Ab-Doer Twist Abdominal Trainer

Over the years I've purchased a lot of exercise equipment, some costing 10 times as much as the Ab-Doer, and the story was always the same... They became doorstops and clothes racks in short order. The one exercise I was able to stick with was walking. Unfortunately, arthritic knees and ankles put an end to that. I started gaining weight and loosing muscle mass. My doctor kept urging me to find something I could do before things got any worse. I searched Amazon's large assortment of exercise equipment... Machines that required getting down on the floor were out. Machines that put strain on the leg joints were out. Large, gym sized machines were out (limited floorspace and budget). Finally, I came across the Ab-Doer Twist. It's listed here as a 'Abdominal Trainer', but on the manufacture's website it's listed as 'the 360-degree approach to total-body fitness', which I have found to be true. I had my doubts, but with Amazon's liberal return policy, I figured I had nothing to loose, so I ordered it. Without a doubt the best decision I've ever made as far as exercise equipment goes. I've used the Ab Doer a little over 7 months now (about 6 months longer than most the other exercise equipment I've purchased). When I unboxed it the first thing that struck me was how well it was built. Heavy gauge steel with full seam welds, not tack welds like a lot of other gear in this price range. Quality materials and construction throughout. Built to last. It comes with a training DVD which guides you through beginning, intermediate, and advanced exercise routines. When I started out, I could only do about half of the beginning exercise, now I do the advanced exercise, often twice daily. Once I learned the routines, I made a timed audio recording calling out each exercise, and put it on my phone. Now I listen to the recorded prompts, while watching TV. One set of advanced exercises, plus warm up and cool down, runs about 25 minutes, perfect match for a 30 minute TV show. To date I've lost about 20 pounds, strengthened the muscles in my arms, chest, abdomen and legs, and feel a heck of a lot better than I did before starting this exercise regiment. This is the first exercise that I've actually enjoyed doing and have no doubt that I'll stick with it for the foreseeable future. Oh yes, for what it's worth I'm 71 years old. Ab-Doer Twist Abdominal Trainer

I'm in my upper 40's w/ OA & RA, as well as skeletal and ligament diseases. I needed to find a piece of equipment that could accomodate my neeeds. I chose the abdoer as it lessens the impact on my back and neck.. At the end of the 1st month - my core was close to rock hard, by following the advanced exercises for 2 weeks.. I started out without the resistance bars, but eventually bought them which added a level of difficulty I defy a 4 year year old to be capable of handling (if used properly) - as I read in a previous review. Every morning, I pop in the DVD and follow along with the 20 min advanced exercises. within the first week I had noticed dramatic changes all over, not just in my core. My arms, glutes & legs all showed improvement, albeit - my core was by far the most I proved. I am now a dedicated abdoer user and if u follow the exercises on the DVD player for 20 mins ea morning, u too will notice a dramatic change in your core, among other areas. If used consistently & properly, the abdoer is well worth the time & effort u put into it. I highly recommend it to those with mobility issues who still want too reap the rewards of good exercise!

The ab doer twist is a nice machine to have if you are working on your abs. We, as a family, find it easy to use while watching tv. It supports your back well. I bought this for my parents anniversary and just about everyone in the house (6 of us) use it. It's fun and simple to set up if you follow the instructions. Once assembled it does fold nicely but not flat. Good deal if you don't want to go to the gym during your busiest time of year.

The Latest: We have attempted over and over to solve our problems with this seller. We returned the first unit and the replacement had the same and even more problems than the first. We are convinced the AbDoer we received was either used, or restored by undertrained mechanics. We plan to return the unit and will seek another unit from a more reliable seller. The unit is badly put together, unsafe and unreliable. We do believe in the product and will look for a first quality unit. We would normally rate this product at 5 Stars, except that there appear to be some problems. We are currently working with the seller re: these problems to work out the details. We have an older version of the Ab-doer, which we have worn out. We ordered the newer version and anxiously put it together and attempted to use it. It appears problematic, but we are using it anyway, trying to ascertain if any of these problems can be corrected. We love the Ab-Doer, and the new one should be even better. It works well as a back and stomach exercise. The new one is more aerobic oriented. We don't have a DVD player in our exercise room and will be purchasing one, as soon as we straighten this out. Currently we are using the older VCR tape as our exercise guide. I will return with a new review as soon as we learn more. ADDED: We eventually had to send our unit back to seller for a replacement. The replacement arrived with a bent back support. The seller sent us a new (used) one which we installed. We used the new unit 3 times and the roller assembly came apart. The seller is sending us a new one. In light of the many excellent reviews as to quality, I am wondering if we are just jinxed. I can't attest to the quality due to our problems and don't know what else can go wrong. The seller has been responsive and kept in touch with us, but I don't know if I would ever purchase this seller again. We will keep this one, as we know the program works for the back and stomach areas and we were so successful with our last one which we used and lasted for years until we plum wore it out.

Pros: appears to be built well, shipping was fast, assembly fairly easy Cons: After working with this a week and doing approximately 30 minutes a night I have a few problems. 1. Really doesn't work your abs, only side lats. 2. Resistance setting really doesn't work, I have it cranked to max and my 4 year old can do it. No resistance, no workout, very simple. Summary: I would recommend for the very elderly or people with very bad back problems but for normal folk there are better products. Very expensive to just provide a "slight" workout to your side lats. I am unsure why they named this the twister because the seat really needs to stay stationary to get even the slightest workout. I am out of shape horribly after a 2 year absence from working out and I feel no soreness at all. I also don't want to spend more money to buy an additional resistance rod, why put a resistance adjustment knob if it doesn't do anything?

Would you trust an 'abs' trainer if it came from someone who calls himself John Abdo? Well... the John Abdo I saw in the training videos appears to be a nice person, not over-ripped and his exercise routines are probably the only ones where you end up sweating while sitting on a chair. But, let's talk about the Ab-doer and its worth. ASSEMBLY, BUILT QUALITY (4 out of 5) Assembly wasn't over difficult. There is one bolt/nut pair that needs tightening and, I believe 5 pins. I wish the instructions were more clear and the parts were labelled but I ended up with a fully assembled Ab-doer in a little less than 30 minutes. With better instructions/labeling it should have taken half that long. The end-product is a pretty good looking little apparatus if 'orange' doesn't clash with the surrounding. The Ab-doer is well built, all parts fit and it appears to be durable. WHAT YOU GET AND WHAT YOU ARE NICKEL AND DIMED FOR (2 out of 5) The Amazon product description appears to be a little out of date. You do NOT get 4 DVDs and 3 manuals. The DVDs were consolidated into one single disc that has the intro and the 3 workouts as separate chapters and the manual booklet has everything in one place: assembly instructions, diet plan, mini cookbook, illustrations for the various motions, warranty statement and so forth in English, French and Spanish. All nice and good but the problems is what you DON'T get. For what we are paying, I don't understand why the 'extreme' exercise routine on DVD, the Power Resistance Kit (a bunch of bungees), the resistance rods (yes, 3 metal rods) and the tri-roller (a set of THREE rollers to replace the one that comes standard) need to be purchased separately at significant additional costs. The one-year warranty promises to replace defective parts unless the unit broke because unsupervised children under 18 used it or it was abused, modified or used for commercial purposes. Nothing broke so far so I can't tell how good they are at honoring it. USING THE AB-DOER, WHAT TO EXPECT (4 out of 5) This is a product that's best used in front on the TV, at least for the first couple dozen sessions. And you won't be watching the news. Each session - and it can be 'beginner', 'intermediate' or 'advanced' is fully covered by Mr. Abdo and team, from warm up, the core workout and the post-workout stretching. The workouts are quite fun and all they require is a little movement coordination. Practice makes better and, while following the team on your TV screen, you can control the intensity of your workout. Absent the optional resistance rods, you can still control the seat's swivel resistance via a dedicated knob. The one problem with the apparatus is its weight. It needs to be heavy and stable because you are going to lean back and do vigorous twists. That makes it not easy to move around and, since you may want to have it someplace in front of a TV - in most cases the living room - you may have to move it frequently. The Ab-doer is NOT easy to move. I can't say how effective these exercises are because I've only used the Ab-doer for a couple of weeks. You will probably burn more calories on a treadmill but you do get a much better abs workout with the 'doer' and you get it while sitting on a chair. Not bad. MY RATING I am going to rate this a 3-star which means "It's okay". It's not a 5-star mainly because of the 'extras' that you learn you may need only after you buy what turns out to be the 'basic' configuration. Some buyers, and I'm one, may consider this version of the Ab-doer to be 'incomplete'. Other than that, even with the basic machine the workouts are fun for as long as you have sufficient space in front of your TV and you don't mind moving a heavy chair-like object around. I bought mine for about half the list price at a lightning deal and, for what I paid, this was a good buy. -- >> Brush your teeth, it's the law! <<

We got an elliptical trainer, and I was using it every day. Unfortunately, my lower back started killing me--to the point I had trouble standing up straight when I walked. I did some research and found that people with flexible hips and weak core muscles often had this result, so I bought the Ab doer. All I do are 5-10 minutes of the beginning exercises a day, followed by my elliptical, but the difference was almost immediate and very noticeable. I feel great, and my back has been fine. I'm a believer. I even made my mother buy one for her core strength. Edit: I am a 5'11" tall, slim woman, and the other person trying to use the machine is a 6'2" tall, very large man (with his height in his body). He can't do some of the exercises because in some positions his shoulders would have to fit between part of the handlebars, and they most decidedly do not. We already have the handlebars up as far as they go, so there is no fix for him. If I were reviewing this machine just for how useful it is for my friend, I would give it 2 or 3 stars.

I was pretty skeptical about purchasing this machine, but I have been looking for something that I can do while sitting. I figured I would give it a try since it was far less expensive and very unique from anything else I have seen. I just LOVE this exerciser. I am very large woman (over the weight limit for the machine) but I have had no problems at all. My husband and daughter also love it. Within one week of doing the daily fundamental workout which takes about 10 minutes or less, I felt so much stronger and longer and had more basic endurance walking and standing. The machine works on your core muscles but you can feel it in your arms and legs. I wish I had purchased the accessory package, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't wasting my money on the original purchase first. I am not ready for that yet, but I know I will be and I can hardly wait. The Ab-Doer sits in my front room next to my couch. It folds down so that it is barely noticeable. It is sturdy and so far has done exactly what it has claimed. This has been a great investment for me.

This is really good gets your heart rate going I lost 5lb in the first week doing 40 minutes per day and eating low calorie foods, I've bought other exercise equipment in the past and they ended up just hanging my clothes on them with this Abdoer twist I love using it and really feel it working with n the muscles you can't usually get too! Arrived within a week it's great

Love this product helps to trim the waist with minimal effort

See above product was hard to put together and still can't get handle grip to fit in handle bar. The handle grips are different. We need help!!! My son and I have been trying for 2 hours, please help.

doing good result

We called Thaine the company that makes them and they would not honor the defect. It was partly assembled from the factory but a part was assembled backwards. My husband had to take it apart and put it on properly.