I was in grade school when my parents saw this exercise equipment that you simply had to hold against your abdomen and squeeze as much as you can for a minute and then let it go. It was a home shopping channel and back then, people will buy whatever if they think it would help. In my parents case, they were hoping that it would flatten my belly and suffice to say it didn't because I still ate like there's no tomorrow. The equipment looked more like a toy to me and at first glance, I already knew that it's not going to help even the person who sticks to a diet. I have never known anyone whose belly got flattened just by sitting down while pressing something against your gut. I at least know that exercise and a good diet will get rid of a big belly. What we only lost back then is almost $30.
I've noticed that there are tons of exercise equipment like that now day. Miracle ab shaping type products. I see infonericals for them a lot. My friend bought one called "The Love Handler" where you basically swing your butt back and forth. The bar bent and it broke within a couple weeks, and she weighed only about 180 pounds or so.
I know that contraption. When we bought it, it was called ab flex, and my parents were also duped into buying it that's why I know. I have to admit the commercial did make it seem like it would work so I don't completely blame them for falling for it. Maybe it did work and they were just using it wrong, too, or maybe they just didn't use it often enough, but for them it didn't seem to work. Now that I'm older I'm very skeptical of these products because of that particular purchase way back when.
The suppliers of many of these type of equipment like to emphasise in glowing terms how effective they are. However, I have seen many of them in action, even some I have bought myself, and according to my experience, they are not worth acquiring.
Oh goodness, how I love this thread already. Haha! I also know of that exercise equipment you have mentioned, I saw it on television as well. Like you, I believed that its promises and claims are true but luckily, we didn't have credit card back then so we cannot order that equipment. I guess it's only destiny because I doubt it work for me as well. Lol. We always pass by this exercise equipment in the mall where you only need to stand and it shakes you. I don't know what it's called. It's like an oval equipment where you stand on it and it shakes so all your body can be shaken. My husband always makes fun of this equipment and says that it is for the lazy people. He said that if you really want to lose weight, you need to move and be active. No matter how much that equipment shakes you, you won't lose weight. He's right though... Exercise equipments like dumbbells, kettle bells and those you find in the gym work. However, these trendy innovations aren't like these gym equipments... They are for the people who don't truly understand what being active means.
You see these type of equipment on tv all the time. I just saw a belt that you just wear for a few minutes and it gives you a 6 pack. I think if people really stop looking for a quick fix they would not be taken in so quickly. I had a person on facebook telling me I had won mega bucks but I had to pay the delivery fee to get it. Really did she think I was born yesterday?
Wow there are definitely a lot of useless exercise products out there. I remember one named "Butterfly abs," you just put it on your stomach and it did the work for you. It looked fun to me, but I never got around to buying it since I had little faith in it. I have to say though, any exercise can be a waste of money if you don't actually put in the time and effort to use it. Even a treadmill can be unhelpful if one doesn't actually exercise and change their eating habits.
My brother actually bought that kind of exercise equipment back then, and I also don't think that it worked for him. That exercise equipment was quite popular back then, it was able to fool a lot of people to think that it was quite effective in making people lose weight. I'm glad that it's now obsolete these days.
I know what your talking about, I don't like those in home exercise pull up bars. I think they are a joke and a waste of $30 dollars as well. I bought 1 and used it for 3 days, but on each of those days I did not even do 10 pull ups. They are as gimmick, you can make use of them but for someone who is really trying to build, they should stick to the non lazy method. If you really want to exercise then do what everyone else does who built their body for performance and work your ass off because it's the only way you will see results. I have seen many other things like a hand cruncher which was supposed to make your fingers stronger, sure it might but it's a joke as well for $14.99 as advertised on TV.
I just watched the video and how exactly is that supposed to help your abs? Maybe it's just not clear in the vid, but it seems like more of an arm workout than anything. And speaking of gimmicky 90s fitness equipment, my mother once gave me a Torso Track that she wasted money on. It got used once, after my husband got really drunk one night and spent almost 40 minutes on it.
For me personally, any gym equipment I buy to workout from home is a waste of time. That is because I'm very lousy go workout at home, I need to go out to a gym to workout, or even go walk on the street. If I'm home I don't like working out... I'm lazy!
Well for this one I always think back to a comedy routine. I forget who the comic was, but it was about the exercise piece of equipment called "the step" where it is literally just one stair, and the joke is that people wait for weeks to get their step in the mail and then they run up the stair to get the mail. Pretty dumb considering every house has stairs that you can use.
Unless you are a power lifter or an athlete who needs a set of free weights to help you increase strength and 'bulk up', almost all of the exercise equipment is not worth the money you pay. Now, I can certainly see purchasing a treadmill, exercise bike or elliptical if you live in climate with either harsh winters or very hot summers as for 3-4 months of the year, the climate will have a negative impact on your training. However, a jump rope in conjunction with standard calisthenics and several miles of roadwork each week will suffice to get you into great shape.
About the only exercise equipment that is not a waste of money, in my humble opinion, is a top quality pair of walking shoes. These are worth it. All the other stuff winds up collecting dust after the new wears off. Walking is a great healthy exercise. If you want resistance training, just carry a weighted pack when you walk. Walking with a weighted pack is the best exercise program I have ever done and it left me lean, fit and cut.
Some exercise equipment really is worthless-but remember that they are just tools to use to make it easier. Also things like ankle weights and dumbells are useful but you have to use them correctly. Thats like saying -here is a ax -and it will chop trees down-yes but with some effort and technique. A great exercise for your waist though- is to hang from a chin-up bar and bend your knees and crunch them up towards your chest.
I never take the help of machines for workout. I do yoga and some aerobic exercises daily. I have seen that people usually lose interest in them in due course of time. My neighbor has bought a brand new treadmill so that she can save the time and effort for an early morning walk. But within a matter of week she lost interest in it and stopped using it. It’s lying idle in her house now. However, it all depends on your mindset. If you are determined to cut those extra fats from your body nothing can stop you and your body could be your workout machine for this.
At first glance it would look like wasting money, because you can spend a lump sum of money buying one machine than you could have spent, enrolled for a year in a gym. However, looking at it for a second time you cannot help but trip and fall in love with the numerous advantages that occur with acquisition of your own machines. There is no doubt that there are varieties of machines in a gym, but how many of them will you actually use? Probably not many. Therefore acquiring the few that you need, will help you save money in the long run. Another saving would occurs in the form of the fact that you will not have to pay bus fare, to and from the gym. A machine at home, is always at your disposal. You can use it whenever you want, not like some session in a gym where you are being timed. This offers comfort as well as convenience in matters involving time. Thank you.
