All over the ab world, abdominal machines get a bad rap. “They’re ineffective” people say, or “my abs look no different than when I started” disappointed customers complain. Some complaints about some ab machines on the market are legitimate, but machine alone cannot turn love handles into six pack abs.

[Abs such as these require daily alternative exercise, including gym, tan, laundry, and fist pumping.]

But using an ab machine to supplement your abdominal workout isn’t a bad idea–especially if you have an ab machine collecting dust in some nether region of your home.

Whether your weight loss goal is to slim your midsection or develop abs to show off, you must understand that one machine won’t do the trick. You need to work every aspect of your core to burn fat and build muscle in your abdominal region.

Bosu Ball

This stability ball is a great core exercise that your ab muscles will appreciate. No matter which side of the ball you use, your need to remain stable will force your core to work harder and thus giving your abs a workout to complain about in the morning!

The Bosu Ball allows you to focus on stability, an important factor in preventing injury and improving performance, with your ab workout as a bonus. You shouldn’t, however, stand on the ball for 20 minutes a day and call it your ab workout.

[Use your Bosu Ball as an alternative way to do your plank exercises (see below) and firm that belly!]

Use this in addition to other exercises that work your abdominal muscles. Remember that a slimmer midsection requires working out all muscles equally.

Treadmill

If this isn’t your first weight loss rodeo you probably have at least 2 (maybe 4 or 5) pieces of workout equipment propping your computer or doing dinner table duty. It’s okay, we’ve all succumbed to those infomercials where everyone is thin and happy all because of recent weight loss due to the magic machine. The important thing is that now that we know better, we can put those machines to use for a higher purpose. You!

[Treadmills are great for abs because they work out every muscle without "feeling the burn" in a specific region. Burning all over is better than burning in one spot!]

Dust off that treadmill and place it in front of the television or turn on some tunes and work those abs. Unlike the promises made by ab machine salesmen, your treadmill will help you burn fat all over your body. Ab-only machines simply work to strengthen your abdominal muscles, which is great if your goal is to tone your belly. If you still need to burn while you strengthen, walking or jogging on the treadmill help.

When it comes to working the abs, most of us need all the help we can get!

Elliptical Machines

Personally I am a fan of elliptical machines. They allow you to do cardio without doing too much damage to your knees. If you already have an abdominal workout that targets all three abdominal regions, use that elliptical that haunts you at the gym or in your home to help burn additional fat.

Because many elliptical machines have multiple settings, you can switch up your workout to help you keep it fresh while you feel the burn! If you have a long way to go before you get the midsection you’ve always wanted, don’t underestimate the importance of cardio to your goal.

Getting the abs you want requires regular physical activity and eating less. Regardless of your abdominal goals, you need a steady combination of strength training and cardio exercise. The goal is to burn fat and build muscle for abs you don’t mind the whole world staring at with envy!

Floor

Lots of people have given good old-fashioned sit ups and crunches the boot, but I say we should remember how effective our old friends have been. If you’ve never had a moment of weakness and purchased a too-expensive workout machine, look to your floor to help get your belly in proper shape.

Plank: Lay on your stomach with your forearms on the floor, pointing straight ahead. Make sure your feet are touching. Lift yourself up on your toes and forearms, taking care to keep yourself straight. Hold the position for as long as you can, starting with 20 seconds and increasing as you build strength.

Bicycle Crunches: Start on your back with your hands behind your ears and your legs bent. Lift your feet straight up so your legs are in a 90 degree angle. Do crunches and move your legs as though you’re riding a bicycle, touching your right elbow to your left knee and your left elbow to your right knee. Start with 2 sets of 10 repetitions.

[Maintaining the proper starting position is essential when performing abdominal exercises on the floor to avoid injury and work those abs!]

Remember: KEEP BREATHING!

Find out how you can maximize your diet for spectacular abs by reading our review of The Diet Solution Program, created by Isabel De Los Rios.

I see more flat stomach and six-pack ab infomercials everyday that revolve around the classic crunch move.

We all know this move: lie on the floor on your back, grab the back of your head with your hands and pull it two inches off the floor. I think it’s safe to say this method does not work very well for building your 6-pack abs and flattening out your stomach.

[There's nothing intense about this exercise. Look at this poor girl's facial expression! Not another time wasting crunch, please...]

Aside from them being useless for getting six pack abs, the crunch movement itself is actually harmful to your spine and lower back. Every single time you perform a crunch, you are doing what the world’s leading experts on back pain describe as a dangerous motion.

Research shows every time you crunch, you do what is called spinal flexion, and spinal flexion compresses the disks between your vertebrae. If you do that too much, you could end up with a herniated disc. It’s the same motion as rounding your back to pick up something off the floor, and you probably know someone who has hurt their back that way!

Total body ab exercises are more effective.

Instead of wasting your life lying on your back doing an exercise that you can do hundreds of times, you need to replace crunches and all those other 1980s aerobics style exercises with better, total body ab exercises to get more results in less time.

So you don’t need to do crunches, and you don’t even need to go to a gym, if you have the right total body ab exercises in your home abdominal workout program says Craig Ballantyne, Men’s Health Training Advisor and Author. “In fact, with the right program, your entire fat loss workout will take less time than most bodybuilders spend on crunches every day! Yet you’ll still be able to get a flat stomach and six packs abs with this fast at-home workout.”

[I just couldn't resist this video. Four ladies wasting their time in almost perfect unison. Crunch after crunch and not a drop of sweat. Not good!]

Forget long boring cardio sessions.

I used to spend an hour walking on a treadmill while watching the timer or other gym goers walk by. Long boring cardio sessions suck, plain and simple. With the ab erecises explained below, your entire workout (including your resistance training) will take less time (45 minutes tops) than most people spend getting to the gym and warming-up.

And you only have to workout three times per week, not six days per week like the bodybuilding magazines suggest. So you save time in each workout, and workout fewer times per week. That will give you more time to spend* on the important stuff in life like connecting with your family and enjoying the company of friends.

Ab workout exercises that work.

Ballantyne details his top abdominal exercise replacements for ineffective crunches and other 1980s style ab moves.

1. Replace crunches with stability ball rollouts (see video below). You’ll get a more powerful stretch in the Rollout exercise, and a more powerful contraction, all without doing excessive and dangerous spinal flexion.

2. Replace crunches on the ball with a plank with arms on the ball. According to the Men’s Health magazine, research shows that a plank with arms on the ball is 30% more effective in working your abs.

3. Replace bicycle crunches with X-Body mountain climbers (see video below). This unique total-body ab exercise still works your obliques, but without repetitive crunching. Plus, it helps build invaluable abdominal endurance and stability to keep your low back healthy.

4. Replace reverse crunches with stability ball Jackknives (see video below). You will still be able to work the lower area of your abdominal muscles, as well as your obliques with this stability ball exercise, but you also get the benefit of building back-protecting abdominal endurance.

5. Replace sit-ups with hanging knee-ups or the advanced pull-up plus knee-ups. Your abs will have never experienced anything like this exercise! You can also do a chin-up plus knee-up for the same effect on your abs, and chin-ups are a little easier. This is one of my current favorite exercises.

By getting rid of crunches you’ll lose nothing, while gaining time to work on better exercises to build your six pack abs and flat stomach, plus you’ll avoid exercises that are hard on your back.

For more detailed descriptions of all of these home ab exercises as well as more techniques for losing abdominal fat, click here for more great abs training strategies.