The Ab King Pro Or Other Ab Machines

pacman murphy

Anyone ever bought the ab king pro or equipment designed specifically for increasing strength in the abdominal region and enhancing shape

rubadub

I have 2 great ab machines. One is a barbell with weights for doing heavy squats, I call it the abdominzer ultra 4000. The other is a chinning bar for doing leg raises and L-chins & dips, I call this metal bar the abdominator master 2000 mark 6.

Jimmy Bottlehead

rubadub wrote: »

I have 2 great ab machines. One is a barbell with weights for doing heavy squats, I call it the abdominzer ultra 4000. The other is a chinning bar for doing leg raises and L-chins & dips, I call this metal bar the abdominator master 2000 mark 6.

LOL, quality!

its true though, the simple stuff seems to be the best...

pwd

those machines where you twist your body against a resistance are good for obliques
I also like this machine: http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Obliques/WT45SideBend.html
and I like the incline bench.

Some people find that exercises like squats and deadlifts work their abs/sides enough without specific exercises.
Personally I find that I need to do specific work on them to prevent muscle imbalance.

mack1

pacman murphy wrote: »

Anyone ever bought the ab king pro or equipment designed specifically for increasing strength in the abdominal region and enhancing shape

Millions of people, why do you think new ones keep showing up on late night TV infomercials!

If you are looking for core strength there are tonnes of better exercises to do as rubadub said.
If you are looking to lose a belly it's diet (and general exercise, but mainly diet)

EileenG

Squats and deadlifts will do wonders for you abs (try suitcase deads for obliques) and the old-fashioned boring ab work like crunches and plank etc still work.

If you were going to buy one thing for home use, I'd go for a swiss ball. They give you a bigger range of motion for most core exercises than the floor, you can use them for other exercises, they make a handy seat if you have lots of guests, and they are good for stretching.

WHIP IT!

EileenG wrote: »

If you were going to buy one thing for home use, I'd go for a swiss ball. They give you a bigger range of motion for most core exercises than the floor, you can use them for other exercises, they make a handy seat if you have lots of guests, and they are good for stretching.

Last week it was dragging the kids to school on an old trailer..... Eileen, you could very well be the most practical woman on God's good earth

For what it's worth, alot of people seem to think the AB WHEEL is the best gadget for working the abdominals...

http://www.beastskills.com/AbWheel.htm

tribulus

I just use a bar with plates on it, it's free...

Jimmy Bottlehead

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Last week it was dragging the kids to school on an old trailer..... Eileen, you could very well be the most practical woman on God's good earth

For what it's worth, alot of people seem to think the AB WHEEL is the best gadget for working the abdominals...

http://www.beastskills.com/AbWheel.htm

Nice one, I seen the ab wheel on here before but couldn't for the life of me see how it could work! Isn't there a good chance the wheels will just fly forward and you smack your face off the floor though?

WHIP IT!

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Nice one, I seen the ab wheel on here before but couldn't for the life of me see how it could work! Isn't there a good chance the wheels will just fly forward and you smack your face off the floor though?

HaHa

Jimmy, thanks mate, for saying out loud what alot of us other blokes were thinking...

There's a few 'newbie' type exercises on that previous link, one of them suggests doing the exercise in front of a wallk so that you can only roll out 'so far' if you know what I mean...

Personally though, either way, I think this is one for the privacy of your own home until you've perfected it!

Imagine the damage you'd do to yourself and your pride in front of a packed gym the first time you gave it a shot?

Night... Mare...

rubadub

If all my equpiment was nicked tonight, first thing tomorrow I would be ordering these 2

http://www.irish-lifting.com/product_info_equipment.php?cPath=1_8&products_id=270

and these

http://www.ringtraining.com/pages/eliteringsii.html

I have the original elite rings, these are now "new & improved", and the dollar is weak at the moment.

I did some new variations on them last night, worked the abs really well. Way better than my abwheel. You can raise and lower them and use them like a abwheel but since it is more inclined you can adjust to suit your strength. Did more tricep pushups and reverse grip pushups, both really work the abs well.

With a chin bar & rings you can workout your entire upper body extremely well. Once you get to a certain level of strength you can add a dip belt for more weight. But for the casual lifter wanting just a little extra muscle they should provide a good workout on their own. To look at them you might not think they could work you so hard, but they do!

BossArky

Rubadub, what exactly do you hang the rings from? I couldn't imagine screwing them into the ceiling. Do you have them outside on some kind of frame?

Dragan

BossArky wrote: »

Rubadub, what exactly do you hang the rings from? I couldn't imagine screwing them into the ceiling. Do you have them outside on some kind of frame?

Pretty lucky as one of the gyms i get to train in has rings set up, the just have them hanging from chains between bars in the roof.

I love rings, they really remind you how ****ing weak and useless you are!

rubadub

BossArky wrote: »

Rubadub, what exactly do you hang the rings from? I couldn't imagine screwing them into the ceiling. Do you have them outside on some kind of frame?

On my chinning bar. A bar in a door frame will mean they are probably too low. Mine is a doorway bar but in a weird alcove in my room. The removable bar I linked will be higher than a doorway one and be suitable. Though I do have to bend my legs for dips, which is no real bother. They recommended higher the better, but that is to mimic real rings for real gymnasts.

I heard Colm here say he uses them on a tree branch. I have used them on the soccer cross bar on a local pitch. You need more clearance to do some exercises e.g. a muscle up.

You can hang upside down and do shrugs. And just playing around on them, flipping legs over etc really works you well.

Higher up allows flyes too. I extend mine to the ground and have them coming out at 45 degrees so I go outside the door frame. You have great joint movement so is suitable to people recovering or prone to injuries, I no longer bench, and some benchers with shoulder injuries use them instead.

There is a forum on the site if you want more info. The owner of the site recommends eyelets in crossbeams in your ceiling, many on the forum seem to do that, I didnt like the sound of it. Test all your weight on each ring of course. The rings are rated to ridiculous weights, the fixings will fail first. But they are not intended for swinging or dismounts.
Another idea would be your attic hole. You could put 4 blunt screws/nails in the attic hole inside the attic 1 inch apart on 2 sides. Now get an empty barbell loop the rings on and have it stuck between the 4 screws/nails. i.e. when you look up the bar is coming half way across the attic hole, and cannot move forward or back as it is trapped in the screws. Now it is a nice height and sturdy at very little cost.

I love rings, they really remind you how ****ing weak and useless you are!

That coming from Dragan is really saying something!
I could do 8-10 normal dips before, could only do 1 on the rings first day! works loads more muscles, you shake like a leaf first time, just supporting yourself. Now I can do around 12 on a good day, loads of variations depending on hand/ring/body position

BossArky

rubadub wrote: »

I heard Colm here say he uses them on a tree branch. I have used them on the soccer cross bar on a local pitch. You need more clearance to do some exercises e.g. a muscle up.

Ok cool, thanks for the info. I may look at getting some and using them down the road on the cross bars of the soccer pitches. Sounds like a good thing to get into in a month or two when the evenings start to brighten up again.

rubadub

BossArky wrote: »

Ok cool, thanks for the info. I may look at getting some and using them down the road on the cross bars of the soccer pitches. Sounds like a good thing to get into in a month or two when the evenings start to brighten up again.

Yes, would be a great investment for a rugby/gaa/soccer team. Could also possibly loop around fixings on your stairs, or crossbeams in a garage, childs swing/climbing frame.

EileenG

I've used a dumbell handle and some small plates to make a version of the ab-wheel, but you can also use a swiss ball for the basic rollout http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/ex/exercises.asp?ID=15. I use mine a lot for hyper-extensions, reverse hypers and supermans (supermen?).

Colm_OReilly

Yep, first time I played with my new rings a concerned neighbour thought I was hanging myself!

I love rings. Anytime anyone lifts something heavier than me I just say "hey, let's do some muscle ups"

Colm
-Playing to his strengths