Ab-solutely Not!
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Have you ever noticed how many infomercials exist claiming to give you the washboard abs and flat stomach you have always wanted? It’s Sunday morning, and the television is telling me that I must buy the ab roller, the ab chair, the ab roller chair, the ten minute ab roller chair trainer and some weird looking piece of equipment shaped like a jelly bean. Clearly all these devices must work, especially since the commercials are saturated with very satisfied customers sporting their newly chiselled abs right? Well, here are my top five reasons why you should save your money and just say no to buying these miracle products!
1. These machines do the stabilizing for you! Would you have someone hold your hips stable while you swing a club? No!!! Your body needs to be able to do this on its own, so there is no reason to train such an important group of muscles to be reliant on someone or something doing the work for you.
2. False advertising! The infomercial for The Bean claims that swiss balls are bad for your back, and even show someone in horrible pain as a result of doing sit-ups with one. The problem here is that the person had horrible form and is not using the swiss ball correctly anyway. Swiss balls are a great training tool and when used properly, can provide a very efficient method to work your entire core (abs, back, glutes), not just your rectus abdomen.
3. Do you really need to do sit-ups anyway? Studies are showing the continued flexion of the spine can lead to disc disorders over time. Most of the day, we are all working over our computers and leaning forward, so why use equipment that only reinforces this?
4. Your golf swing will thank you! Posture in golf is key, and so are the abs to maintaining that. But, you need antagonist muscles to work as well to hold the posture. Next time you’re thinking about grabbing the ab chair, instead do a simple bridging exercise that works your glutes and challenge your balance by putting your arms across your chest and one foot up.
5. Forget the crunches, stand on one foot and work on your balance. It will recruit every muscle around your spine!
