Fitness equipment infomercials....

Lanfear
Lanfear Posts: 524
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
Wow. We all know (in our heads) that there is no such thing as "spot reduction" for areas of fat on the body. But we all want those amazing instant results, where the fat just melts away like magic....and we become all six-packy and toned just like that *clicks fingers*....

I have just watched 2 Infomercials for the Ab Circle Pro and the Perfect Sit Up. We're now on the Ab Glider...

Does anyone have these or has anyone tried them?

Do they really get anywhere near the results they claim? If they don't, how on earth are they allowed to continue to sell these products?

I know that spot fat reduction doesn't exist but I can see how people believe it does, when you see adverts for these sort of products, that promise you'll lose inches from your tummy/love handles and you only have to exercise for 3 minutes a day...

On a different note, with something like the Perfect Sit Up, which claims to maintain perfect form during the exercise, is it worth thinking about? I struggle not to put strain on my neck when doing crunches.

I do find it quite funny that now the infomercials have disclaimers on them saying that results work with a calorie controlled diet and healthy lifestyle LOL. I seriously considered buying an Ab Circle Pro last year, and I'm 99.9999% sure it didn't say anything like that on it!

Replies

  • groucherella
    groucherella Posts: 207
    I'm leary of anything that says it will make my workout "easier". I like the addage of no pain no gain.

    Plus, I'm too poor to try them.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    I don't have any type of equipment like that but I've heard several horror stories about ab circle and people flying off them, getting injured even breaking bones!
  • grouch201
    grouch201 Posts: 404 Member
    Sculpted abs in three minutes a day? Give me a break. Infomercials generally target the gullible so I wouldn't give them the time of day.
  • Lanfear
    Lanfear Posts: 524
    I find it amazing that they can continue to effectively mislead people by promising results that just won't happen in very short timescales. Surely it's false advertising of some sort?? Especially when the prices are so HIGH.

    Although having said that, we've now moved onto a presentation for Zumba - and yet I KNOW that people swear by doing Zumba and losing weight/toning up.

    So perhaps they're not *all* bad....??
  • BamBam1113
    BamBam1113 Posts: 542 Member
    Always remember that a guy made a fortune selling a "Pet Rock" because people out there bought it.
  • whiskey9890
    whiskey9890 Posts: 652 Member
    having done zumba a couple of times i can confess to that being one heck of a work out (especially for someone rhythmically challenged like me, i swear i could make a fortune selling tickets for people to laugh at me) but i think the whole craze has gone a bit mad. i mean sticks, and now a clothig range too? how is a skimpy crop top and tight pants going to make me work out harder, if it enabled you to speed everything up so i could finish and go put some more clothes on then perhaps i'll buy them. we had the ab pro circle advertised over here the other week and i never normally watch infomercials but i was waiting for someone to fall off or throw up for getting dizzy, cos i know i was getting dizzy watching them. thats 30 minutes of my life i'll never get back i feel cheated lol
  • JenBrown0210
    JenBrown0210 Posts: 985 Member
    My MIL has the ab circle. She does 15 to 30 minutes 3 days a week and actually wore through one and bought another. She definitelyhas gotten results. But she works out regularly and eats healthy. She is in her late 40's. As long as you use it consistantly then yes you can get results but I think saying only 3 minutes a day is a little to low.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    My husband is a sucker for these infomercials I think I need to be glad that he has only bought 2 things in 3 years, but I'm sure they won't be the last.
    We have the AbKingPro - which I quite like because I know I wouldn't do any situps otherwise.
    And the TOWER 200 (which I always have to say in a deep infomercial voice...) which is probably great if you actually use it. Which I do occasionally and my DH does never!
    When we first got the AbKingPro I used it regularly and I did get better in the abs but I was also going to Curves and watching my portions at the same time.
    Like anything else, I suspect that you can get OK results if you use them, but I'm sure most of this gear ends up gathering dust and making us feel guilty!
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