Work Out Using an Abdominal Bench

When people are working out they usually include some form of abdominal exercise in their workout routine. The six-pack abs do speak to the imagination don't they?

However, simply lying down on the floor or a mat is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Not only is it uncomfortable, but some studies show that this method of abdominal exercise may be harmful to the back.

That is why the abdominal bench and other ab workout equipment can come in handy. Some of them will go as far as to practically complete your routine for you, but in my experience, this type of exercise is not quite as effective as one would like. You still want to be attacking and targeting those abs. You want to feel you're achieving something, am I right?

The most common abdominal bench is one that has a flat surface, covered with a soft material, for you to lie down on. The bench comes equipped with four lateral supports for your legs. Swing you legs over the top lateral supports, and hook your feet behind and under the bottom lateral supports. You lie down on your back, and then slowly sit up bringing your back to a vertical position. The exercise is completed by lowering your back down to the bench again. Sounds simple enough, but we all know that performing this motion ten to fifteen times is a great workout for the ab muscles.

The great thing about the lateral supports is that you take a lot of pressure off your back. However, personal trainers have told me that when our ab muscles get tired we do tend to use the leg muscles to compensate. In the end you are no longer working your ab muscles, but your legs, which kind of defeats the purpose.

You can also get more creative in this kind of exercise by changing position on the bench. You can lie flat on the abdominal bench without hooking your legs and feet in the supports. Keeping your legs straight, try to lift them in the air, while keeping your back on the bench (you can hold on the bench with your hands to stop you back from arching).

If you want to target the lateral obliques, lie down on your right or left side, hooking your ankles into the supports. Now hold your hands on your waist and move your upper body left to right, or up and down, depending on how you look at it.

There is such a huge variety of possibilities, an ab workout should never be boring. One rule of thumb I do stick by though is that I believe it is better to perform five perfectly executed sit-ups, ones that really target the abdominal muscles, while maintaining perfect posture, than completing twenty halfhearted ones. This is of course my personal opinion, and you certainly do not have to agree with me.

In other words, the abdominal bench is a great piece of equipment that can help you to enjoy your ab workout more, make it more effective and greatly reduce the risk of back pains and long term harmful effects.




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