If you've been around VF for very long, you know that abs are my least favorite muscle group to work, so I can't exactly say that a 60 min. ab/back workout was "fun" for me. When I put aside my bias, however, I have to state that this is the most thorough ab workout I've ever seen or expect to see in the next millenium, and anyone who enjoys ab work will want to check it out.

This is a Greg Twombly production, so if you've ever seen a Cathe Friedrich, CIA or Christi Taylor video you will be familiar with the type of set and production. The music is standard Dynamix fare for the most part--I recognized the music from PowerMax and a few others, but the stretch segment featured some decent (i.e. not overly "dynamixed" if you know what I mean) versions of pop songs like "Sunny Came Home."

Trish is very fit, knowledgeable, and has a very pleasant, mellow voice. She is a physical therapist as well as a personal trainer, and perhaps because of that she includes lots of tips and variations of the moves for those with chronic back problems.

The structure of this no-nonsense workout is as follows, more or less:

Part I: "warm up" ab sets (6:30), lower ab focus + obliques (16:30), upper abs + obliques (8 min)
Part II: stabilization work (12:00) and back/spinal erector work (10:30), upper back (3:30) stretch (8:30)

The video comes with a series of flashcards with line drawings that illustrate many of the exercises demonstrated in the video. They are meant to help you vary your ab routine on a regular basis, or to remind you of the exercises when you travel.

There are a number of things that make this video different from other ab workouts on the market. First, the length. Few ab workouts have the time to be this thorough, and most that are anywhere near this long are broken up into several individual workouts. Certainly this one has the longest section for the spinal erectors I've ever seen.

Second, Trish gives constant form pointers and helpful imagery, and she demonstrates easier as well as more challenging variations of most of the exercises. For example, to make an exercise easier, she tells you to put one leg down or to add an arm or hand for support, or to make it more difficult you might remove supporting arms, cross them over your chest, or lift both legs instead of just one.

Because of this, I think this workout is appropriate for all levels, except that those who have done little abdominal training will likely not make it through such a long workout. Beginners will have to go slowly and work up to doing the whole thing.

What you'll notice most, though, is the sheer variety of moves. Some you've seen, some you haven't, some will look familiar but the positioning is different and makes it harder to cheat. There are faster sets, slower sets and isometric holds, as well as short stretches at several points in the workout. Trish says at the beginning of the tape that abs respond best when you change your ab exercises every three weeks, and this video certainly gives you plenty of ideas. Throughout the workout, Trish is always clear what part of the muscle is being targeted.

If asked to compare the stabilization section to other videos, I'd say it's most like Christi Taylor's in Strength, Balance and Flexibility--more athletic in focus than dancy.

Since many of you won't have 30-60 minutes to devote to ab work, you may be wondering whether this is a video you can break up into chunks to add some ab work onto another workout. I'd have to say this video is probably not ideal for that purpose. Parts I and II (30 min. each) could be done separately, and you could probably do just the stabilization work or just the back work in Part II, but I think Part I would be more difficult to split because of how it progresses from lower to upper abs. You could do lower one day and upper the next, but if you like to get a complete ab workout in one day, you'll want to save this one for when you have more time.

The nice, long stretch at the end of Ab Attack might be a good candidate for tacking on to another workout, though. Few workout videos of any type have a stretch section this thorough and enjoyable.

Even if you don't think you'd use the video very often due to its length, you should still consider checking this one out--her tips and intensity variations of the ab exercises are likely to come in handy to make all your ab workouts more or less challenging and more effective.

WWWendy