then you‘ll want to get an ab machine that works all of the abdominal muscle groups: lower abs, upper abs and obliques. Ab crunchers are one piece of equipment you might want to look at, since they work your upper and lower abs simultaneously. Additionally, you can use ab crunchers to work the oblique muscles on your sides by repositioning yourself.

You'll also want to make sure that any equipment you're considering can be adjusted to fit people of different sizes so that it's comfortable to use. If you're checking out ab boards, for instance, you should check if the cushions for your legs can be adjusted to be comfortable for you. Along with the fit, you should be able to adjust the incline of the ab board as well, something you need in order to adjust the intensity of your ab workouts.

Find out if the equipment you're looking at is easy to put together. There are few things worse than bringing your new ab machine home only to find that you'll have to spend the better part of the day assembling it. However, most ab machines are easy to assemble, though ab crunchers and some other machines with more moving parts are a little more difficult.

Look at how much room you have in your home to accommodate your equipment versus the size of the machine. Some machines can be stored easily, though others which don't fold up for storage may take up a little more room - depending on how much space you have available, this may or may not be a concern for you.

Another question to ask about these machines is if they are versatile enough to be used for other types of exercises as well. Many ab boards, for instance are good for exercises besides your ab workouts, just as a weight bench has a lot of different uses.

If you want something really versatile, an ab and back machine may be the way to go. These machines are made to work all of the core muscle groups, strengthening your lower back as well as your abs. If you have some back trouble as well as abs you'd like to improve, this may be just the thing for you.

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1. Can An Ab Machine Give You A Better Workout?

Ab Crunch Machine

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For anyone whose fitness goals include strengthening and toning their abs and generally getting the best workout they can for their entire body (and this certainly includes all of you reading this right now), ab machines are something which are definitely worth having a closer look at. There are a few different ways that having your own ab equipment can improve your workouts.

An ab machine allows you to work all of your abdominal muscle groups. There's more to your abs than the upper abdominal muscles on the front of your body which form the "six pack" when toned. Of course, you'll want to work this muscle group but there are other muscle groups which make up your core: the rectus abdominus, reverse abdominus groups and the internal and external oblique muscle groups.

You probably do sit ups and crunches already, but these exercises don't provide the comprehensive ab workout you need to build your abs. What you need is to work all of these muscle groups, which is one of the chief benefits of using ab machines. The better ab equipment allows you to adjust the configuration to work your abs at different angles and intensities to build strong, sculpted abdominal muscles.

Ab machines also help you to maintain proper form during your workout. A lot of us tend to use their hands, arms and even their heads to pull their bodies through the motions of their ab exercises. They don't usually do this consciously, but it has a serious detrimental effect on their workouts. You need to target your abs and work them in isolation from other muscle groups as much as possible to get the best results. When you use the rest of your body in your ab workout, you're not working the abs as hard as you need to.

How ab equipment can help you to get the isolation and targeted ab workout you really want is by forcing you into good form. You'll be properly aligned and minimize the "swing" using the wrong muscle groups, ensuring an effective workout which targets the right muscle groups.

Ab machines have the added benefit of allowing you to further increase the intensity of your workouts by adding weights for greater resistance. You'll also find this equipment gives your head and neck the support they need for a comfortable workout, free of the neck and head pain which often causes people to stop too early. Ab rollers in particular provide good head and neck support.

An ab board is another excellent way to give yourself the support and proper alignment necessary for optimal results from your ab workouts. A board anchors your feet, which greatly reduces the involvement of your hip flexors so you can isolate your ab muscles. When doing ab exercises, it's difficult to keep these stronger muscles from taking over and doing most of the work - anchoring our feet can minimize this.

Last but definitely not least, an ab cruncher is useful for helping you to maintain enough resistance throughout the full range of motion involved in your ab work. This gives you a better workout, helping you to build those toned, chiseled abs in less time -and believe it or not, with less effort as well.

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1. How To Use Your New Ab Cruncher Machine

Ab Crunch Machine

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The first thing to look at is how much space you have available. For most people this won't be a problem since these machines are generally on the smaller side, taking up just a few square feet around your body as you lie in the floor. Upright machines take up a similar amount of space, though they may often require dedicating slightly more free space to due to their configuration.

One thing which should go without mentioning but I would be remiss to omit here is that you should always warm up properly before you start in on your ab exercises. Stretches, brisk walking, skipping rope or other low-impact exercise all work well; the important thing is to slightly elevate your heart rate and get your muscles loosened up before you begin to prevent potential injuries. Follow your warm up with a little ore stretching just to be sure you're ready to get started with your ab cruncher.

Now, get situated on your cruncher, hands gripping the overhead handles. Make sure your feet are anchored as well if your machine features somewhere to do this.

Next, exhale, pull your stomach in and pull yourself forward with your abs, trying to use only your abs rather than your arms or neck muscles to propel you forward. If you don't work your abs in isolation, you fail to get a thorough workout and will see less than optimal results. Do 20 reps of this exercise, with three sets of 20 if at all possible.

If you're not able to do this at first, don't worry. Rest between reps as needed and just do as many reps as you can. You'll gradually strengthen your ab muscles and be able to do all three sets before long. If you can do three sets of 20 reps with no trouble, then you might want to add more reps to your sets. Alternatively, you could increase the resistance by adding weight. Many ab cruncher machines are designed to allow this to be done easily, with the best of these machines able to have the resistance gradually increased to maximize the results of your ab workouts.

For most people, three times a week is a good schedule for ab work. If you really want you can do more, but much more than this will just mean more work for you with results which are no better than with a thrice weekly routine. Any workout is subject to the law of diminishing returns - but most importantly, listen to your body. If you find yourself very sore after a workout, give yourself a day or two off in between your ab work.

You can also add other types of exercise to your ab routines to increase the effectiveness of your ab workouts. Exercises which work the lower back are an especially good addition to your ab cruncher machine exercises, since your lower back and abdominal muscles are antagonistic muscle groups. Working both of these groups in a single workout gives you a comprehensive workout of your core muscles, building strength which has the additional benefit of improving the efficiency of your ab work.

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Ab Crunch Machine

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