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The Captain’s Chair Workout is rated as one of the most effective and best abdominal exercises by a study conducted at San Diego State University’s Biomechanics Lab. Although a relatively easy exercise to learn and perform, not everyone has access to a Captain’s Chair or Power Tower device. However, there is an alternative to these exercise machines.

You can perform a similar abdominal exercise using a Grip-Lock exercise bar and two abdominal straps. This alternative equipment uses a door frame to allow you to perform exercises like knee raises and pull-ups. Two brands that sell the Grip Lock Bar and Abdominal Straps combo are:

• The Gold’s Gym Home Circuit
• And the Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar.

The benefits of using the Grip Lock bar and abdominal straps for this exercise are:

• The equipment is less expensive
• Allows you to do this workout at home
• Can be easily stored in a closet
• And it’s easy to mount on the matching door frame.

The disadvantages of this alternative are:

• There is no back support. You must take extra care to keep your spine straight and aligned with your neck.
• You may feel pain in your shoulders as your shoulder muscles are holding your body weight. This pain usually goes away after your shoulder muscles get stronger.

For this type of training bar, you will need a door frame that is 27.5 to 30 inches wide and 4.5 to 6 inches deep. The bar snaps easily and quickly to the door frame and supports a body weight of up to 250 lbs.

The Grip Lock Bar comes with an upper cross bar and a lower exercise bar. Use the following procedure to properly install the handle latch bar to a suitable door frame:

1. First attach the abdominal straps to each side of the lower exercise bar.
2. Pass the upper crossbar through an open doorway, leaving the lower exercise bar on the opposite side of the doorway.
3. Place the crossbar on the top edge of the door frame and slide the cross bar onto the edge of the door frame as far as it will go.
4. Then brace the ends of the exercise bar against the opposite side of the door frame.
5. If the door frame has a door attached, make sure the crossbar and door hinges are on the same side of the door frame.

After the exercise bar is properly installed on the appropriate door frame, use the following procedure for the knee raise exercise:

1. Slide your arms through the waist straps as far as possible.
2. Hold the handles to support yourself and keep your body stable.
3. Let your body sag while keeping your back straight and well aligned with your neck.
4. Keep your legs together.
5. Keeping your abs tight, focus on using your abs to lift your knees toward your chest.
6. On an inhale, raise your knees to your chest.
7. On an exhale, lower your legs back to the starting position.
8. First, do 10 repetitions at a time. Increase the number of repetitions as you get stronger.

This alternative to the Captain’s Chair abdominal workout will help you develop a muscular and flat stomach. And you can now do this exercise at home and with little investment in exercise equipment.

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