I am a 31 year old intermediate exerciser with pretty weak abs. I have been looking for a short, effective abs workout using the stability ball that doesn't make me feel like I'm wasting a lot of time. Unfortunately, Awesome Abs on the Ball is not that workout. That doesn't mean I'm ready to trade it away yet--it's a good workout, just not as efficient as I would like it to be.

I have done this video twice now. The first time I made it about 1/3 of the way through--then she started doing a move I thought was incredibly advanced and I quit. The move involved lying on your back with your feet up on the ball, elevating your midsection so your body is in a straight line, and then raising your legs off the ball, one by one. The second time I fast forwarded through that move and continued through to the end.

This video contains ab moves that I would consider fairly advanced, including lots of v-sit ups from a lying down position. There are also inverted v's (also known as pikes I think) where you're in a push up position with the ball under your feet and then you roll the ball towards your hands so your body forms a V with only your toes on the ball. Part of my frustration was from the fact that I am not yet able to do any of these moves. Some of the moves that I *am* able to do, like regular crunches with your back on the ball, were taught in a way that made them seem not very challenging at all. I think Gin Miller's stability ball tapes do a better job with these. Also, Gin does a much better job with stretching. There is almost no stretching in this tape which I found a serious shortcoming.

I picked up this video because it was only supposed to be about 20 minutes to half an hour. Unfortunately, much of that time is spent stopping while she explains the form for the next move. Even on the second viewing, I was bored by this and had to fast forward. This is a problem with virtually every stability ball tape I have tried. I wish they had two sections--an instructional section, and then, once you've learned all that, a workout section with minimal instruction or form pointers only while the exercise is being executed. It might make more sense as well to have a different person performing the exercises from the one who is leading the workout, kind of like in some yoga videos I have seen.

Diana