How good is the wheel for abs?

[Advaik]

I have one of those abslider/abroller/abdoers/abfuckers whatever the hell its called and was wondering how well are these for the abs?

 

[SAGAT]

hehehe 'abfuckers'! HAHAHAHA LOL..........well all I know i that most of these machines give you good back support and not much else.....so don't think you've bought yourself a six-pack guarantee or sumthin'.

 

[sysopt]

I believe the standard crunch is just as or more effective than the wheel. If you've been training your abs for awhile and still no results, check your diet.

 

[Belial]

Weighed crunches, dammit. And hanging leg raises. One of those lets your apply progressive resistance, the other one is my absolute favorite core strengthening exercise. Forget those ab-c*cksuckers.

 

[Advaik]

Thanks, just what I wanted to hear. I've been doing crunchs since I don't like the little toy, but I thought I'd ask just to see. About weighted crunchs though, how do you do them? Do you use some sort of device? I've just been doing high rep crunchs with long holds (up to 5 seconds).

 

[Mjollnir]

Gentlemen, please.

The ab wheel, the traditional little wheel with a handle going through it, NOT the abdolly, abtiger, abblaster, abfuckall, is BY FAR more effective than crunches.

Crunches, weighted or not, are a waste of time if one is looking to develop ab strength. Of course, the ab wheel must be done correctly, and this makes all the difference.

For anyone who cares, kindly check out the discussion board at www.dragondoor.com, and search for ab wheel.

Stop wasting time with crunches, weighted pulls, etc...

Anyone who can do five standing (NOT kneeling) ab wheel full extensions gets, well, at least gets my respect, if not some prize.

 

[Belial]

yeah, whatever.

When doing the weighted crunches, I use a decline bench. Grab a 65 (or whatever), cradle it to your chest, and use a 2-1-2 tempo. Go down to parallel to the ground, and come up until the resistance lessens (just before you're perpendicular to the ground). 2-3 sets of 8 should be plenty.

Mjollnir, the ab wheel does work the abs quite well, but it also works other muscle groups, which most people already account for in their routines. hanging leg raises (done on a chin-up bar, actually compressing yourself in to a ball, not just using your hip flexors) and weighted crunches are MORE than enough isolation for your abs, considering most people ridiculously overtrain their abdominals anyway.

Just because an exercise is hard to do well does not mean it's superior, by ANY STRETCH of the imagination.

 

[Mjollnir]

yeah, whatever.

When doing the weighted crunches, I use a decline bench. Grab a 65 (or whatever), cradle it to your chest, and use a 2-1-2 tempo. Go down to parallel to the ground, and come up until the resistance lessens (just before you're perpendicular to the ground). 2-3 sets of 8 should be plenty.

Mjollnir, the ab wheel does work the abs quite well, but it also works other muscle groups, which most people already account for in their routines. hanging leg raises (done on a chin-up bar, actually compressing yourself in to a ball, not just using your hip flexors) and weighted crunches are MORE than enough isolation for your abs, considering most people ridiculously overtrain their abdominals anyway.

Just because an exercise is hard to do well does not mean it's superior, by ANY STRETCH of the imagination.

Er, no, not whatever. The crunch is biomechanically inferior and inefficient. It does not isolate the abs, and it is impossible to completely eliminate hip flexor recruitment during a crunch.

One of the fundamental laws of physiology, the Law of Irradiation, dictates that the contraction of a muscle, the abs in this case, will set off a contraction of the adjacent muscles, or the hip flexors.

The work involved by other muscles when using an ab wheel is minimal if the exercise is correctly done. I'm not selling ab wheels, here, I'm just pointing out that crunches are an inferior exercise, dangerous to people with bad backs, and time wasted in light of other, much more efficient exercises like the Janda sit up, scissor situps, Spetznatz one-armed leg jackknives, Dragon Flags, or full contact twists.

I do so hate to see people waste their time with things that don't work.

 

[Belial]

I'd genuinely be interested to learn more about the mechanics of the ab wheel exercise. I'm familiar with the drawbacks and contraindications for the regular crunch, but for the typical healthy trainee, they (especially the weighted variety) remain a very effective and proven exercise.

As far as the rest goes....simplicity is God. To a large extent many muscles are contracted in every ab action, but not to as great a degree in the crunch as in certain others. You stated yourself, almost every ab exercise will involve the hip flexors. Isolation is ALWAYS a relative term, I never claimed you could eliminate them. hell, I contract my sphincter during the bench press, i don't stop doing them for fear of ass overtraining. (that's flippant, but it sounded funny in my head so I wrote it out.)

As for the Janda sit up, scissor situps, Spetznatz one-armed leg jackknives, Dragon Flags, or full contact twists.....Thanks, but I'll stick to my weighted crunches and hanging leg raises. My abs are very defined, very large and very strong.

 

[FitFossil]

Most of my ab workouts center around weighted crunches and hanging leg raises, but I like my ab wheel too. I keep it in front of the TV, so I'll use it during the commercials or whatever.