Are Abdominal Cradles Effective?
The popularity of the abdominal cradle hit its peak in the mid-nineties when there was a barely a gym in the country without a selection of brightly coloured cradles in the sit-up and stretching area. Best described as an intriguing-looking frame with a head rest, the ab cradle comprises a pad for you to rest your head on and a curved frame, enabling the user to easily perform a sit-up with the neck being well supported. They used to be all the rage, but even at the height of their popularity there was a degree of scepticism about whether they were more effective than conventional sit-ups. With prices for some models nearing £100, you’d expect them to work wonders for your abs, but sadly the only scientific benefit they have over conventional sit-ups is the head rest. Tests were carried out on all the muscles involved in a sit-up and the only advantage of the cradle was that the head rest relieved tension on the lower neck muscles.
On a more positive note, for anyone who has parted with their hard-earned cash to buy an ab cradle which promised the ‘stomach of your dreams’, the cradles are certainly no less effective than a conventional sit-up, provided you use them correctly. If you have a sore neck when performing tummy exercises and find that the cradle helps cushion it, by all means use it but make sure you perform each sit-up without pushing on the frame with your arms. So many people use their arms to move the cradle, providing the abs with a helping hand and taking the emphasis of the exercise away from the stomach. I have seen plenty of unconditioned men and women in the gym perform hundreds and hundreds of non-stop crunches while using the cradle. Impressive doing 500 sit-ups in one go might look, if you can do that many then you’re not doing them properly. If you can do more than 30 slow and controlled crunches, then it’s likely that you’re either an elite athlete or you’re cheating.
Like all exercise gadgets, the cradle does not quite live up to its promise but for those people who suffer from neck discomfort when doing sit-ups they can certainly help to make the exercise a little more comfortable.
If you are looking for something to improve the quality of your ab workouts, then a simple (and pretty cheap) piece of equipment which makes a massive difference to the intensity of your workoout is a stability ball. Check out the links below.