Fitness

A Trainer on the 1 Trendy Piece of Fitness Equipment She’d Never Use

Published

1 week ago

November 17, 2025

A Trainer on the 1 Trendy Piece of Fitness Equipment She’d Never Use

TODAY’s Never Have I Ever series offers guidance about procedures and practices our trusted health experts would never participate in. Discover why they should be avoided and which healthy practices you should turn to instead.

Maybe you saw it tucked away in the corner of your gym, or perhaps it caught your eye when an impressively toned influencer used it on social media.

The allure of this particular piece of fitness equipment isn’t new — but it also hasn’t gone away. In an age when people are rightly focused on building core strength, a tool that claims to work multiple muscles at once is certainly tempting.

But certified personal trainer and TODAY fitness contributor Stephanie Mansour is staying far away from this one, she says.

Never Have I Ever: Used an Ab Wheel

An ab wheel, sometimes called an ab roller, is a small, relatively inexpensive and deceptively simple piece of fitness equipment.

To use one, you’ll hold on to either side of a wheel, get into a plank position, and hold that position while you roll the wheel back and forth in front of you.

“It’s a positive in that it is meant to help you engage all of your ab muscles,” Mansour tells TODAY.com, including the rectus abdominus, internal and external obliques, as well as the deeper transverse abdominus muscles.

If that sounds challenging, it is, Mansour says. And that’s why she’ll never use one.

An ab wheel might be an appropriate challenge for someone who already has a “super, super strong core,” Mansour says, on top of expert balance and muscle control.

“If you’re an experienced exerciser, you could probably do this the right way,” she explains. “But for someone just starting out, or even someone like me who is experienced, this isn’t my first choice for how to work my abs.”

The problem is that many people who try to use ab wheels aren’t advanced enough in their fitness journey to use them correctly. And, as Mansour found out firsthand, using them incorrectly can put you at risk for injury.

Over a decade ago, Manosur tried using an ab wheel. “And I threw my back out trying to use this thing,” she says.

“You can easily do it incorrectly because you’re only using your hands to hold on to a very small surface area,” Mansour explains. “It’s very easy to go too far, to go too fast and to be kind of jerky with it,” she says.

If you don’t have the strength, control and balance to keep yourself up, you could find yourself in a tricky situation with your arms outstretched and no way to pull them back. “There’s really no checks and balances,” she adds.

What to Do Instead

For people who are interested in using an ab wheel but aren’t advanced enough, Mansour recommends working on other core exercises first — including those that engage multiple muscles at once, like the roller.

Start by working on core exercises that challenge you to hold yourself up with fewer points of contact on the ground, like holding a plank with one arm or one leg outstretched, Mansour suggests.

You could also work on shoulder taps in a high plank position, which similarly “mimic what you’ll be doing with the ab roller,” she says. Try alternating side planks as well, which challenge your balance and engage the obliques.

Consider using sliders under your hands or feet to add some additional balance work to your core moves.

If you are really intent on using an ab roller, Mansour suggests starting by just rolling it out and back an inch at a time to get used to the movements and to gauge your strength. She also recommends starting out on your knees in a modified plank rather than in a fully outstretched plank.

“If you’re really curious, don’t let me scare you,” she says. “But just know that you’ve got to be cautious as you’re starting off.”

Personally, though, with so many other effective ways to work your core, Mansour isn’t looking to get back to the ab wheel anytime soon.

Fitness

One minute of this exercise could be ‘six times better’ than walking for heart health, scientists reveal in new study

Published

2 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

One minute of this exercise could be ‘six times better’ than walking for heart health, scientists reveal in new study

Movement is key to longevity. We bang on about it a lot, but it really is the best thing we can do for our physical and mental health in the short and long term. But how much movement we should be doing is up for discussion.

Studies have shown that exercising for long periods of time isn’t always necessary, which is good news, as so many of us are busy and time-poor. Now, new research shows that even just one minute of intense exercise is better for our heart health than walking for much longer amounts of time.

This new study found that one minute of vigorous intensity activity gives the same overall health benefits as around eight minutes of moderate intensity activity and 53 to 156 minutes of light intensity exercise, such as walking. Vigorous exercise could include brisk walking, running, climbing the stairs, fast cycling, dancing or any other activity that gets your heart rate up and leaves you out of breath.

The team behind this new study, published in Nature Communications, states that previous studies using fitness trackers found that “vigorous activity may be considerably more time efficient than moderate or light intensity activities in producing cardiovascular and metabolic adaptations”. To further prove this, they used 73,485 participants, with a mean age of 61, and asked them to wear a device 24 hours a day for seven days.

The researchers say their findings are in “stark contrast” to the often cited ratio of 1:2 minutes for vigorous and moderate intensity exercise. The NHS uses this ratio for its online exercise guidelines, where it recommends adults aged 19 to 64 do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week.

The authors say: “These findings are particularly relevant for adults at high risk of disease, or those who are time poor, and suggest different health promotion strategies. For example, exercising at different intensities or completing light intensity daily activities such as household tasks, stair climbing, or light strolling could be interspersed with short bursts of fast walking for a more impactful physical activity session.”

The findings come just a few months after woman&home reported on another study using fitness trackers on participants, which found that short one-minute bursts of vigorous exercise helped us all live longer. Researchers from the University of Sydney reviewed 3,293 American adults with an average age of 51 from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who didn’t do any structured exercise.

What counts as vigorous intensity exercise?

The key to getting the benefits of vigorous intensity exercise is doing it at the right level. You’ll know you’re working hard enough when you can only say a couple of words without pausing for a breath, and you’re starting to sweat after a few minutes.

If you wear a fitness tracker, make sure you’re in 80 to 100% of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age).

Should we still be walking?

Absolutely. While more studies are proving significant health benefits can be seen with short bursts of exercise, walking should still be included in your exercise regimen. Regular walking workouts will be better than doing one minute of vigorous intensity exercise every few days, that’s for sure.

There are so many benefits of walking. It’s great for maintaining muscle mass, mobility and flexibility as we age. It’s free and accessible for everyone, whatever your age or fitness level. Plus, getting a good amount of steps in each day will improve your sleep, blood pressure and stress levels.

As mentioned above, walking briskly will bring greater health benefits, but anything you can do will make a difference. A study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that women who averaged at least 4,400 steps a day had a significantly reduced mortality rate compared to those who took 2,700 steps. As the number of steps increased, the mortality rate decreased, up to 7,500 steps.

If you’re new to exercising, speak to a personal trainer and your GP first to make sure your regime is tailored to your individual needs and health.

Fitness

Local gym providing more space for exercise in South Salt Lake

Published

20 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Local gym providing more space for exercise in South Salt Lake

SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Inside Define Fitness, Valeria Macias gets the gym ready for the next class, creating a space not just for movement, but a place for everyone to feel welcome.

After being a personal trainer in Millcreek, she decided to open her own gym. Her dream became a reality when she opened Define Fitness’s doors in March of 2025.

“I just really wanted to make lifting and pilates accessible to women,” she said. “I want to break the barriers down for fitness. I want people to feel welcome.”

She provides strength training, pilates and personal training classes for people of all skill levels.

“It’s good exercise to keep me sane,” she said. “Pilates is really well known for deep core work and getting your breathing in check.”

“We just want to get some good energy and movement going before you head back to your family and have a nice big meal.”

She will be holding a Thanksgiving Day class on November 27 at 9 a.m.

Anyone interested can register for it online here.

Fitness

Most Preschoolers Aren’t Getting Enough Daily Exercise, Study Finds

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Press Room

Most Preschoolers Aren’t Getting Enough Daily Exercise, Study Finds

Key Takeaways

Fewer than 1 in 4 preschoolers met daily movement goals in a UK study
Kids moved more at daycare, but not enough overall
Experts suggest that early childhood activity shapes long-term health

TUESDAY, Nov. 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Most kiddos ages 2 to 4 aren’t moving nearly enough each day, even when they attend preschool, a new UK study finds.

Researchers tracked the activity levels of 419 preschoolers in England and Scotland using special activity belts called accelerometers. These devices recorded how much children moved during school days and days spent at home.

Fewer than 1 in 4 children, about 23%, reached the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of 180 minutes of daily physical activity. Even fewer, only 2.4%, met the goal of at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day.

Children were more active on days they attended daycare and preschool settings, moving about 15 minutes more per day compared to days spent outside of care.

But most children were still not active enough overall, either at school or at home.

Boys were more likely to meet activity targets than girls, with 8% more boys hitting the guidelines. Older preschoolers also tended to be more active than younger ones.

Outside of daycare or preschool settings, children from less deprived backgrounds were more active than children from more deprived families.

But when kids were in early care and school settings, those differences mostly disappeared, showing these settings can help reduce gaps in physical activity.

“These findings highlight a critical gap in physical activity among preschoolers,” Kim Hannam, a research fellow at the University of Bristol in England and senior author of the study, said in a news release.

“While early years settings provide a more active environment, most children are still not achieving the movement levels needed for healthy growth and development,” she added.

“Our study highlights the need for coordinated strategies between policymakers, educators and families to support early childhood physical activity.”

University of Bristol professor Ruth Kipping, warned that low activity in early childhood may affect long-term health.

“Low levels of physical activity in early childhood can impact on children’s healthy development and increase the risk of a range of chronic conditions in later life,” she said.

“Early years settings play an important role in promoting physical activity and reducing inequalities, especially as government-funded childcare expands. However, the low proportion of children meeting activity guidelines highlights the need for continued investment and research to support healthy development in the early years,” she added.

The study was led by the University of Bristol, working with researchers from the University of Birmingham, University of Glasgow and Cardiff University, and was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

It was published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health on Nov. 24.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on child activity.

SOURCE: University of Bristol, news release, Nov. 21, 2025