The holidays are over, and you didn’t stick to your diet as closely as you had planned. You’re feeling a little overweight and a little undertoned. You turn on the television and, as if by divine providence, there’s an infomercial promoting a fitness gadget and a quick fix for those unwanted pounds and extra inches.
The product claims to be new, but the pitch is anything but. In short, the gizmo makes exercise fun and requires minimal use for incredible results. If you don’t believe the sales pitch, just look at those before-and-after photos of people just like you who went from chunky to chiseled in no time.
Recalling those heavy holiday meals, you pinch your belly and think, “Why not?” After all, you’ve again resolved to get in shape in the coming year. And the gadget doesn’t cost nearly as much as that gym membership you bought last year and didn’t use beyond the first month or two.
Hesitate before you reach for your credit card and telephone, says Carey Long, director of training at Spectrum Fitness’ Southdowns location and author of KISS Fitness: Keep It Short & Simple.
Just because a revolutionary fitness gadget is being shilled on TV doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t work. Some do, he says, at least in the sense that they exercise targeted muscles. But there isn’t any product on the market that can get you totally fit without being used as part of a consistent exercise regimen and healthy diet.
“You might get a very temporary fix out of it, but you’re not going to become healthier or live longer, which is what real fitness is all about,” Long says. “The problem with these products is they’re like the drive-thru version of fitness. They don’t address the behavioral modification that needs to take place for any fitness routine to be effective.”
Gauging the effectiveness of fitness products is not easy. Unbiased scientific evidence on such products is scarce. The claims made by product manufacturers typically are loose examples of creative marketing.
“Most [products] are backed by research, but one has to question the quality of research and the careful use of wording,” says Fabio Comana, exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise. “For example, ‘results show up to an 80% increase’ could imply that all subjects showed a 5% increase, but one subject showed 80%. Ask yourself who sponsored the research.”
Mike Z. Robinson, ACE spokesman and an admitted Shake Weight user, says two people doing the same exercise often will see different results based on variances in their physique and overall health.
“If you’re creative enough, you can make a paper plate effective in a workout,” he says. “It’s not the products that make the results. It’s the knowledge of your body and your exercise regimen that will determine the effectiveness.”
There are some resources to give you an idea of whether you’re on your way to getting ripped or ripped off when sorting through the multitude of fitness gadgets. Consumer Reports, fitness magazines and websites feature reviews of new gadgets.
There is a place for effective infomercial-grade gadgets in a successful exercise routine, Bally Total Fitness Baton Rouge Manager Ched Lambert says, but you shouldn’t rely solely upon them if you’re serious about getting into shape and staying there.
“If you’re coming to the club three times a week and you can’t make a day here and there, then go ahead and go with one of these devices if you think it will work on your off days,” he says. “Just don’t be surprised if it ends up at the garage sale.”
If not weight, the only thing most people assume they have to lose by buying an infomercial fitness gadget is money. Not true, Lambert says.
“I hear about people hurting themselves all the time with these things,” he says. “Most of the time it’s people overextending themselves—stressing muscles, pulling muscles, jamming up joints—and it’s because they’re not using proper form or hitting the right muscles.”
Most fitness products come with a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it instructional DVD, but Lambert claims you can’t learn correct and safe techniques from a brief video.
“It’s all about proper form,” he says. “That’s one reason why it’s so important to talk to someone who understands fitness before you jump into a routine. You have to figure out what you need to do in order to see the results you want to see. Without that, you can buy every piece of equipment out there, and you’re just shooting in the dark.”
One of the main reasons many people don’t find success with fitness gadgets for home use doesn’t have anything to do with product quality. It’s typically more about motivation, Long says. Without direction, feedback or a support system, it’s easier to become distracted or discouraged, especially if you’re not seeing the promised, immediate results.
“You don’t have any accountability at home. That’s the missing component, even for me,” he says. “I’ve been addicted to exercise for years, but I just can’t do it at home.”
Effectiveness aside, get-thin-quick gadgets clearly aren’t losing popularity or profitability. Just look at the Shake Weight, an arm strengthening and toning hand weight that features Dynamic Inertia, a type of technology that claims to ignite muscles in arms, shoulders and chest.
The dumbbell, marketed to tone your arms in just six minutes, might have become the butt of a million jokes and the subject of a Saturday Night Live parody, but it’s racked up even more sales. Manufacturer Fitness IQ claims more than two million have sold—roughly $40 million worth—since the first of the product’s now-infamous infomercials aired less than a year ago.
Multiple studies show more Americans are exercising than ever, and they’re spending more in their endless quest to thin down and tone up. Yet the number of overweight and obese Americans also continues to climb each year.
“People are searching for the dream. They’re after the magic pill. Unfortunately, there is no magic pill. There is no ‘One-Day Abs.’ There is no best body in the world overnight,” Lambert says. “Fitness is a lifestyle. It requires a real commitment. But it also doesn’t take much outside of a dedicated lifestyle to achieve what all of these gadgets promise.”
