Ab-Tronic? Fast Abs?..... Do these pulsating things work?

[NotoriousJTC]

It's late..... I'm tired... and I have been watching the same damn infomercial for the "ab-tronic" for the last 2 hours..... (homework is suck! )

Anyways, do those pulsating vibrating things work? Seems simple enough..... strap on this little electrical pad to your abs and grab a beer... no? I'm no fitness guru but me thinks if it was that easy to get "rock hard" abs people would have been washing thier loundry on me for years now Now obviously you'd have to do your part (eat right, exercise, stay fit, etc) but do these products (ab tronic, fast abs, and all clones) help at all?


Back to the books..... :frown:

 

[Jfur]

No

 

[Aenygma]

No.

 

[Aenygma]

Yeah I know I said same thing as person above me, but *I* added a period.

 

[Nefrodite]

nope, but the fact that sleazy companies make enuph money off stupid americans to continuously flood the market with snake oil is depressing.

 

[NotoriousJTC]

<< Yeah I know I said same thing as person above me, but *I* added a period. >>



.....which i respect...

 

[Jfur]

<< Yeah I know I said same thing as person above me, but *I* added a period. >>




you should have cited me, plagiarizer!

 

[skace]

No¹.



----------------
1. Jfur, Platinum Member, First Reply to http://forums.anandtech.com/messagepost.cfm?postaction=reply&catid=38&threadid=639287&messid=5771347&STARTPAGE=1&parentid=5771347 on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 6:57 AM

 

[datalink7]

<< No. >>

 

[Rudee]

Burning fat requires a expenditure of calories. The ab-tronic and the rest of those gimmicks are just that: gimmicks. Electric muscle stimulators do nothing for building muscle, nor do they burn a decent amount of calories. They (electronic muscle stimulators) stimulate blood flow into the area, which is good for rehabilitation, but proper resistance training is needed to build a shapely and defined waistline, not to mention a healthy diet. The only thing ab-tronic/Fast abs is going to burn, is a hole in you wallet!

 

[Elledan]

These 'toys' don't work. Period.

The only thing they do is stimulating the upper layer of the muscles, right beneath the skin. Since all other muscles are not stimulated, the endresult is very meagre.

You'll have more luck implementing some electrodes directly into the muscles you want to train.

 

[SyahM]

No! will not work. I prefer doing crunches and elevated sit ups with 45lb plate on my chest.

 

[Shagger]

What are you guys talking about? I have been using the Ab-tronic for a few weeks now and have a great six-pack. I have also been taking those Longitude capsules and my Jimmy is now 3 inches longer (bringing him up to a respectable 4 3/4")!

I have also been taking Bloussant and I have a nice 36" C-cup chest working too...

 

[Rudee]

I've been bodybuilding for a little over 15 years, and in my opinion one of the best movements for isolating the abdominal muscles is alternating crunches with ab extensions over a swiss ball. The key to the swiss ball is s--l--o--w movement. Lower yourself across the ball slowly, to a count of 10, pause, then raise to a count of 10. When you first start out, it will be extremely difficult to do more than a couple of reps at this slow speed, but eventually you will build up strength in your abs and should be able to perform 12-15 with bodyweight only. Sloppy form and momentum ruins the benefits of any exercise, so slow down and perform the exercise properly. Remember, each rep lasts 20 seconds. I normally train at a gym 4 days/week, and the only piece of "equipment" I have at my home is a Swiss Ball.

 

[skace]

Rudee,

Ok, what is a swiss ball? Or those the ultra heavy balls? I think we called them medicine balls? And can you explain the type of crunch you do with the ball if possible is there a website that shows examples of this? I have been doing elevated situps and crunches to work my abs but I'm not feeling it very well. I feel pushups a lot more than I do the crunches.

 

[amnesiac]

No, the Swiss Ball is a big inflatable ball that you can do jillions of exercises with (yes, jillions)
Swiss Ball

And I'll vouch for the effectiveness of the crunches on the Swiss Ball. It's been a long time since I've done it but it works better than anything else.

 

[Rudee]

<< Rudee,

Ok, what is a swiss ball? Or those the ultra heavy balls? I think we called them medicine balls? And can you explain the type of crunch you do with the ball if possible is there a website that shows examples of this? I have been doing elevated situps and crunches to work my abs but I'm not feeling it very well. I feel pushups a lot more than I do the crunches. >>



A basic abdominal exercise with the swiss ball would be to sit on the edge of the ball, with your knees approx 6" together and legs straight down. Now simply push away with you feet, while at the same time lowering yourself over the ball. Pause, then "walk" your feet back to the starting position. There is two keys to performing this exercise properly: 1) Don't sit directly on top of the ball. Your hips should be close to the edge of the ball, not dead center. 2) concentrate on a slow stretch. Don't simply raise and lower yourself over the ball, you need to stretch s-l-o-w-l-y. In the full stretch position, you shoulders should be lower than your hips. This is the all important stretch that is really needed to build the abs, but the key is speed. Perform it slow. Concentrate on the speed of the positive (raising) and negative (lowering) phase. It's important to remove momentum from this exercise for best results. Otherwise, it becomes just another exercise. Like amnesiac 2.0 mentioned, there are zillions of exercises. Enjoy!

 

[kei]

no.....similar thread

you can find swiss balls at your local sporting goods store or target and walmart
they might not be called "swiss balls"
just look for a large inflatable ball, usually accompanied by an air pump and perhaps a workout video
approximately $20-$30
i have one but i'm a lazy ass so i can't tell you if it works

another thing you might want to try is pilates
it looks a little awkward when you see someone do it
but when you do it yourself with proper form....good god it burns!
they are very controlled movements which work your core muscles (abs and back)
i've done it twice and my upper torso was sore for 2 days
of course i'm lazy and dropped it
perhaps i'll start up again......but then i'm too lazy

 

[Nemesis77]

<< No, the Swiss Ball is a big inflatable ball that you can do jillions of exercises with (yes, <EM>jillions)
<EM>Swiss Ball< >>



Those women sure are enjoying those balls ...