Featured Gimmick: The Bender Ball and The Bender Method

I am sure you have seen this infomercial on tv. This is from Master Trainer (please don't ask me what a Master Trainer is..... I have no idea) Leslee Bender. Apparently she has found a way to jack up you spine more than Pilates. Instead of herniating your discs from doing crunches, she suggests jamming a small ball into your back to increase the range of motion during crunching. Being a Master Trainer (I am actually beginning to giggle at that title), I am sure she realizes that doing this will cause a disc to herniate quicker. And also, since she is a Master Trainer, I am sure she is aware of this study:

Callaghan JP, McGill SM.
Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2001 Jan;16(1):28-37.

I am also sure that she has read pages 68-70 in Stuart McGill's book "Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance".

Let me be serious for a second. Their are quite a few products out there like this where they shove something in your lumbar and give some crazy sales pitch like the one in the video. You will see these products on tv, in magazines and even at gyms. Stay away! Crunching sucks! Crunching on junk like this sucks more.

DN