Registered: 12/03/04
Posts: 25
Loc: Covington, TN, United States
i just want to hear really from people who have used or owne one, do u think these really work? ive had one for about 4 weeks and i actually think it works very well, although i never could stick to doin crunches or situps without one, just hurt mt back to much , does anyone else here think they work well also ? or what are your thoughts on that
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Any piece of exercise equipment with the word "lounge" in the title is not even worth looking at. Other than that, I'm pretty sure you can't use weight on it, so it wouldn't be worth using even if they changed the name.
Registered: 12/03/04
Posts: 25
Loc: Covington, TN, United States
well i think they used the name ab lounge becaus it catches the buyers attention, the name dosnt mean it dosnt work, who would buy it if it was called ab killer or somthin like that, but thanks for your opinion
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#210825 - 12/03/0504:11 PMRe: ab lounge
[Re: Clipto87]
Dereck
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Registered: 10/04/04
Posts: 10271
Loc: Great White North
The Ab Lounge ... wasn't sure what it was so took a look and I see it is distributed by Fitness Quest. I am familiar with Fitness Quest as I owned a NitroFlex which I did find useful for some exercises which allowed me to safely do stuff life Military Presses and such. I also own a Gazelle which is also sold by Fitness Quest ... which believe it or not does work.
Fitness Quest sells a lot of stuff for peoples home use but I honestly believe the majority of the stuff is sold to consumers who are looking for a "quick fix". They are sold through Infomercials, magazines and such by very aggressive marketing firms who prey upon the fat, lazy and otherwise average people. With that said I will give Fitness Quest two thumbs up for customer service. When ordering the Gazelle about 6 years ago I found it squeaked too much so I contacted them and instead of sending it back they sent me a new one. I am also currently dealing with them on the NitroFlex and parts are being supplied eventhough it is a discontinued item.
Now here's the thing. The NitroFlex and Gazelle also fit into this catagory of a "quick fix" BUT so can a home gym, or even if you buy a membership to the nearest gym. I honestly believe if you "use" the item and continue to "use" the item past the time that the average person would loose interest in it, then it "can" be useful and you "can" be successful.
I don't use the Gazelle but my wife and daughter have taken this out of storage and are starting to use it which is good. My wife walks everday and she is supplementing herself with the Gazelle. My daughter is not very active at anything with the exception of girl things so that she is doing this is good. The reason I stopped using it was at that time I was so into weight lifting only that I found I was loosing too much weight which I didn't like. The NitroFlex was purchased in 2000 to supplement my free weight workout but there is no way it could replace what I was doing but it was useful at many stages in my development. I out grew many things on it but again, I used it and stuck with it and was successful.
If you want to use it then use it ... but really "use" it. It might be the beginning of you wanting more and picking up other exercises to supplement it ... or ... it could lie in a closet collect dust. It really is up to you.
BUT I will leave you with this. The Ab Lounge, NitroFlex, Gazelle or what have you could be easily acquired through other means cheaper ... it just takes hard work. But we are a lazy society and hence why instead of cooking dozens of chickens I opt to take protein powder ... because I am lazy.
(Note: I may be lazy in this area but weight lifting and martial arts take up much of my time that sometimes I don't have any real time to just sit back and be "really" lazy. )
I see what you're saying, and you're right; doing something is generally better than doing nothing. It just irritates me that everyone seems to go buying all this fancy equipment when it would be cheaper and more effective to just lift some weights, run around once in awhile, and eat decent food. It's not nearly as complicated as everyone wants it to be.
If this thing is a variation on those crunch cradles that help support the neck, by far the cheapest variation on this is a bath towel. You lie on the towel withthe bottom of it weighted down by your a$$, you will be lying with the back of your head resting on the towel, now grab the corners of the towel either side of your head, take up the slack and crunch- voila perfect neck support for those that want it at no extra cost. In general ab machines are not effective as they remove much of the stabilising function of the core, thus defeating the goal they proclaim to achieve.
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Dereck
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Registered: 10/04/04
Posts: 10271
Loc: Great White North
The Ab Wheel ... boy oh by there are all sort so gadgets out there aren't there? The Ab Wheel does need a lot of stabalizer muscles but the funny thing about this is that you can make this at home if this is what you are looking for. Take a cheap dumbbell, the kind that doesn't have any inside collars ... you know the type, they came with you first weight lifting set ... probably a Wieder kind ... and they have the red plastic collars. Basically you are using the bar only. You put your weight plate(s) in the middle and then put on a collar on each size and TADA ... Ab Wheel.
When this thing was on TV I thought ... who would buy this ... but not to dismiss it I did exactly what I said above. I made it in 5 seconds and tried it. It was okay but I found it ackward for myself and decided it wasn't for me so stuck with my crunches. Again if you are really using it and seeing benefits ... then it is okay. But of course don't dismiss the tried and true methods ... those are the ones that will be here forever whereas "products" will come and go ... they just will be packaged differently and be different colors ... and they take up too much room in the closet and always seem to get in the way.
I actually kind of like ab wheels. I've never actually owned one though, I just put a 25 on either side of a barbell and use that. It's not my favorite exercise, but it does require a huge amount of core stability to do properly.
weighted sit ups really helped my abs alot. dont even have to do alot. been doing 12 reps 5sets with 25 pound weight. probably going up up the reps or weight soon though