The Best Abdominal Fitness Equipment
Stomach workouts can be done effectively without any abdominal fitness equipment, but if you really want to challenge your abs and keep your routines fresh, I would recommend adding some abdominal exercise equipment like these to your workouts.
- Exercise Floor Mat – Forget that nasty carpet burn, splinters and gravel rash?! This is the fundamental piece of abdominal fitness equipment you need in order to perform some of the best toning abs exercises. From the number #1 abs workout the bicycle crunch to the plank and leg raises this is as simple and cheap as it gets. Did I mention it makes life lying on the ground a lot more fun and even provides cushioning and support for your spine.
- That Vertical Knee Raise Machine Thingy – We have all seen those big bulky looking contraptions at the gym, that look like a cross between a jungle gym and part of that forklift suit from Aliens. The vertical leg raise (Captain’s Chair exercise) that this piece of abdominal fitness equipment allows you to do is yet another one of the best stomach workouts there is. Unfortunately not all that practical for home use due to their size and expense but if you are going to buy this abdominal machine make sure it has two sets of handles so you can also use it as a dipping station. If all else fails you can also use it as a coat rack!
- Stability Ball – This is my all time favorite piece of abdominal fitness equipment. Not only is it great for training abs but it also doubles as an all in one gym. There is an endless amount of exercises and variations you can do with this abdominal ball. The constant instability while on the ball means you are having to engage your stabilizer muscles increasing the intensity of your exercises. It also helps to improve balance, co-ordination and posture through forced spine alignment and support while increasing your available range of motion. Even using it as a chair will improve core strength, stability, circulation and get you burning more calories. It’s one piece of abdominal workout equipment even the kids will love, take it down to the beach as it makes for a great beach ball.
- Kettlebells – These ancient cast iron bowling balls with handles are coming back into vogue. Just like dumbbells and people they come in a variety of weights and sizes. Your core is activated when you use a kettlebell because as you lift and move it around your entire body is forced to work in unison by acting as a counter balance, greatly improving strength and stability. Perfect for a quick full body workout as these cleverly crafted balls of iron engage multiple muscle groups and joints at once. It is easy to injury yourself if you don’t know what you’re doing so make sure you get some quality instruction and have the proper form down before you start swinging!
- Medicine Balls – The perfect ab fitness equipment for adding resistance to your standard crunches or performing stomach workouts like the seated oblique twist and toe touch crunches. Like our kettlebell friends these come in a variety of sizes and weights. I also recommend spicing up your abs workout by using them with a partner to get a great core and upper body workout. Again it is important to make sure you know what you’re doing before you go throwing these balls around or any others for that matter.
- The Monkey Bar (A.K.A Chin Up Bar) – Another simple but effective piece of abdominal fitness equipment. Perfect for bringing “sexy back!” OK that was just a bad joke, but seriously if you want to build back, core and upper body strength through one exercise the chin up is the king. All you need to do is buy a doorway chin up bar and you’re away. Apart from the big daddy chin up you can also perform hanging leg raises, gorilla chin crunches and modify your grip to isolate specific muscles.
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