Okay. I had a client ask me what my favorite exercise was (which is like asking my what my favorite song is…) so this post was going to be a list of what some of them are.
But I just saw something so ridiculous while I was watching TV with my girlfriend and it reminded (again) of how much crap is out there in the fitness world.
Remember this gem?
The gadget in question was the infamous infomercial for the Shake Weight. A “special” dumbbell, “specifically engineered for women…” instead of “big machines designed to create bulky muscles…”
Now I know that most reasonable people will pay as much attention to this commercial as the next “as seen on tv” thing (save for the suggestive exercise they continuously demonstrate), but it highlights a few things that really bother me about the fitness industry.
First,
the company manufacturing this product must have some major bucks to pour into marketing because they even got The View (one of the worst shows in the history of television to obtain fitness advice).
Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaNmumXGylQ
I don’t watch The View at all so I can’t be sure if they were being serious or sarcastic but…it seems to me that although the audience took it as a joke, the hosts were genuinely trying to push the product. This bothers me about shows like this. Instead of using their position to expose the audience to real information that will help them lose fat, they choose to push anything they’re paid too…
…even if their own audience doesn’t take them seriously.
Second,
The message in the commercial itself. Fitness marketers of questionable products and services often prey on an unfounded fear many women have of feeling weak and intimidated by weights, gyms, and working out in general. The “make you bulky/long and lean” line is a classic propaganda tool having nothing to do with truth or science and more to do with fitness companies scaring women from weight training.
The simple fact is an intense exercise program consisting of weight and interval training coupled with an integrated nutritional program is the only recipe to be lean and toned (sorry but muscles don’t lengthen without surgical intervention unfortunately) and reap all of the health benefits including improved heart health, strength, and bone density to name a few.
It comes down to this.
Fitness should be fun but that doesn’t mean you need to purchase those crazy gadgets out there and every gadget isn’t exactly safe to use.
Here are the five worst fitness gadgets and machines I have ever seen from the bad to the most ridiculous…
5. Elliptical
This machine isn’t totally useless. However, out of all of the cardio choices out there it burns the least amount of calories and translates the least to functional movement. Yet somehow it remains to be one of the most popular devices people choose.
I do admit to one good use for it. People who are recovering or have chronic injuries may only be able to use it because of the low impact nature.
4. Ab Trainer
This thing…is unfortunately occupied at every chain gym I’ve been to. There are two main forms of it. The floor model and the bench model.
Both equally useless.
It promotes even less core activation than a regular crunch by acting as a crutch for the simple movement of flexing the trunk. It also gives people yet another reason to perform another trunk flexion exercise which they do not need.
3. Bosu Ball
Again, the bosu ball isn’t necessarily a bad piece of equipment. It’s has more to do with the exercises people choose to do on them. Stability training has it’s place in a varied exercise plan but heavy squats, jumping around on them etc. is not one of them.
2. Abdominal Crunch Machine
Now this machine is literally garbage and I see people using it ALL OF THE TIME. Not only does it further promote more trunk flexion which people usually do way too much anyway, but it places some of the most dangerous strain on the lower back.
1. Abductor Machine
Another machine that appears to have an endless waiting line and is also utterly useless. It doesn’t convert to any natural movement of the body. It also doesn’t produce any substantial muscle activation to increase metabolism and burn fat. The popularity of this thing is directly proportional to the belief of the “spot reduction myth”, which refers to decreasing fat in one specific area of the body by exercising that particular muscle. Which is of course, false.
So there you have my list of the top five bad exercise gadgets out there. For my next post I’ll give you a list of better options to use instead. However I’m sure more bad ones exist out there that I’ve forgotten or don’t know about.
Do you have an exercise machine or gadget you can’t stand let us know what it is and why?
