With there being so many ab miracle machines and what not on the market, it's pretty hard to find out which ones work for you and which ones will waste a lot of time and money, especially since most don't have an easy trial offer.

That's why I'm going to inform you of 3 ways to waste your hard-earned money on ab exercise equipment with the intent that you'll stay away from them.

1. Buying one of those ab gadgets from a late night tv program rather than getting a stability exercise ball.

This is what those ab gimmicks DON'T do:

-work every muscle in your core (no matter what the company tells you)

-burn belly fat

- work anymore muscles than a standard crunch (that doesn't cost a penny)

Here's what the stability exercise ball DOES do:

- forces you to tighten your entire core to balance during workouts

-it's mobile enough to use with many different exercises that encourage the loss of belly fat

-works all of your core muscles at once (from your abs to your back)- far more than you can reach doing a basic crunch

2. Not using the ab equipment frequently enough, or at all.

Ok, I know that sounds pretty obvious but I've known people to do this and the ab machines just end up sitting in an extra room collecting dust. Maybe it's not what they had expected, maybe the return process is a hassle, maybe they didn't have the time they thought they'd have to use it; either way, it becomes clutter.

On the flip side, I've known people who buy ab machines, use them quite a bit at first, then here and there but then give up because they're not getting the results they were promised or they don't look like the professionally trained fitness model shown on the infomercial. (Think about it, do you really believe those fitness models got the bodies they have by using an ab roller gadget?)

3. Not eating enough of the proper foods.

My saying for losing fat and getting your six pack abs to show is DIET IS KING! This weight loss factor is extremely responsible for the inches of belly fat you have (or don't have) on top of your abs.

If you are eating fast food or processed foods, it won't matter that you spend hours at the gym a week exercising because an unhealthy diet will not produce the result of lean, six pack abs. Honestly, you'll be wasting a lot of time just burning off the junk food and not much more. You don't want to be stuck in that unfulfilling cycle.

On the other extreme, if you're not eating enough (because of a "low" whatever diet you're on or you've decided to starve yourself to lose fat) then I really need to tell you that you're doing a lot of harm to your body.

By not consuming enough food, you're not properly feeding your

muscles to maintain themselves. You end up losing all that muscle mass. It is the job of your muscles to convert fat to energy but if they aren't well-fed, your body uses them for fuel.

So in reality, it won't matter how hard you work out on an exercise ball or any piece of equipment because your body will use your muscle for energy, not for burning fat.

If you have money to waste and don't really care if you're fit or not, then by all means, collect all the ab gadgets you want. But I know that's not you, so don't make these mistakes the next time you want to buy ab exercise equipment.