You’ve seen these abdominal exercises done on the end of a bench before, but I am willing to bet that you’ve never seen them done from a hanging position.
Some extreme outdoor abdominal exercises making use of simple playground equipment.
Popularity: 5%
Against popular belief, sit-ups and crunches are not the best exercises for developing chiseled abs and a tight, trim waistline. Yet I see dozens of people everyday in the gym doing these exercises until they are blue in the face. The most common misconception is that the rectus abdominis (6-pack muscle), is the best muscle to work for a spectacular midsection. It simply is not the case… Read the rest of this page »
Popularity: 6%
The Power Wheel is not to be confused with the abdominal wheel, but is still in the same category of abdominal exercise equipment. I have known about the Ab Wheel for years, but wanted something a bit more robust, better for outdoor workouts and which incorporates lower abdominal training as well. Enter the Power Wheel.
Similar in design to the good ‘ol Ab Wheel, the Power Wheel takes it a step farther by incorporating foot pads for lower body work and which then completes this core training device by allowing for many more types of workouts.
By attaching your feet to the pedals, and having them held in place with the tubing, you can take your training to the next level. Some very basic movements include v-tucks, bending at the waist moving into the pike position and then returning as in a reverse version of the traditional V Sit-up. Another option for lower abs is to do tucks by bringing your knees into your chest and then returning them. For fun, you might consider walking or running on your hands while staying in the plank position and see how far you can travel. Make a competition out of how many “steps” or the actual distance or time the event. I can see how this can build not only a powerful core, but also upper body, pec and delt work. For added difficulty, try climbing the side of a hill, running uphill on your hands.
Zack Even-Esh of Real Man Fitness is demonstrating a pike with the Power Wheel in the photo to the right. This is not an easy move and requires a lot of training and patience before getting it done correctly. My trainer has had me doing this movement using a stability ball for years, and now I have a way to do it outside with only one piece of equipment.
You can also flip over to your back and do reverse tucks bringing your feet up towards your ass while propping yourself up on your shoulder blades.
The wheel is much bigger which I find allows for outdoor workouts on open terrain, so that’s a great improvement that I really like.
Using the Power Wheel handles allows you to start on your knees and then extend out as far as you can and then return. More advanced users can actually begin on their feet and then lower down to the plank position before returning to full upright. This was seen being done in a video on the ab wheel review. It takes a great deal of training and core strength before getting to that place. Personally? I am still doing the knee workouts but week by week am getting stronger
While they’ve incorporated the foot pedals into the product which adds for much more variety, in doing so they had to make the handles longer. I find that with my weight, the handles begin to bend when I’ve got my upper body weight bearing down on it. It’s pretty strong, but I would want it even stronger if I could get it improved a bit.
The Power Wheel Ab Trainer
Popularity: 7%
The Ab Wheel (sometimes called Ab Roller) is definitely in the class of ’simple and effective’ abdominal exercise equipment. What’s more, it’s nice and compact - if you’ve got enough room in your house for a couple of loaves of bread, you’ll be able to accommodate an Ab Wheel. This one really will fit under the bed.
The Ab Wheel (pictured) is really little more than a stick poking through a wheel. This concept has been around for decades, and hasn’t changed much over the years. In fact, the one I use here is probably 30 years old.
This is where the fun begins. Regardless of your current state of fitness, there’s an abdominal exercise here for you to try. Read the rest of this page »
Popularity: 13%
I went out and bought a pedometer today. I got it from Mountain Equipment Co-op as I live just 2 blocks away. I picked up the Timex Digital Pedometer for $22 Canadian. It counts steps, calories and distance in either Km or Miles. It’s a lot smaller than I had figured it would be so that’s great.
I’m going to follow the format that I outlined in the 10000 steps a day program for week 1 and track what I’m already doing first as I’m kinda curious. I KNOW that I am not as active in walking as I should be as I’m blogging and writing a lot, but I wanted to do the program just as others would.
I remember that when I started my weight loss program back in 1990 that I wanted to do push ups and crunches but could only do 5 push ups and only a few crunches. I have decided to modify the 10000 steps a day program to include daily push ups and crunches as well. Why Not? If you’re out walking, why not begin something else new as well and do some daily body weight exercises as well.
Popularity: 9%
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