Ab Lounge Exercises
With Ab Lounge Exercises, working out your abs is no longer a 'pain in the neck'...quite literally!
What are Ab Lounge Exercises?
Ab Lounge is an easy to use, portable exercise machine for working out your abdominals and obliques. This little baby, launched by Fitness Quest, due to its effectiveness and simplicity, has taken the fitness world by storm. Fitness Quest claims that exercising with an Ab Lounge works your abs through a greater range of motion than traditional crunches or situps. Also, you will notice a greater amount of muscle isolation with ab lounge exercises than sit ups. This takes the stress off your lower back and hip flexors. Thus, if you've always had problems with your back or neck when doing traditional crunches, ab lounge exercises may just be the thing you need!
Benefits of These Exercises:
- Greater range of motion for abdominal exercise, therefore you get more effective and longer lasting ‘burn’
- Exercises lower back and upper thighs whilst reducing injury risk
- Great for both novice as well as advanced users
- Suits individuals of all shapes and sizes, supports almost 300 lbs and its djustable foot pedals allows use by individuals of varying heights
- Portable, can be folded and tucked away under you bed
You can workout in the comforts of your home
Common Ab Lounge Exercises:
Basic Jackknife
Muscle involved: rectus abdominis (strap of muscle in front of your torso)
Procedure: lie on the Ab Lounge with knees bent, place feet on the foot rests. Reach back with your semi-flexed arms and hold onto the pull up bar with a shoulder width grip. Slowly pull your chest towards the knees with a curling action. Remember, exhale as you contract the muscles and inhale as you relax. Hold at the top of the contraction for two seconds and then return gradually to the starting position. Use a slow and steady pace and avoid jerky movements or use of momentum. Do not pull with your hands and always keep you feet flush against the foot rests.
Oblique Jackknife
Muscles involved: Obliques (muscles on the side of your torso) and rectus abdominis
Procedure: rotate the lower body to one side, while holding the shoulder in a front on position. Repeat the procedure as in basic jackknife. After completing the number of repetitions on one side, rotate your knees to the opposite side and perform the same number of repetitions.
Jackknife with Leg Lift
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominis and hip flexors
Procedure: is similar to basic jackknife. However, as you begin to curl up, simultaneously lift one knee up and in towards the chest. After a peak contraction (pause at the top), return to starting position and repeat with the other leg.
Extended arms Jackknife
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominis (higher intensity)
Procedure: this exercise is again similar to basic jackknife. However, here, you keep your arms fully extended at all times. Hold the pull up bar with extended arms at shoulder width, keep your feet against the foot rests and curl up gradually by exhaling. Hold a peak contraction for a count of two and return to start position, inhaling as you go down.
Extended leg jackknife
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominis (higher intensity)
Procedure: similar to basic jackknife. However, this involves keeping both legs extended. Place you calves against the foot rests. Perform repetitions as in basic jackknife.
Torso and Hip Flexor Stretch
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominis, hip flexors, lower back (stretching)
Procedure: begin as in basic jackknife. Straighten you arms as in extended arm jackknife and extend you legs as in extended leg jackknife. Gradually, lean back until your body is parallel to the floor. As you get more comfortable, you can stretch more and hold onto the peak position for 10 - 30 seconds. Always remember to breathe deeply and never overstretch.
Bonus Exercises:
These are for the more advanced user and involve higher intensity movements.Advanced Jackknife
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominis, hip flexors and spinal extensors of the lower back.
Procedure: starting position similar to basic jackknife. However, extend arms as in extended arm jackknife and extend legs as in extended leg jackknife. Stretch even more, pressing before you begin a contract. Exhale and pull you torso and legs in towards the abdomen. Always remember to keep you arms,legs and back straight. Hold the peak contraction and slowly return to the starting position.
Lateral Jackknife
Muscles targeted: rectus abdominis, obliques and quadratum lumborum (muscle of the lower back)
Procedure: roll onto your side, fold your lower arm and rest your head over it. Hold the pull up bar with the other hand. Flex your knees slightly and keep you feet against the foot rests. Exhale and initiate the pull to the side of your torso. Hold the peak position and then slowly return to the starting position. Concentrate on the muscles doing the work rather than pulling with your hand. After completing the set on one side, move over to the other side and repeat the same procedure.
Intensity and Frequency of
Ab Lounge Exercises:
According to the fitness level of the exercising individual, Fitness Quest recommends the following schedule for ab lounge exercises:
For Beginners: one set of all basic exercises, minimum of 8 - 10 repetitions
Intermediated Users: two sets of basic exercises and one set of advanced exercises, minimum of 10 – 12 repetitions
Advanced Users: two sets of basic exercises and two sets of advanced exercises, minimum of 12 – 15 repetitions
A word of caution: every ab lounge exercise session should include warm up, stretching and cool down as well. Also, regular aerobic training will help you achieving results faster.
To conclude, since the advent of ab lounge exercises, gone are the days of doing hundreds of pain staking crunches. People who have done ab lounge exercises have termed them to be 'enjoyable'. You can also workout while watching the telly at home! More importantly, ab lounge exercises will help you achieve those six packs in the shortest possible time.
