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Welcome to Tonal Tuesday...

Everyone wants abs.

Almost nobody gets them.

The biggest reason is diet. Most people never get their body fat low enough to see their abs in the first place.

But here's the part nobody talks about: even with low body fat, you won't build a well-defined six-pack by balancing on a bench while yanking on a cable.

That's what the Seated Cable Crunch on Tonal has you doing with the "official" setup. You're not training your abs. You're training your balance.

Sit upright and try to crunch. The weight pulls you up and back. Now you're fighting the cable instead of squeezing your abs.

That's not core strength; that's surviving a bad setup.

Dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight isn't going to cut it. Move reference anyone?

Real ab work means shortening and lengthening the muscle. That takes spinal flexion and extension, and the seated setup gives you neither.

(Tonal's previous setup was actually better. When they change something like this, it's usually a legal call, not a fitness one.)

I filmed a quick video showing the fix, from bad to better to best. And since I'm the judge, jury, and executioner at Action Jackson Fitness...

...I didn't have to run anything by legal for approval before filming this video.

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❌ Bad: Seated upright. No leverage, no real ab work. All balance.

✅ Better: Kneeling. Stable base, full spinal flexion, and you can add resistance without getting yanked off the bench.

🏆 Best: Lying on a Bosu Ball Balance Trainer with the rope. Your spine starts stretched over the ball, so your abs work through the longest range of motion with the most resistance.

Give the better and best options a shot and let me know which you prefer.

And lastly, if you own a Tonal and your body still doesn't match the work you're putting in, this page was written for you.

Keep taking action,

Coach Jackson