I haven't seen the article myself but I'd be willing to bet that the 'study' being quoted is not a published one; rather it is a study that the manufacturers of the device in question PAID to have done, in other words, they asked the university to do a study on their device that shows their machine to be more effective than crunches. I would take those studies with a GIGANTIC grain of salt!

The tobacco industry is famous for this - they have had hundreds of studies done by universities and independent labs over the years, showing that smoking cigarettes does not cause cancer and can actually be healthful! ahhh...riiiiight.

I advise you to stick with crunches, and be advised of this old bodybuilders' saying: "Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym". In other words, you can have the strongest abs in the world but working your abs is not going to make you burn bodyfat. Most of those models with the six-packs in the ads are professional fitness models whose bodyfat is hovering around 6-8% (men) or 9-13% (women). Rest assured that they did NOT accomplish that low body fat through any of those devices you see advertised in infomercials and magazines!

In addition, abdominal fat is usually the most difficult and the last fat to be lost. Body fat loss is very much "first on, last off" - usually the stomach area is the first place that extra fat is stored by your body and it will be the last to go when you're losing it.

Given that, it IS a good thing to have strong abs as they support your upper body. The key is in good form and technique. Don't just do a bunch of fast sit-ups or crunches - while you're doing them concentrate on those ab muscles, try and push your bellybutton down to the floor while you're crunching. Don't jerk your head forward with your arms - try to make sure all the work is being done by your ab muscles.

The latest issue of Muscle Media is devoted to abs, you may want to go to Safeway and thumb through it. Some great workouts and tips in there - and a lot cheaper at $5.99 vs. spending megabucks on another overhyped device that will probably sit in your closet after the first couple of weeks.