Ab Wheel?
- Thread starter l23
- Start date
materialsgirl
Cathlete
They are pretty useless - don't waste your money, even if they are cheap. You can do a similar exercise using a barbell on the floor, or by doing rollouts on a stability ball. (Cathe does these rollouts in a couple of her DVDs) And it is true that you need to have a strong back to do any of these exercises, so you don't hyperextend and injure yourself. I used to have an Ab Wheel and it really didn't get much use - there are a bazillion other ab exercises that work just as well, if not better.
The ab wheel can be very dangerous, and you can hurt yourself very easily. Espeically if you roll out too far, it will pull the muscles in your lower back. Also if you lose your balance for a moment, it can pull muscles in your lower back. And I don't mean to just tighten the muscle in the back but to injure them and put you in bed for a week or more.
The concept of the ab wheel is good, but if you do Cathe's Core max, you'll get to work the abs 10x harder, and you'll get results quicker, as core max actually work the full abs, upper, mid, lower, and oblques. Where with the ab wheel you mainly work the lower and obliques. You also got to have good arm strength and back strength for the ab wheel, for it to work the best you got to push youself out there where you holding all your upper body weight up, and then try to pull yourself back in with the abs. And that's another thing, it's really easy to engage the hips and glute muscles to help the abs so you don't get all isolated ab work either. As well as it's always pulling back. Where the best ab exercises are actually like the reverse crunch, or double leg stretch, where the abs are tightening the abs down against your spine while pulling your ups up off the matt and legs straight in the air. Or stretching out, and then pulling legs and arms into the chest area which works all 3 sections of your abs at once.
Hope that helps,
Kit
The concept of the ab wheel is good, but if you do Cathe's Core max, you'll get to work the abs 10x harder, and you'll get results quicker, as core max actually work the full abs, upper, mid, lower, and oblques. Where with the ab wheel you mainly work the lower and obliques. You also got to have good arm strength and back strength for the ab wheel, for it to work the best you got to push youself out there where you holding all your upper body weight up, and then try to pull yourself back in with the abs. And that's another thing, it's really easy to engage the hips and glute muscles to help the abs so you don't get all isolated ab work either. As well as it's always pulling back. Where the best ab exercises are actually like the reverse crunch, or double leg stretch, where the abs are tightening the abs down against your spine while pulling your ups up off the matt and legs straight in the air. Or stretching out, and then pulling legs and arms into the chest area which works all 3 sections of your abs at once.
Hope that helps,
Kit
I had one that Avon sold years ago. I didn't like it because I felt I didn't have any control over it. It could very easily slip out from underneath me and leave me flat on my face! The stability ball is much safer for your back and more effective for working your entire core IMO.
Angie
Angie
rmrmr
Cathlete
I have one and think it works great. As previously posted though, you do need to have a lot of upper body strength and must be in control at all times. I have used one for years and even put a weight plate on my back to add more resistance. Just be careful as with any other piece of equipment you need to use proper form.
Good Luck,
Diana
Good Luck,
Diana