by Carol J Bartram

I've been a fitness professional for some years and have seen a lot of home exercisers that claim to melt your waistline down to a stunning hourglass shape and give you gorgeous flat abs. Some are unbelievably bad and some are just plain lethal, but one that looks as if it will do the job safely and effectively is the Ab Rocket. It is a simple and effective design with a low seat and high back consisting of a number of padded foam rollers.

The Ab Rocket has several advantages over others that I've seen, in that it places you in a seated position where abs are shortened and therefore your ab crunch is at its most effective. Not only this but the unique design of the Ab Rocket provides support to your back without helping you perform the exercise, and the padded rollers give your upper and lower back a massage at the same time. You can also vary the resistance with special springs that come with the Ab Rocket so you can tailor your workout to your own fitness level.

This is a very good way to tighten and tone your upper and lower abs without risking back strain, which is a common side effect of performing sit-ups on the floor. Sit-ups are one of the most effective exercises for sculpting a sixpack, but they can be extremely challenging to do correctly, especially if you are new to exercise and are not accustomed to isolating and engaging your muscles correctly. Most people just place their hands behind their head and struggle upwards by poking their elbows forwards and dragging on their head and neck. This does nothing to tone the abdominals, but goes a long way towards hurting the back!

Your abdominals are in a stretched-out position when you are lying on your back, and as your abs have to pull on your ribs to raise you up during a crunch, it means that the positioning is weak, the lever length is long and incorrect bracing of the deep core muscles will result in strain on the neck and throat muscles and stiffening of the long muscles that run either side of your spine. Too much strain going into this area can even result in a muscle tearing or damage to the spine itself.

So just getting up off the floor and sitting in the Ab Rocket has already gone a long way towards protecting your back. In this position you abs are already shortened; when you do your sit-up on the Ab Rocket your upper abs work the hardest and if you keep your back still and lift your knees, you work the lower abs. Add the two together and you have both sit-up and reverse crunch - double targeting to tone those abs! The backrest of the Ab Rocket reaches all the way up your spine no matter what your height and also cradles the back of your neck, so there will be no more sore neck and jaw muscles from straining to pull yourself upwards. Combine use of the Ab Rocket with a calorie-controlled diet and regular aerobic exercise and you will soon begin to see your midsection shrink and your neat, toned abs start to appear.

About the Author:
Carol J Bartram is a Personal Trainer and Pilates Instructor who uses many different pieces of workout equipment in her work. She believes that if used regularly the Ab Rocket will help to reduce tummy bulge, firm and tone your body while reducing strain on your neck and back. Visit her Blog for the Ab Rocket Reviews.