TV infomercials are screened 24/7 with everything from cook wear to magic beads. There is a fair assortment of fitness and fat loss related products available, how do you spot a dust collecting machine from an invaluable tool that actually gets you the results you are looking for?
In a quiet moment in "The Gym" the other day I found myself mesmerized by one of the TV shop programs on the monitors. It was all in German so I understood not a single word of it, yet I got thoroughly hooked on the pictures!
What was I watching!!!
Hell, as a fairly cynical viewer of adverts I was surprised about how easily drawn in I was, which made me wonder how many people get hooked in to those "fitness" products that promise so much but rarely deliver.
Please don't misunderstand me here, there are some genuinely good products advertised... ...so how can you spot a pointless gadget that will gether dust under your bed, from a practical tool that can help?
1. If it promises to help you lose weight by simply sitting in your sofa, vibrating your flab away, OR, giving you 60 electric shocks a minute, make sure your remote is close to hand to zap the TV instead!
2. If the promise is to burn fat from ONLY your butt, hips and thighs, please avoid this obvious spot reducing LIE! You know that it is impossible to just lose fat from your abs by just doing ab exercises? If it did work, all the guys and girls doing hundreds of crunches a day, would have perfect abs, but a flabby butt!
3. Take a close look at the before and after photos, the colours and lighting used on the photos is designed to trick the eye. The business of infomercials has become extremely smart with this now, the pictures used on the before and after shots are taken on the same day. It is relatively easy to blow out your stomach, round your shoulders forward and puff your cheeks out to make yourself look fat. Then simply stand up tall with good posture and suck in your stomach for a remarkably different look. Add in to this the lighting, some clever makup and you'll get yourself a super model in 5 minutes!
4. Take a note of all the small print at the bottom of the screen, relating to results only possible with a strict calorie controlled diet! Yup, the machine is not gonna do it all for you! You can't out train a bad diet!
5. If it focusses on just one movement, normally flexion (bending) of the torso to "work" your abs, lock away your credit card. You do know that focussing all your training on this tiny strip of muscle is wasting your time and likely to cause imbalances in your body and higher risks of back injuries!
Yep, I got sucked in by the bronzed bodies and ripped abs. Before we get carried away and pick up the phone, do a quick reality check as we know most of these things don't work. However, good honest hard workouts and sensible eating habits are the obvious solution that we already know.
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