Ok, this covers a variety of “beauty” contraptions, but it’s still amusing…

This ad’s been making the rounds on the internet, so forgive me if you’ve already seen it.

I couldn’t resist showing this to my husband and kids.  They all looked incredulous, but no one said anything until Ryan guffawed, “That is soooo rude!” 

Out of the mouths of babes (ok, he’s 19 – but still…)!

But beyond that, there are two obvious points to make about the Shake Weight:

1. Excess arm fat in the upper arm area will only be lost via a sustained caloric deficit (spot reducing is a myth). 
2. Exercise for muscular development (even “toning”) needs to be progressive. Unfortunately, adaptation to whatever stimulus provided by the Shake Weight will occur pretty quickly.

Ultimately, if you want “strong, sexy, sculpted arms and shoulders”, then you have to do exercises that will build strength… it’s that simple.   If you train to be strong (whole body – not just arms), all you have to do is to tweak your diet and the “sexy, sculpted” part will (eventually) take care of itself.

Nintendo released the Wii in late 2006. I have two teenagers, and both are gamers, so naturally, they wanted one. We said “ok” – but there was no way to get one in time for Xmas…the consoles were “hot” and were sold out within minutes of delivery at the usual retail outlets.  And “mother love” only goes so far: there was no way in Hell I was going to freeze my buns off, standing in line in front of “Best Buy” at 4 a.m., or pay 3x what the damn thing was worth, just to see their not-so-little faces light up on Xmas morning. I checked into a few places, then said “tough luck, kiddies” and that was that.

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Unfortunately, this isn’t a joke…

My First Treadmill – Fitness Fun for Kids by iPlay
Exercise—just my size! Fitness Fun is a range of fitness equipment for ages 3 and up. Each of our pieces is constructed of sturdy steel frames and features foam padding for safety and comfort. Whether burning off extra energy or pretend playing “just like Mom and Dad”, there’s no better way to show kids how fun it is to be fit!

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Check these out: getjumpingstilts.com/post.html (scroll down to check out the vid – lol)

I haven’t written about exercise gimmicks in a while, so I went looking around to see what I could find.  I stumbled over “Powerskips” – which were developed in Germany.  They’ve been around for a few years (long enough to garner a Wikipedia entry), but this is the first that I’ve heard of them. 

I gotta admit: these things would make cardio a hoot…assuming I didn’t put myself in the ER first. 

Like the Hawaii Chair in the last installment, the “Giddyup Core Exerciser” is yettanother core “workout” where the machine does the work for you.  In this case, you “saddle up” and the dual motors provide you with an effortless workout based on “counter-balance exercise.”  The idea here is that you have to contract your core muscles in order to retain your balance.  As the fitness babe in the infomercial chirps: “The most appealing aspect of this counterbalance motion is that the user is exercising without really doing anything.  There is no exertion from the user.”

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Are you stuck behind a desk all day?  The good news is that you can get fit while you work, without ever leaving your chair!  Or at least that’s what the makers of the “Hawaii Chair” would like you to believe.

What does the Hawaii Chair do?  It’s pretty simple, really: you sit on it, and the motorized seat swivels your hips around.  This is supposed to duplicate the motions performed by Hula dancers.  The result?  No less than a toned and trim waistline.  According to the sales spiel, the chair will give you a “complete fat-burning aerobic workout” that can “increase your heart rate by over 200%.”

Uh-huh.  Suuuuuure it does…  Continue Reading »

Jumping rope is a great cardiovascular exercise, for sure.  But if you can’t do it, then the folks selling “JumpSnap” have the perfect solution for you.

Or maybe not: it sure looks catchy, and the video is awesome.  But forget the background music and choreography for a moment and look a little closer at what everyone is doing…

That’s right.  They’re simply jumping up and down while waving a pair of talking handles around.  Can you get a good workout by jumping up and down?  Absolutely…but do you really need to fork out $59.95 for the privilege?  Even though I have two left feet, I’m quite certain I could manage to jump around without the handles and set of instructional DVDs, thank you very much.

Forget the gimmicks.  If you can’t jump rope, faking it with a pair of expensive (and useless) handles isn’t the solution.  The solution is to practice.  It won’t be long before you can keep going long enough to get in a solid cardio workout.