I have been thinking about getting an ab roller for quite some time now and this post made me go out today and buy one. Can't wait to try it out!

I am totally a fan of the at home gym.

Sick blog post, thanks!

I do have Stuart's massive book…"Low Back Disorders". It is one of the reasons I avoid crunches sit-ups etc. Good point.

Fred,

I just think of alcohol in terms of calories. Obviously, I wouldn't endorse drinking a lot and drinking to get drunk…but I am a realist too. I stayed out late and drank a decent amount on the weekends a regular basis from the age of 19 to about 27 (like many people do in that age group). I stayed lean by eating less calories during the week.

Crue,

Yeah…people are always looking for an easy fix. Advertisers play on this desire.

danz,

Thanks. I do try my best to help people without wasting their money.

Greeno,

I did watch some of it. I may watch the full thing at another point.

Aditya,

You are getting amazing results. I always love to hear that! You can eat a high GI carb after the fast and still be fine. The main thing is to keep the meal at a medium calorie level if you are following Eat Stop Eat. The amount of calories matter more than the type of calorie in this instance. On the days you aren't fasting and eating multiple meals, then try your best to keep insulin at stable levels for best results….bottom line, just eat paleo about 1/2 to 1/3 of the time and you will be fine.

Chris,

I am going to ask you do a guest post on my site soon…long overdue, since Conditioning Research is one of my favorite fitness blogs.

Scott N,

I think P90X probably works well for people who want a plug-and-play solution to losing body fat. It is hard work like anything else. I don't think it is necessary, but I also don't think it is too bad.

konrad,

I have no clue why people would want big rounded muscles that droop because of the mass. I'm glad you are avoiding that look now. You will age much better with at a natural size, with low body fat.

Rafi,

I miss those cheesy commercials. His toupee is bad!

Kat,

You can use a stability ball as a way to make planks tough. Craig Ballantyne has a few good ab routines on youtube.

Chris,

I am hoping this article gets ranked high in Google for the term Ab Circle Pro, just so I can give people a better alternative.

Steve,

I love that video. I have seen it before…but very inspiring.

Marc,

Yeah…a good balance of eating less and the right amount of intense exercise gets the job done. I need to head over to your site…it has been a while. I am hoping to see some pics of Florida, since we are in rainy season in Seattle now.

FitJerk,

I haven't tried the one you attach to your feet. I should give that a shot to mix things up…looks pretty effective.

Greg,

Talking about proper nutrition never sells the product, but is the reason behind the majority of the results. Those advertisers are great at what they do.

DragonMatt,

Great points you made to your housemate. So many people don't understand what it takes to get abs. You summarized it perfectly.

mickieb,

Yeah…it is all about eating "as if" you didn't exercise to really make that exercise help to burn fat. Sometimes easier said than done.

mindbodygoal,

That is a creative solution to use in place of the ab wheel. I have never heard of that before.

Levi,

I have seen a lot of videos of people making their own…I actually think it is easier to just go out and buy them for the cheap $10-$15 range.

Helder,

Thanks for the compliment. My main goal is to let people know they can stay lean year-round without being obsessed with fitness. They also don't have to lose their sense of style. Some people feel they have to turn into gym rats to get fit…so wrong!

Dan,

I remember playing around with one of these when I was little as well. Kids make toys out of anything…but since it has a wheel it is twice as fun!

Donkey Lips,

Yeah…I certainly don't make the money these guys make, but I do feel good about helping people. This site is very rewarding for me. Have you ever seen "Pump up the Volume" with Christian Slater. I kind of feel like that. Just a small voice broadcasting info to people who want to listen (except that I'm happy, don't smoke, etc)

Dave,

I get a lot of traffic for a blog, but just a minute fraction of exposure of what these guys get. I will try my best to reach more and more people over time.

Mark,

Thanks for re-tweeting this post. I really appreciate it. These ab machine commercials will become less and less effective as the internet becomes more social. Gotta love it.

Mergs,

I am now doing Adam Steer and Ryan Murdock's "Body Weight Blueprint for Fat Loss" which incorporates "Prasara Yoga" along with body weight intervals. It is a more aggressive form of Yoga and it works very well. I was a big-time skeptic of Yoga until I began doing this type of Yoga. Overall I don't think yoga on its own is the way to go. I think some type of yoga mixed in with more intense workouts will give better results. The type of yoga I am doing is quickly giving me better range of motion in my joints which is a great benefit.

Chris,

Good point…I do see a lot of these type of devices being sold at garage sales.

CR,

I am glad that you are brave enough to go against the grain and give a different view point. Maybe there is a place for people who haven't trained for a long time to get some benefit out of these devices. I guess my biggest complaint is that the models they show wouldn't get abs like that from these devices…these exercises just aren't challenging enough.

Baz,

You can certainly do both. Sounds like a decent strategy to me.

Brad,

I am jealous of your site design. That is a sharp looking blog (and I look over 100+ per week). I will bookmark and head on over in a couple of days…running out of time today.

D.Spillett,

Wow…bodybuilding.com was raided! Crazy. That is a mega-company. I will have to read up on this.

Rounder,

I had a friend who got P90X…it looked pretty good to me. I can imagine that people could get great results if they followed the program…it actually looks pretty rough! There are a lot of ways to get fit and P90X looks solid. Hopefully people who use that program can get even better results by implementing a few tips I talk about on this site.

Rusty

I can see if you're just starting out, and need some guidance. I guess its better than nothing.

BTW, nice job with the weight loss. But I guess the point Im trying to make is for obese people, any non retarded diet and exercise plan WILL work. You didn't lose weight because of p90x. You lost weight because you ate less and moved more! Tony Horton has an excellent marketing team, and just like most people trying to sell something he makes it too complicated. Yes, people are seeing results because he is just putting in practice what people already have been doing for the past 60 years. EATING LESS, MOVING MORE.

And thats why I still read Rustys blog, he advocates simple stuff that works.

I know it works, its just totally useless. Just like the other crap that works but is useless as well. Their gimmick is that the muscles need to be confused. They don't.

Help me understand, what happens after 90 days? Do they just say do this all over again? Or do you have to buy P180X or something

Great post and I think it's great you call out these companys. A local company(Bodybuilding.com) in my home town ( Boise Id.) was just raided by the F.B.I for selling steroids in the products.Keep it up!