A question that’s often asked is why do Ab Exercises give me a pain in the neck?

Firstly when exercising you should experience no pain at all. If you’re working hard you may feel some discomfort but never any pain. If you’re working out and it’s painful you should stop and get it checked out and not work through the pain in an effort to make it go away. Working through pain is stupid and can be down right dangerous so please don’t do it.

Pain when performing Ab Exercises (or any exercise)  is a sign that either:

• You have a structural problem
• You’ve pulled a muscle
• You have a muscle imbalance
• You’re not doing the exercise correctly

The first two points mean you need to see a Physician / Physiotherapist and follow any advice and exercise prescription they give and the last two mean you need proper instruction so that you can perform the exercise correctly and address the imbalances.

Purchasing a device that claims to eliminate pain while you’re exercising is pointless as it doesn’t address or correct any of the above points and just masks the original problem.

So if you’re getting a pain in the neck and you’re confident it isn’t physical damage consider employing a Personal Trainer who can correct your form and help you correct any imbalance you may have developed.

Another great option is Pilates which is fantastic for correcting muscular imbalances and will work your Abs pretty well to boot not just the six pack muscles but also the deep stability muscles which are so important for spinal and pelvic stability.

Bottom line:

If you have pain when exercising STOP and get it checked out otherwise learn how to do the exercise correctly and work on correcting any muscular imbalances you may have.

It’s possible that a Physiotherapist may recommend you use a machine to help you rehabilitate and in general that’s the only time I’d recommend machines over a functional workout. Unless that is the machine in question makes an exercise more challenging and doesn’t isolate muscle groups.

Related Posts:

The Perfect Situp
The Step360 Reviews

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Why Do Ab Exercises Give Me A Pain In The Neck?

Another piece of at home exercise equipment to hit the market recently is the GymFlex Transformer. At first glance it looks like a basic step but looks can be deceiving. This device can change from a step to a bench and then to an inclined bench.

This means that with one piece of equipment you can do cardio, strength training and circuits in one easy to use, durable and portable piece of equipment. It reminds me of another similar piece of equipment (whose name slips my mind for the moment) which was heavily advertised on the Infomercial channels last year which looked the same but didn’t convert to a bench or inclined chair.

The GymFlex comes supplied with resistance bands that are attached to the base of the unit that when combined with the leg and arm attachments allow you to perform hundreds of different strength training exercises.

You’ll be able to work:

• Core
• Chest
• Arms
• Shoulders
• Back
• Legs

Combined with great cardio (it is a step after all) it should be the only piece of at home exercise equipment you’d ever need to buy.

Pros:

• Combines cardio and strength training in one simple to use piece of kit
• This should be durable and last a lifetime
• Portable and easy to use
• Easy to move from exercise to exercise as you don’t need to move
• You can use other cardio (step) DVD’s you already have

Cons:

• It’s fairly new so not a lot is known about it’s durability and effectiveness
• It’s fairly expensive at just under $400

Bottom line:

I like the idea of a single piece of exercise equipment being able to do it all. No messing around moving from one piece of equipment to another and if I had a spare $400 lying around (I wish) I’d buy it because it’s a simple idea done well. However in the real world $400 is a lot of money and I could buy a basic step, exercise bands and a set of dumb bells for under $150 which would allow me to do most of what the GymFlex can do.

Other related posts that might interest you:

The KettleWorx
The Step360

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

GymFlex Transformer Reviews

The Step360 is the latest piece of at home exercise equipment to hit the market. Claiming to be able to help you lose weight with it’s innovative new design it is another contender in the lose weight fast arena.

The Step360 is a step shaped in the form of a circle and it’s claim to fame is that it provides an unstable surface for you to workout on by using two air filled chambers which can either be fully inflated to give you a stable surface or partially inflated to make the step inherently unstable.

In theory this instability will make working out on the Step360 more challenging as more muscles will have to be recruited to keep you stable whilst working out. In practice I doubt this will make a lot of difference compared to a traditional step when it comes to fat loss.

What will make a difference however is that this step comes with a variety of workouts that if used will certainly help you in your fat loss goals. Unlike a traditional step this device looks like it could be a lot of fun to use in the home and will hopefully encourage it’s owner to actually work out instead of leaving it gathering dust under the bed.

It’s possible to attach exercise bands around the rim of this step which means as well as a great aerobic workout you can do strength training exercises like Bicep Curls, Chest Presses and Lat Raises which increases the effectiveness of this step.

The include workouts which include:

• Cardio Accelerator
• Love your butt and thighs
• Turn up the burn
• Tone up in 10
• Body sculpt blaster
• Speed slimming sculpt

The Step360 claims that it’s secret to fast results is interval training combining aerobic and strength training in the same workout. If done correctly interval training is a highly effective method of losing weight but must be done carefully particularly in an unconditioned person.

I quite like this product because it’s unusual and looks like a lot of fun to use.

The Good:

Nice looking piece of equipment that looks well constructed and doesn’t have any moving parts to break. The workouts are based on interval training and combine cardio with muscle building which I like as a training method. Unlike other pieces of equipment you see on the market this isn’t a gimmick and is a lot of fun to use.

The Bad:

At $119 this step is expensive when you compare it to a standard step but then it does a lot more.

My Verdict:

Having used the Step360 for the last few weeks I have to say I like it. It makes step more challenging and it’s a lot more fun. I think if you have the $119 and you buy it you won’t be disappointed.

I’ve done some videos showing The Step360 which you can see here.

Read Customer Reviews Of  The Step360 At Amazon

Compensation Disclosure

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

The Step360 Reviews

I am asked this question a lot by clients who believe that warming up before increasing their exercise level is a complete waste of time.  On the contrary, I tell them, I feel that it is the most important part of the exercise session, as a gradual warmup prepares the body and the mind for the exertion to come.

The major objective of the warmup component of  any exercise session is to gradually raise your pulse rate and your body temperature and also to mobilise all your major joints.  During warmup the synovial fluid that surrounds each joint increases, which means that tight joints loosen — it’s very like introducing oil into the engine of your car.  Cold joints and muscles can be stiff and inflexible and if asked to perform intensively too soon, injury can easily result.  If you have ever watched an Olympic sprint you will know that the athletes involved often spend between 30 and 45 minutes warming up for a race that then lasts less than 10 seconds!

It is an established fact that most of the injuries to footballers (that are not caused by impact) happen within the first five minutes of a match.  The demands placed on the body playing football are great and hamstrings, thighs and calves can easily be torn if insufficiently warmed up.  This is disastrous for any top-level player as recovery and rehabilitation can take months.  Prevention is far better than cure in this case.

If you have any kind of physical limitation or conditions such as high blood pressure or asthma, gradual warmup is more important than ever.  Hypertensives should warmup steadily and carefully for at least 10 minutes; asthmatics may take even longer as the bronchial pathways need to open gradually.

I have low-level asthma myself and try to stay away from medication if at all possible which means I have to take my warmup very seriously.  On a cold day sometimes my warmup can take 20 minutes before deep breathing becomes comfortable.  To try and exert myself more before getting to that stage would be foolish in my case as it would promptly trigger an asthma attack and I would have to stop exercising altogether until my breathing had eased.  Usually however after 20 minutes I can increase the intensity of my exercise with no ill effects and my breathing stays comfortable and is neither tight nor painful.

So whether you are young or more mature, a new exerciser or an experienced athlete you should always build in 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning of your workout for your warmup and your body will thank you for it and perform better for you.

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Why Bother To Warm Up?

Aerobic means “in the presence of oxygen”, and if you exercise aerobically  this is defined as doing some activity which means the body needs more oxygen for an extended period of time.  This is a very complicated way of saying that aerobic exercise is any form of sustained exercise like walking, cycling or swimming.  The fitter you are, the higher the intensity of your activity can be and the longer you can carry it out for.

Exercising aerobically has many benefits including conditioning your heart and lungs to work more effectively, and also burning fat.  Exercising aerobically also improves your muscle tone and increases the ability of a muscle to keep  working sub-maximally for longer.

So what does all this mean that the average person?  It means that doing some form of aerobic exercise on a regular basis is very good for you and will make your heart work more efficiently and your respiratory system more capable of working harder for longer without you becoming breathless and stressed.  The same goes for your muscles and, since any form of exercise requires fuel, fats and carbohydrates are taken from your body’s stores to be used to sustain the activity, resulting in overall fat loss.

The mistake most unconditioned people make when they decide to start exercising in an effort to lose weight is that they try to do far too much too soon.  The spirit may be willing but the body is probably fairly flabby!  The most important thing to do first, especially if you are a man over 40 or a woman over 50 and unused to regular exercise, is to get a checkup from your doctor to ensure that there is no reason why you should not exercise.  Your doctor will probably be delighted by your decision to exercise and will encourage you.

The next thing is to find an activity that you like.  There is no point telling yourself you will go swimming regularly if you detest water!  If you feel you would like to go to an exercise class, the chances are that there is one fairly close to you as many good aerobic classes are held in local church halls.  This is a good way to start as it means you will get guidance from a qualified instructor on how to warm up and exercise correctly and safely and any good exercise class will also teach you how to stretch your major muscle groups at the end of the workout.

An hour’s worth of sustained aerobic activity can burn between 200 and 400 calories as well as making you fitter and stronger and feeling much better, so it’s well worth taking up some form of aerobic exercise.

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Benefits Of Aerobic Exercise

If there is one exercise that is hated by most women and loved by most men it would have to be press ups.  You know the drill; get onto the floor, kneel on all fours; wrists under shoulders and knees under (or behind) hips.  Now bend your elbows and bring your chest towards the floor.  Now push yourself back up.  Now do it again, lots of times

Men like this exercise because their shoulder and chest muscles tend to be quite strong; women hate it for the opposite reason – weakness in arm, shoulder and chest muscles.  Working all these muscles at one time is a very efficient way of exercising,  but the ensuing discomfort as the muscles tire is unpleasant to say the least, which is why most women would rather jump off the roof than add press ups to their exercise routine!

Everyone should do press ups and should learn to do them properly; however even if done with poor form they will strengthen something!  Performed correctly, press ups are an unbelievably effective way of conditioning shoulders, chest, arms, back and core muscles.

There aren’t that many other compound exercise that will do so much good in such a time- efficient way.  If you worked all these muscles separately you would have to do pec deck exercises for the chest, shoulder press for the shoulders, bicep curls for the front of the arms, and tricep push-backs for the back of the arms.  So by getting down on all fours and performing two sets of press ups you can give yourself a quadruple whammy and be halfway through your exercise routine before you even know it!

Press ups are even more important as you age as it is one of the few exercises that makes you lean on your wrists, thus forcing the bones in your wrists and arms to strengthen.  Bones are like muscles in that they are designed to respond to the strains placed upon them – if you lean on your wrists often enough they will grow stronger in order to bear your weight.  This is one of the guards against progressive osteoporosis; if your bones are going to thin and become brittle then they will eventually, but working them will make them stronger for longer.

Take a look at the Iron Gym which can help you perform press ups in better form.

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Why Do Pressups?

I always found it amusing that diet has the word die in it.  Now I’m not saying that if you diet you’re going to die that would be overstating the issue but I believe dieting is inherently pointless.

We’ve all heard of the success stories of people have been to slimming clubs and report losing 30 or 40 lbs in a fairly short space of time by following one diet or another.  Sadly when I meet up with with these people again six months later they’ve  put all the weight back on and added a few pounds as well.

The body doesn’t take very well to dieting for many reasons.  I may well write another article later giving my views on why I believe dieting is pointless.  But for now just take my word for it dieting with a view to losing fat is not the most efficient and permanent way to do it.

In my opinion if we should replace the word diet with healthy eating, portion control and a little bit of self discipline.  We all know what constitutes a healthy diet there is no shortage of information on the types of food that are beneficial for our overall fitness and well-being.

That’s not to say we need to live on lettuce leaves for the rest of our lives it’s just that for 80% of the time we need to be sensible in the food we eat.  We can still treat ourselves to the odd pizza or cake if that’s our desire just don’t do every day!

The mind hates a vacuum, if we try to eliminate something we like from our diet completely our mind will rebel and the more we try to do without it the more we desire it.  The trick is to just reduce the amount of calorie dense sugary foods we eat.

I’m sure you already know what you need to do by now the trick is actually doing it.

Add a little At Home Exercise and we’re really cooking with gas

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Diet Has The Word Die In It!

The Total Gym has been around for many years and always was a first class piece of home exercise equipment. Most people will have seen it advertised on the infomercial channels being used by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley.

This latest model The Total Gym Shaper is the most inexpensive model they've produced coming in at just under £100 ($140) and offers great value for money.

It works by using your own body weight as resistance and depending on the incline you set can give you a weight range of 6-60% of your body weight. So for muscle building you use a high incline with fewer repetitions and for aerobic muscle sculpting a lower incline and more repetitions are used.

Total Gym claim you can do over 60 exercises on it targeting every muscle group in your body and it has the following features:

I know this type of equipment works because we have one of the older models which, by the way, cost us a lot more than this one.

The only thing I don't agree with Total Gym in their informercial is the easy-to-put-away part. You see a small women folding it up and then effortlessly putting it away. Trust me, it's not that easy. It's a well-built machine and heavier than it looks!

Bottom line is that I like The Total Gym and although I don't use mine as much as I used to (I prefer to use equipment like The T-Bow and body weight exercises), for your average at home exerciser this piece of equipment is inexpensive, well built and will give you a great workout.

Amazon usually have the best price for the

The video below shows how Chuck and Gena use the Total Gym in their own workouts. The Total Gym shown is one of the more expensive models but the Total Gym Shaper will do exactly the same job.

All the best,

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

The Total Gym Shaper Reviews

Question: I bought The Firm Wave, but don’t find it challenging – Is it only suitable for a beginner?

Answer: No it’s suitable for all levels – not just beginners. I get a lot of mail on this question and I have to say I’m puzzled by it. I’m a Personal Trainer and although I wouldn’t consider myself to be super fit I’m in reasonable shape and I find it versatile enough to be as challenging as you want! My clients also find it a challenging and varied workout which they enjoy.

Without seeing your workout and how you’re using the Wave I couldn’t say why you find it so easy. It could be your pace, the weight of dumbell your using or your form. It’s very easy to cheat when doing the exercises if your form isn’t great.

You could just use the TheFirmWave in part of your workout (which is what I do) to keep your workout fresh and interesting or you could easily create your own unique workout using the Wave and add what you consider to be more challenging moves.

Using The Firm Wave is different. Many people don’t like it at first because they feel unsteady on The Wave and therefore give up before they get used to it. I’d recommend you continue using The Wave even if you believe it isn’t challenging enough, and see how you progress over the next couple of months.

All the best,

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer & Pilates Instructor)

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

I Bought The Firm Wave But I Don’t Find It Challenging

Sometimes I surprise myself with my own stupidity! I thought I had discovered another piece of home exercise equipment I hadn’t seen before. It was called The Firm Wave Speed Slimming System. I heard about it from someone who emailed asking if it was any good. Off I trotted to the Internet to research this brand new piece of equipment so that I could answer the question.

Guess what I found? Yup the Firm Wave. At least I could now answer the Email as I know a little bit about that lol.

The problem (excuse) is I live in the United Kingdom so I don’t actually ever get to see the original infomercials. I would imagine that the Firm Wave is referred to as The Firm Wave Slimming System in the advert. Quite a mouthful so I think I’ll stick with just the Wave. Much easier and not as pretentious as the the other.

All the best,

Carol

(The sometimes not as smart as she thinks she is Carol)

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

The Firm Wave Speed Slimming System – I’m Stupid!