Standing in front of the mirror after a shower, I couldn’t help but notice my figure was starting to look a little worse for wear. Never having been one for any real exercise, the idea of joining a gym just never felt right. But at the same time, I knew it was time to do something to lose the extra weight and add a little tone to my upper body.
Sitting up late one night I watched one of the many infomercials about the Ab Rocket Twister. Struck with how easy the models made it look to use, I ordered one in the hopes it worked half as well as it did on television. After reading a number of not so helpful ab rocket twister reviews, I decided to write up a review to share.
What You Get in the Package
When you order the Ab Rocket Twister, you get what looks a lot like a custom designed chair that sits on rails. The padding is actually a set of rollers that are designed to massage your body while you exercise. The official description of the Ab Rocket states you get:
- Abdominal chair that is designed to give your upper abs, lower abs, and oblique’s a workout.
- A backrest made from padded rollers designed to massage your body while you workout.
- A padded swivel seat made to twist and turn your lower abs which will strengthen your inner core.
- 3 resistance levels including yellow, blue, and red, which are low, medium, and high.
- 4 fat busting workouts on DVD
- 1 low calorie meal planner
My First Impressions
When the Ab Rocket Twister arrived, I opened the box and could not help but fall in love with the bright red color. The entire device appeared to be solidly built and felt well-made as I pulled it out of the box. According to the manufacturer, using the Rocket for as little as five minutes a day would help me lose weight and tone my upper body. The Rocket is designed to let you do traditional crunches, oblique exercises, and reverse crunches.
The Twister is simple to put together and can be completely assembled in less than half an hour. Once put together, the entire device does not take up much room. This makes a nice change when compared to some of the other exercise machines being offered today.
Although five minutes might not seem like a very long time when it comes to an exercise regimen, if you are following the proper form, it can feel more like an eternity. Sitting down on it for the first time and twisting around the bearings seem to be fairly smooth and there is ample padding for most people. However, the design makes it hard for some people to fit into and it may not offer sufficient back support for everyone. This is very important, if you find that you are not getting enough back support, you may want to return the Ab Rocket and choose a different type of exercise equipment. Thanks to the included videos and variable resistance bands, ab workouts can be a lot of fun.
You can also exercise your lower back muscles while working out. The swivel motion offer you a chance to enjoy a different type of exercise once you get the movements down, which can take a while to master.
Pros and Cons of the Ab Rocket
| Pros | Cons |
| Well made | Takes time to master the moves |
| Fun to use | Can be bad for those with back problems |
| Multiple resistance bands | Tends to be unstable |
| Effective | Needs adjustments to help fit more body sizes |
An Alternative to Consider
One of my favorite ab trainers is the Ab Carver Pro. It’s not the same thing exactly, but it attacks the same muscle group. It’s a simple enough ab roller device, but it’s been my go-to device for close to a year now.
This might also be a better solution for those needing to strengthen their back as well. The nice thing about a roller like this is that you can really calibrate it to your comfort level. In other words, if you don’t have to do a full dip to start. You can learn more about the Ab Carver here.
Final Take – Worth the Money?
In general, the Ab Rocket Twister seems to be a good exercise machine for anyone just getting started and needing a little extra back support during his or her ab workout. However, if you have a back problem, you may find this device can cause back pain.
One thing that can be said of the Rocket is that it definitely works as advertised, in other words you can feel the effects of using it after a few days of consistent use. Warning, if you do not learn the movements and continue to do them incorrectly, you can injure yourself. Use the enclosed videos to learn how to use the Ab Rocket Twister and you will soon find yourself looking forward to your daily workout.
As a final warning, don’t give in to the temptation to keep swiveling away far past the recommended time, which I found easy to do. If you do you are likely to be extremely sore the next day. Overall a good exercise machine as long as you use it properly and know what to expect from it.