Ab Machines – Should You Buy One?

We've all seen those infomercials for ab exercise machines. Do they work as promised?

If you're considering buying one, you want to read this first…

Infomercials advertising abdominal machines are made to make you believe that a gadget can give you lean, hard abs.

The truth is that a machine can be helpful if your overall body fat is low. For men, body fat levels need to be around 10% for ab muscles to be visible. For women, body fat percentage needs to be 14 – 18%.

If there's fat covering up your abs, you need to lose it with a good exercise and nutrition regimen before you think of buying a machine.

Ab Exercise Machines Pros and Cons

Some of the benefits of ab machines are…

1. They add some variety. Using ab equipment can challenge your muscles a little differently.

2. They can spice up your routine. Doing the same exercises over and over can become boring after awhile. Using a machine can keep workouts fun and interesting.

3. Abdominal exercise machines isolate your ab muscles. They're usually made to train abs only. If you have a low body fat percentage and you want to define your abs, isolation is good for that.

The thing you should know about ab gadgets like belts and machines is that they can’t melt fat off your stomach. You can harden and strengthen your abs by using machines and equipment, but you can't lose fat from your abs by using them.

Additionally, overuse of ab machines can create a muscular imbalance, and that can be dangerous! The muscles of your abs and lower back work together whenever you move or pick things up.

Abdominal machines focus exclusively on your ab muscles. If your abs become much stronger than your lower back muscles, it creates a potentially dangerous imbalance.

By now you should know if you want to bother buying an ab machine or not!

Terrence Banks has a site about building muscle fast. You can read more about ab exercise machines and the fastest way to build muscle.