Are you curious about whether or not any of the abs exercise equipment being sold by beautiful models and hard bodies really work?  If your goal is to look like the models on TV, then most likely you will have to do more than just crunches to get the results you want.  Let’s face it, ab exercise equipment marketing campaigns often use perfect bodies and beautiful smiles to manipulate your desires and emotions in order to get the sale and most people often end up buying based on the energy and excitement of the advertisement instead of the true effectiveness & usability of the product.

Let’s take the marketing campaign of “Ultimate Ab Machine X” for example (this is not the name of the real product). I found this products website, video ad, and testimonials when I typed “ab machine” into the Google search engine.  At first glance, this product looks useful, as you watch the video it seems pretty logical that this piece of equipment will target your abs specifically and more effectively than other ab exercises you may be doing. The overall message is: it’s quick, easy, and delivers tight, toned, perfect abs.

This is the time when you must stop and ask yourself a few questions. How many people do you know that have developed their abs “quickly” “easily” or “right away”. I’ve never met anyone. Developing abs or even just a toned mid-section requires a lot more than a piece of equipment to make it happen. Unless you have superior genetics, it takes a sound nutrition plan and the proper exercise routine to look as tone as the models featured on this website.

If someone was overweight and wanted abs, they could easily be sucked into purchasing this product and believing it would do the job. The video doesn’t mention anything about nutrition, cardio, or any other strength training exercises. It’s all about the awesome abs you’ll get just by using “Ultimate Ab Machine X”.  Stop and think, is it really possible to get ‘abs’ without losing weight?  I personally have never seen a fat person with six pack abs…have you?

In truth there isn’t anything inherently wrong with this or many of the other abs exercise equipment products being sold.  Most of them probably do allow you to target your abdominals differently and possibly more effectively than regular crunches.  And despite the surrounding hype, many products are inexpensive and include DVDs or booklets that provide a mini-course in ab conditioning and overall fitness.

The take-away message from all this:  while abdominal exercise equipment alone won’t reduce your spare tire or love handles they can be used as part of a well-rounded exercise plan to achieve a firm, toned mid-section.

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I think almost everyone wants to believe that the abs exercise equipment they’ve bought will give them abs quickly and easily.  I’ve often wondered what the actual success rate is for those who purchased a piece of home abs equipment.  Unfortunately, I think many people make listen to the ads and are filled with with false hope, wanting to believe that a simple machine will give them the abs they want, and they will have to do little else but use the machine ‘four minutes a day’.

The abs exercise equipment on the market today isn’t too bad if you take it for what it is.  Most of these machines are made to isolate and work the abdominal muscles and often using them does result in abs becoming stronger more tone. However, using the machine itself rarely if ever gives you a set of visible abs.  Strengthening your core is only a part of the overall process.  To see your abs, you must also reduce overall body fat and get rid of the layer of fat covering the abdominal muscles.

Strengthening and toning abs is one part, reducing body fat is another part. Both parts are important to overall health and developing a leaner, more tone set of abs.

The best way to reduce overall body fat is to incorporate both cardiovascular exercise and total body strength training into your exercise program while simultaneously following a balanced nutrition plan.  Exercises such as squats, push-ups, pull-ups, and crunches are all very effective body weight exercises that can be done at home as part of your total body strength plan.  Cardiovascular activities such as cycling, running, stair climbing, and rowing are excellent forms of aerobic exercise.

Remember, abs exercise equipment can help you achieve the goal of getting a visible set of abdominal muscles but only when used in conjunction with cardiovascular exercise, resistance training, and a clean eating nutrition plan that will facilitate a reduction in body fat percentage.

Abs exercise equipment is almost always bought with anticipation and when it doesn’t deliver results, simply winds up collecting dust and hardly being used.  Instead of letting that happen to you, use a well-rounded, planned approach that includes ab equipment and other body weight exercises.  This will improve your overall health and help you develop the lean stomach you want.  If nothing less you’ll wind up healthier and stronger for life.

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