Weider Crunch Trainer

Author's product rating:   

Durability	Excellent
Comfort	Good
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Prevents neck strain, better form
Disadvantages:	Can be awkward to unfold

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Abs :~

Strong abs are essential for preventing lower back injuries, posture and good core stability.
Just because you cannot see a six pack does not mean you do not have strong abs. Unless you go on a low fat diet and lose lots of body fat and exercise most people will never achieve that wash board stomach.
This is what frustrates lots of people when doing loads of crunches because it does not matter if you do thousands a week if you have a layer of body fat you still will not get that 6 pack. What you should be thinking if you have strong abs and a strong back this will help prevent me from injury and back pain while playing sport, working and other activities.

Weider Crunch Trainer :~

The crunch trainer aids you in doing crunches by helping you keep good form thus preventing injury to the neck and back. It also helps you isolate the abs for a better mid section work out. But do not listen to some of those ads that say it will work miracles, it will not it basically helps you perform a better crunch more easily. If you already have good form the ab trainer will not make any difference to your workout.

Materials :~

The trainer has a built in mat that has a cloth face and a rubbery sponge back. The mat helps cushion hard surfaces like floor tiles or wooden floors, it also prevents carpet burn and I'm sure most of us know how sore that can be. One of my rooms has a tiled floor and the mat makes it feel like i am doing the exercisers on carpet so it does the job very well. As you are laid on the mat it prevents the ab trainer from sliding on slippy floors as with some ab trainers.
The mat is attached to a head rest this is made of leather look soft black plastic the filling makes is quite firm.
The arms are made of tubular black painted metal. 2 thirds of this is covered in sponge for comfort.

Compact :~

The Weider Crunch trainer is foldable and it measures 22" long 24" wide and 8" deep. This makes for easy storage and to transport it around from room to room or house to house depending where you want to train and it only weights 6kg.
To setup can be quite difficult until you get the knack of it. First lay the mat out, then on each of the arms is a spring loaded locking system you need to grip either side of the yellow ring, then pull apart until the locking pin allows you to twist the arm so it opens up. Make sure the arm locks into place. Repeat this process with the other arm. You will need to have some type of strength to be able to do this as the pulling and twisting action is quite hard and my wife did have problems doing this at first but she manages fine now.
Once open it measures 36" long 26" wide and 24" deep.
To close just do the reverse of opening.

Basic Crunch :~

Once set up you can do the basic crunch, this is the basis for all the other exercises on the ab cruncher.
Lay on the mat so your neck and lower head is supported by the head rest. To start your hands should be placed at the top of the hand supports, as your abs get stronger moving your hands down will make it more difficult.
With your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, your lower back should be pressed against the mat.
Now the idea is not to push up with your arms but to squeeze your abs and roll up from your middle while gently pushing on the bars so the head rest stays supporting your neck and head, make sure your lower back stays pressed into the mat for the full movement.
Through out the movement you should be slow and controlled to help keep good form on the way up and down.
The ab cruncher keeps you in the range of movement that works the abs best.

Exercisers :~

Different exercisers work different parts of the abs, this is all done by placing your legs in different positions.

Basic crunch works the lower and upper abs.

Oblique crunch works the side of the abs, by starting in the basic position but twisting your legs down one way then crunching works the obliques.

L crunch works the upper abs, start basic crunch but then straighten your legs up so you make an L shape with your body and legs.

Crunch with feet raised works the lower abs, same starting position then just raise your feet off the floor.

These are just a few of the 12 exercises that you can do on the ab trainer.

Reps and sets :~

Reps are how many repetitions you do and you do so many repetitions per set.
This varies depending on your fitness, the fitter you are the more you can do.
Say if you can only do 10 crunches in one go for example. So you do 3 sets with 5 reps per set with a 30 second rest in between it means you are doing 15 crunches meaning your abs are getting a better work out.

Wear and tear :~

We have had this ab worker for about 5 years now and it is still in very good condition and it has not been stuck in the cupboard for those 5 years collecting dust it has been in constant use. The cloth face on the mat has stretched a little and the head rest has got a little mis-shaped with resting my head on it but besides that it has lasted well.

Price :~
When first bought this item cost £39 with some basic instructions on what exercises you can do.
Now it costs £29 and you get a video with it.

Conclusion :~
Its not very often an exercise machine stands the test of time, but this has been out for a lot of years and is still for sale in a number of retailers so this suggests it is a good exerciser.
For my wife she like it as she used to get neck strain while crunching. For me my form is better and feel as if my abs are tighter while crunching.