These are all “Fitness” products to avoid at all costs: You lose not only your money but also your physical balance & strength.

It’s time to rid the world of them; I will regularly have a selection of these dreadfull fitness products on my ebay site further down this post and if you purchase one and send me some YouTube video footage of the product you purchased being destroyed in a public place, I will personally guarantee you the following offer:-

For every item you bought from me and destroyed, with the video evidence as proof.

1. I will donate £5 of my own money to Breast Cancer UK. (www.breastcanceruk.org.uk). Alternatively I will donate £5 to the charity of your choice.
2. For the most creative piece of video footage sent to me between 1^st September 2010 and 31^st August 2011, the winner will receive a FREE 12kg  Pro-Kettlebell worth £40 (UK customers only).

Please e-mail me the links of your YouTube destruction videos to mike@kickassfitnessuk.com

The winner will be announced on 2^nd September 2011

Videos will be judged on the following criteria:-

1. Comedy content
2. The creative method of destruction
3. How public you made it

Products will include the following:-

1. Shake Weight

Everything they claim in their marketing is complete and utter nonsense to put it mildly.  The video says you will look like the models in 6 minutes a day and this is the classic, disgraceful way to sell fitness products to the ignorant man or woman sitting on the couch with a remote control and a credit card.

The product is badly made and badly conceived. As you can see the shake weight is nothing more than a very light weight suspended by springs in between the 2 ends of a dumbbell, which if shaken force your muscles to hold a static contraction.  The problem with this idea is regardless if the weight is shaking or not, it is still a static contraction which only has affects at that joint angle and very limited at that.  You could hold the same angle without any shake weights and contract your muscles to get the same muscle work. But as we know, the body does not work in isolation; my training involves the whole body as it does in the real world.

Shake weights claim to use “Revolutionary new technology called Dynamic Inertia”,  What? Yeah, let’s blind the customer with unfounded scientific names too. Complete garbage. It is a statement that probably has Galileo turning in his grave.  Claiming to do 240 reps per minute is another appalling statement, because the exercise is still just holding a static position in an isometric contraction. It is one bad rep not 240.

It’s time to rid the world of the Shake Weight, Click on my eBay link below to check availability:-

Great parody of the Shake Weight

2. Electric Muscle Stimulator (EMS) Belts for muscle toning

The American Council on Exercise commissioned a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to investigate the claims of these products.

The study found that after eight weeks of EMS usage, subjects did not lose weight or body fat, nor did they experience firmness or increased strength. The study reported, “Not only was EMS ineffective, it was time-consuming and painful, too.” Some subjects also experienced some disturbing side effects – one woman was unable to put her arms down every time the stimulator delivered its shock. Also, according to the FDA, EMS devices should not be used by persons with certain conditions, including implanted pacemakers or other implanted metallic or electronic devices, swollen or inflamed areas (such as phlebitis), or cancerous lesions.

The American Council on Exercise study noted that EMA will not help individuals lose weight, lose fat, or change their basic body dimensions. Surprise, surprise! Presumably people who purchase these dreadful products have not heard of the statement “If it sounds too good to be true…………………”

In May, 2002, The Federal Trade Commission in the US filed lawsuits against three electronic abdominal exercise belts: AB Energizer, Ab Tronic and Fast Abs. The lawsuit claims that the ads for these products falsely claim the belts will help tone stomach muscles. The lawsuit also says the companies that make these ab belts don’t honour their refund, shipping and warranty promises. “For years, marketers of diet and exercise products have been preying on overweight, out-of-shape consumers by hawking false hope in a pill, false hope in a bottle, and, now, in a belt,” said FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris.

Folks: Remember, there are no magic pills, potions, pulsators or silver bullets for losing weight and getting into shape. The only winning combination is changing your lifestyle, diet and exercise CORRECTLY.

It’s time to rid the world of this product, Click on my eBay link below to check availability:-