Author: Charles Inniss

People are always looking for the best ab exercise equipment and here is a run-down of 5 pieces of equipment that you can use in your ab workouts (for pictures and full descriptions of more than 50 abdominal exercises check the resource box below).

#1 The Stability Ball (Exercise Ball)

The stability ball is a great piece of equipment.  In addition to increasing range of motion for crunches and other abdominal exercises, the stability ball also improves your balance and coordination.  You can start with the basics such as regular crunches or oblique crunches.

After mastering crunches you can move to something more challenging such as roll-ins or piques.  In roll-ins and piques your feet are placed on the ball while your hands are on the floor.

The stability ball ab exercises are a good addition to your ab workout.

#2 The Medicine Ball

The medicine ball is simply a weighted ball. Although some people may think that medicine balls are only for boxers and athletes, medicine balls can really enhance your core workout.

When basic crunches or other ab exercises become too easy, adding resistance in the form of a medicine ball is a great way to increase the intensity of your ab workout.  Some of the best medicine ball exercises are seated Russian twists and medicine ball toe touch crunches.

#3 Ankle Weights

Medicine balls are a great way to add resistance to your upper body, and ankle weights are a great way to add resistance to your lower body.

Ankle weights can increase the intensity of reverse crunches and leg raises.  When regular leg raises become really easy, you can add ankle weights to increase the muscle work in your abs.

#4 Cables or Resistance Tubes

Here is another way you can add resistance to your abdominal muscles to break through strength.

You can perform cable crunches from a low cable tower by lying on the floor and holding the resistance behind your head.  Or you can perform cable crunches from a kneeling position.

The cables add a very different feeling to your abdominal muscles because of the constant tension from the weight stack, so your abs get a burn throughout the entire range of motion.

#5 Ab Wheel

The ab wheel or power wheel is just what it says it is.  It is a wheel with a stick in between it.  You basically use the ab wheel for roll outs, and this is a very challenging abdominal exercise.

There are hundreds of ways to work your abdominal muscles, and above are just 5 good pieces to include in your ab workouts.

An if you don’t have any ab exercise equipment available, the floor is always a good option.  Some of my favorite ab exercises are bicycle crunches and the plank.  So no excuses.  Start working your abdominals.

Tags: ab wheel, abs, crunches, exercise, medicine ball, muscles, weights

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 10:26 pm and is filed under Fit and Trim, Fitness, Strength Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.