The Ab Circle Pro is marketed as a “treadmill for your abs.” Some of its marketing claims are patently true: Kneeling on the low-friction frame does get you off the floor, and it does provide a smooth motion as you swing your hips back and forth on the machine. But the Ab Circle focuses almost exclusively on working your obliques — and claims that it will help you lose your love handles may seem to promote the persistent exercise myth of spot reducing.
Knee Circles
The Ab Circle’s primary purpose is working your obliques, the muscles on either side of your torso. Although working these muscles will help you create a firm, sculpted torso, using the Ab Circle won’t cause fat to melt specifically off that part of your body. Kneel on the Ab Circle and grasp the handlebars.
Check that the small crossbar connects both knee pads so they move as a single unit. Place one knee on each pad. Squeeze your obliques — think of bringing your hips up to your ribs — to swing your hips first to the left, then back to the right. Continue swinging back and forth in a smooth, controlled arc.
Buns and Inner Thigh Workout
Both the Ab Circle name and marketing tactics make it clear that this machine is meant to work your abs. So any application beyond this is, just as clearly, marketed as a bonus “value added” feature. If you disconnect the crossbar that connects the two kneepads together, they’ll move independently of each other.
Grasp the handlebars and kneel on the pads. Spread both thighs apart, moving the kneepads out, then up and around the outside of the Ab Circle. Allow the kneepads to slide back down and together. This tones your glutes, the muscles that shape your buttocks.
Considerations
Your spine is built to twist and to flex. But doing both at the same time, under load, greatly increases your risk of a back injury. Because of this, focus on not arching or hyperextending your lower back as you swing back and forth on the Ab Circle. Even though the Ab Circle designed to focus primarily on your obliques, keeping your spine from arching or hyperextending will also work your rectus abdominus, the strip of muscle that runs down the front of your abdomen and, when well-developed, gives the appearance of a six pack.
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