The Ab-circle Pro was a great buy. More than I normally spend at £125 for one piece of equipment, I saw one of those 10 minute American adverts and decided I wanted abs like that!

The assembly was straight forward and comes with instructions and knee pads, though its more common sense than through the instructions that you put it together.. You kneel on the pads and use your core to swivel from side to side to strengthen your upper and lower abs. Lower abs are notoriously hard to tone and this machine really helps - I would not say that this machine works wonders, you need to do normal sit ups to aid the muscle tone.

There are only two real draw backs from my experience: one is that its not gentle on the knees, really recommend wearing trousers as opposed to shorts, its not that soft. I made the mistake of adding a tea towel for softness, then I slipped off as it did not have the appropriate grip I landed on my knee and limped for a week! - Note to self, add thick trousers to yourself, not padding to the machine. The other disadvantage of this machine (only when you are a beginner) is that you naturally use your body weight to swing from side to side, not only does this un-anchor the machine and make you feel like you are going to fall off, but you do not use your core.

A great advantage, however is that it really tones your arms and shoulders, as you swing you hold the handlebars, which are adjustable for your height, and you tend to use them to hold and steady yourself; the result is lovely toned biceps and shoulders. For me, it took about two weeks to see the results, and that's from a 5 mins work out each day after work. If you do this exercise properly your abs will really ache the second day of use, it hurts when you sneeze but it's a satisfying ache, knowing that you have used the correct muscles - if it doesn't hurt you are not doing it right!

It also comes with an instructional DVD, its good for a laugh and does show you how to use the machine, but I think you get in your own rhythm and chose your own work out. The DVD is typically American and shows you several different ways to tone, they all work as long as you stick at it. If you stop using it for a few days you lose the muscle tone so I top up my abs with sit ups on the side. All in all a good purchase that I'm glad I made. Golden rule, position your core directly abve the middle of the machine, if you swing your tummy it wont work. I award this ab-circle pro 4 out 5 dooyoo points!