Abs for over 50

I make believe that I'm in my forties, and everyone that I work with actually believe that, but I'm quite a bit older.

In addition I have a herniated umbilicus--it's not bad.  And I do crunches with my hands across my belly button....just to make sure it doesn't get worse.

Add to that, that I really hate just putting my feet under a couch and doing crunches.  I simply don't like sitting on the floor. 

So, any recommendations for at "at home" ab device that truly works?  Or must I just get down and get crunchin?  There are plenty that say they work, are there any that do?  (I'd prefer something less than $150.

Thanks

I own a pair of hanging straps that allow me to do hanging leg lifts, one of the best exercises for abs development.  You can do them with or without a light (5 pound dumbbell held between your feet) weight.  I carry the straps with me where ever I train, because most gyms don't have them.  A heavy-duty pair costs about $60, but you can find lighter straps for under $40.

Scott "Old Navy" Hults, NFPT-CPT; NGA-CPT FAME, NGA & IDFA Natural Master Pro Bodybuilder FAME, NGA & OCB Contest Judge [image]http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6610/shlogo2hor8tk.jpg[/image]

I'll probably suggest buying yourself a gym/swiss ball, and doing crunches on it. You can resistance once you are ready by either adding a dumbell either to back of your head, or on your chest.

But as I'm guessing, are you trying to lose the fat around your adominals? If you are, crunches won't actually remove fat, but rather build muscle for it. If you want to lose fat around it, you need to do a combination of a good diet, with resistance training/cardio. Hope this helps.

I bought an incline/decline bench at Wal-Mart for about $50.  Works great either flat or declined, and I was able to add incline and decline dumbell presses to my workout as well.

Get a kitchen style chair and place it next to a bed or couch. Turn the chair sideways and sit on it facing the couch or bed so the back of the chair is at your side. Hook your feet under the couch and do your crunches that way.