Top positive review
145 people found this helpful
Will Work as Hard as You Will
By TheRaceisLong on Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2013
Initial notes: - This alone will not give you abs. Only low body fat percentage will do that, which is done by proper nutrition and burning fat via exercise. - The Ab Carver is simple but intense. I would not recommend this if you are moderate to severely overweight as it is puts a lot of weight on your upper arms and you may not be able to do it properly. - Read as much about the human body and how it works as you can. Understanding your body is a biological machine that requires proper maintenance to be the way you want it to be is half of the battle. I have been using the Ab Carver for 21 days now, and just completed the initial training circuit it recommends before increasing the roll distance. In short, this little piece of equipment gives you a high intensity workout in a short amount of time. You'll be working arms, back, shoulders, and most importantly your core. After one use you WILL feel it. When purchasing, first thing you'll need to do is get on the Ab Carver website and print off their instructions and workout schedule. It is ridiculous they do not send this with your purchase, but its likely a ploy to get you to your website. The workout consists of alternating days 3 sets of 10 reps straight out, with 3 sets of 5 for obliques. This increases each week, until day 21 where you will start pushing out farther. Quality of the machine is pretty high. I haven't had any problems with the spring inside, and the handles are pretty firm. The pads they send for your knees are pretty flimsy, but again I never had an issue with using them. Does this machine work? Yes. I am already getting defined upper abs, and working on losing my remaining belly fat to show off the lower abs. I can't stress enough the importance of body fat percentage for abs. If you don't combine this with a caloric deficit and cardio, you will never get visible abs. Running, jogging, biking, anything getting your heart rate up is good for this combined with proper nutrition. I can't tell you how long or how hard you'll have to work to get abs, it can literally take months and months depending on your start point. My advice is not focus too much on gaining that "perfect body" but instead focus on getting a healthy, fit body. For me, I'm on a 60 day plan alternating between running and strength training, with a high protein diet and overall 500 calorie daily deficit. This machine is only a small piece of the overall puzzle to getting in shape, but use it correctly and it is a good tool. Some final tips: 1) Develop a plan. You are much more likely to fail if you don't set up a schedule for exercise and also get a meal plan set up. 2) Push through what I call the "Disappointing" phase. You're going to be working your butt off, look in the mirror in 10 days, and feel sad because you aren't ripped. Getting a highly fit body will take at least several months, maybe more depending on your start point. Don't expect it after a few hard exercises. 3) Be realistic. The people you see in the commercials for these types of machines are professionals paid to have an almost unsustainable low body fat. Aim for being healthy and lean, as being completely ripped will likely be more time that what you'll want to put in (myself included). Thanks for reading, your new body begins with the first roll! *DAY 90 UPDATE* Having continued using this every other day as per the schedule, I am now at the max possbile roll distance and difficulty and have been at this level for several weeks. This has certainly increased my core strength, and has given me some nice visible ab outlines now that my body fat is sub 14%. Machine still works perfectly.
Top critical review
74 people found this helpful
Does not recoil back to original position
By fewaopi on Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2014
This is 1 of the very very rare 1 star ratings I have ever given and I'd give it a zero if I could. The main reason this is 1 star is because the product I have received is defective and doesn't recoil back to the original position. Sometimes when I roll out I hear a click like the spring just came off or something, a sound I have never heard in any of the youtube demonstration videos. I also barely experience any of the resistance going forward or assistance going back. Maybe it's supposed to be very very very subtle but not sure how this feature Perfect Fitness advertises actually helps me. Unless you're super skinny and more scrawny than me (5'10, 145 lbs) and have even weaker arms than me, I don't see how this resistance/assistance feature is supposed to help. I actually imagine this takes away from your workout since you are supposed to use your own muscles to bring you back, not have assistance, so this product makes your workout less intense. Some mention that when doing obliques or going to the sides, the handlebars go to close to ground and leave little room for hands. I can see how this can be a problem for people working their obliques and have big hands. I have pretty skinny hands so this wasn't really the big issue for me. I also don't feel as much a burn as opposed to bringing your elbows to your opposite knees. My biggest issue is the fact it doesn't recoil back to the original position. Each time I roll back is a shorter distance than when I rolled out. This meant that as I kept doing the exercise, I eventually was fully rolled out and unable to bring the wheel back because it was locked (jammed). Imagine just rolling out and the wheel is farther away from your knees each time and then fully rolled out and stuck because it keeps locking ahead of the original position. The only way around this defect is to actually pick up the wheel off the ground and bring it to its original position. (I even measured the distance I would lose with each roll out and roughly how many times it took before I had to pick up the wheel and bring it to the original position). This is obviously very tedious and frustrating and the biggest fault is the fanciest feature this product is promoting, it's kinetic engine or carbon steel spring. It's not the first time companies have added more features and complexity to make a product "better" but only for it to be the 1 feature that actually makes it worse. I also feel over time this "kinetic engine" will wear off with repeated use and render the product useless though Perfect Fitness hopes by that time you'll have the abs you need and no longer need the wheel. You may wonder what's the big deal if it locks up after a couple roll outs? Why not just pick up the wheel and bring it back to the original position all the time? Well because it destroys form and rhythm and prevents the max benefit ab wheels are supposed to give. And essentially you'll find yourself like I did constantly rolling out but never rolling back, just picking up the wheel and starting over. To be as impartial as I can be, I will say this product (like any wheel) does work out your core and pretty intensely as well. I felt more sore on the abs closer to my chest than my hip. As others note, you could just do crunches and variations of it and get the same effect while saving $40. But for 10 minutes I enjoyed this device because it was a variation from usual exercises and was more fun until I realized something was seriously wrong with the product. ***My advice is to not get suckered by the many high ratings and other positive reviews (like I was) because everyone's experiences varies. My experience with this product was awful. I would suggest getting a much cheaper Ab wheel that doesn't have this kinetic feature that can threaten to lock up the wheel and waste you $40. You do not need the fancy feature this product provides which might actually ruin your experience. Simplicity is best and a cheap simple ab wheel of any kind is enough or just do crunches. This wheel is only 1 part of many for strengthening your core. Heck you can probably make your own wheel. And as others say, diet is the key, abs are made in the kitchen are all true statements. Cardio as well is important and if you're looking to improve your health, don't get boggled down by all the "proper" ways to lose weight or shortcuts. Really all you need to do is just get off your butt and move, doesn't matter how you move, move 1st, then details later.
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