I'm going to put my 2 cents in anyway. Ihate crunches too, sowent out and got the ab dolly and I think that it definely works your ab muscles without doing crunches. But the ab dolly does work. However, I think that one of the replies was right, when they said that you have to lose fat and gain muscle in order to see the results of any kind of ab exercise. But just to say, I really like the ab dolly as a subsitute for crunches. But diet and exercise are of extreme importance.