This OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Fitness Equipment Ab Trainer review will be looking at the ab trainer to see how it compares with other ab machines and whether it can help you to get rock solid abs.
Introduction
When you train any muscle group, you have the option of using either free weights/bodyweight or resistance machines. Resistance machines are those cable-ridden machines you find in the gym that allow you to challenge a particular muscle group.
At home though, most of us will train our abs one way only: with bodyweight. That means lots of sit ups and lots of crunches. The OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Fitness Equipment Ab Trainer is a resistance machine for targeting the abs at home. And it looks to change all that.
But do you need an ab machine? And if so, is the OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Fitness Equipment Ab Trainer the right one for you?
OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Features and Overview
The OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Fitness Equipment Ab Trainer is an ab machine that works a little differently to many others that are focused on pulling a weight from behind. The difference is that you are going to be pulling against the resistance with your legs.
Very often, ab training means lifting with your upper body. This means that you are bending at the stomach. Here though, you are using a kneeling pad to bring the knees forward and up along tracks, which in turn will take you through the correct range of motion to really target the abs with a good crunch.
You can then add additional resistance to the movement by placing weight plates on a peg at the end.
What’s interesting about this movement is that it’s quite fast. This makes it well suited to not only training the abs, but also moving through a very fast motion that is almost cardio in nature – meaning it will be effective for burning fat. Resistance cardio is actually particularly effective for creating visible abs because it taxes you with greater exertion (you are going fast and pushing a weight) and because it burns fat.
Pros
What’s the difference between resistance training and bodyweight? What is the benefit to a machine like the OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Fitness Equipment Ab Trainer?
Well, essentially a resistance machine is a machine that will guide you through a specific motion and cause you to move in a precise arc or pattern. Then, you will push something out, or you will curl something up, but you won’t be able to swing it around all over the place or to switch exercise halfway through.
This means that you cannot drop the weight or hurt yourself as you might with a dumbbell as it will be attached to a cable or handle and it will be shut inside a small compartment within the machine.
There are pros and cons of each option here. The obvious pro for beginners when it comes to resistance machines is that it means you can lift the weight and be guided by the hand and helped through the motion. You won’t be able to drop the weight on the floor and you are less likely to put your back out.
Plus, it means that you ensure you are targeting precisely the correct muscle group that you are aiming to train. All-too-often, those looking to train their abs use incorrect form and actually end up training their hip flexors instead.
Finally, using a resistance machine like the OrangeA Abdominal Coaster Fitness Equipment Ab Trainer means that you can train with additional weight. Too often people rely on just body weight for resistance.
This machine is also particularly well made with solid build quality and ergonomic design. It comes packed with a host of extras too – from the wriggle plate for twisting the core and challenging the obliques (the muscles on either side of the abs) to the dumbbell rack to help organize your home gym. It is clearly a well-thought out and put together machine.
Cons
While resistance machines have their benefits, you will find that after a while most experts will move on from resistance training and will instead start to train with free weights.
There is a reason for this. Exercises with free weights are actually better at getting your whole body to work in harmony as you go through the movement. This forces you to use all the supporting muscles in your body for instance and that helps you to produce more growth hormone and to build a more even physique.
Free weight training also allows for a much greater variety of movements that will work the muscles in different ways and unfortunately there just isn’t a resistance machine for every kind of exercises.
However, you shouldn’t completely forget about resistance machines once you’re all grown up – they still offer a good variation from the norm and offer a great way to more specifically target a particular muscle group. Plus, they provide the opportunity to add more weight in a safe manner and to use advanced techniques like drop sets.
In other words, the OrangeA Abdominal Coaster is a great machine for building the abs, but should be used as part of a larger training routine.
The only other downside is that the ‘bottom up’ design and the tracks means that this system can sometimes feel a little ‘fast and loose’. This, in turn, means that it’s easy to build up momentum, which can potentially reduce the amount of challenge on for the abs specifically. This is great as a metcon workout that happens to focus on the abs.
New Body Report.com Product Rating:
In short, the OrangeA Abdominal Coaster is a well-made machine with great potential to improve your ab strength. Just make sure you are challenging the abs in other ways. And, consider a ‘top down’ approach if you’re primarily a strength athlete.
