Rick Poston invented this Vertical AB Blaster in 1988. Rick started doing sit ups in high school. As a Junior he broke the regular sit up record in Toledo Ohio at the Boys Club doing 2100 consecutive elbow to knee type sit ups. To add resistance to his sit ups Rick made an incline sit-up board at home of about 60 degrees. As they became easy he then started using a 25 lb. plate behind his head.

Over the years Rick had developed a fine set of abdominals. Rick realized that his abs had progressed but were not yet what he truly wanted, "the world's best abs". Poston then bought a pair of inversion boots, 60 degrees had been the improvement, and 180 degrees would be the ultimate. This was also improved even more by adding weight.

Poston knew the "old school" way of doing hundreds, even thousands of sit-ups daily was not the way to achieve the ultimate abs. The only draw back was that you tended to swing with the inversion boots and there was a possibility of the boots slipping out. Poston then invented the Vertical AB Blaster and the rest is history. Poston holds the world record of 37 reps with 100lb plate. This helped Rick Poston become Mr. America; he was also dubbed "The Wizard Of The Washboard".