Is It Worth Buying an Abdominal Fitness Machines?

People often see abdominal fitness machines as a shortcut to developing the perfect abs they've always wanted. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Its true that certain equipment will aid in getting that 6 pack (and even maintaining it), but they have to be used at the correct stage of your short term plan.  Here's why…

Getting an abdominal fitness machine very much depends on the stage you are in your workout regime

The ab machines and equipment that Im sure you're very tempted to buy, will definitely help strengthen your core and develop some definition for the midsection, but what they will not do is help you lose weight.  It amazes me that people down the gym don't realise this - they're making things ten times harder than it really needs to be.  You see, while sits ups, leg raises, crunches and other equipment will help tone you up, you must lose the excess body fat especially around your waist, prior to toning up the muscle.

So now the question is how to do this?

The best thing I can suggest is go and play some sport with your friends.  Anything from football, to basketball, or even jogging after work will do the trick.  When I was at the beginning stages of my training, I loved to play squash in the evening with my work colleagues (i actually killed two birds with one stone there - losing the excess fat and also becoming good friends with the people I work with).  As a general rule of thumb, if you're sweating, then you're making progress - by sweating you're heart is pumping blood faster around your body, using more oxygen and burning the calories to provide more energy to your muscles.

A great way to aid in burning those calories is to use squats, or dead lifts and other strength training exercises.  Although people think that this would cause them to get bulky, thats not really true - indeed, if you are planning to become a body builder and develop a workout regime fit for this, then getting bulky with dead lifts is the aim of the game, but for the ordinary Joe Bloggs, its not really an issue.  Why?  Well because you need to use those calories up as quick as possible, and by breaking down the muscle and letting your body rebuild it, you are effectively increasing your metabolism.

With this information, you should be able to answer the question if you need to buy an abdominal fitness training machine.  It all depends at what stage you are at in your personal development.  If you are just starting out, then your aim should be to burn the excess fat, especially around the midriff - so buying equipment isn't going to help you here.  However, if you're further along the path, and have got your body fat down to where it needs to be, then buying a good ab machine will certainly aid in getting that perfect 6 pack.