How many times have you been up late at night and saw an ad for some “body shaping” product?  How about an ad during the middle of the day?  Have you seen one of these while on the treadmill at the gym and considered buying one to accelerate your progress?  Just be careful of what you’re looking into.  Here’s a list of common issues with “As Seen on TV” products, and other gimmicks:

• The advertisers use a careful choice of words that make you believe in the results that will never come.  (Deceptive Wording)
• They don’t work at all.
• They don’t work in the way that you think they will.
• “As Seen on TV” products rely on consumer’s ignorance in regard to the “Spot Reduction Myth.”
• They’re a very useful product that would be worth having, but you will never look like the bodybuilder hired for the commercial with the product since the model used compound lifts and diet to achieve their body.

At work, I watch people buy these “As Seen on TV” products constantly–  Case in point, we will examine one of those hot selling “Belly Fat Burners.”  People purchase this item because they believe in the myth of spot reduction–  Slap this on your stomach and suddenly you will lose fat!  Who wouldn’t want that?  Except that your body does not work that way. . .  You can’t isolate a body part to burn fat in just that area.  So how do they get away with advertising this?  Let’s take a look at the box of a popular product:  (In the interest of keeping away from the law, the product name is blurred, and we will not mention which one this is.)

Lose inches around my waist instantly!? I’ll take two!

So right off the bat, they’re telling you that you will lose inches from around your waist by using this product.  This falls under the “deceptive wording” issue by using the word “inches” instead of “fat.” Let’s read more of this box:

So, the line where it says “Become a Fat Burning Machine” does not reference the product at all, so this can be on the box, and they’re relying on the consumer to assume the product will do this.  Psychological advertising. . .  They just put some words on the box, and you connect it to the product.  Next line–  We have the word “inches” again.  Continue on, and there’s more mention of the “inches” you can burn.  So why do they talk about “inches” instead of “fat”?

Here’s what these products do:  By strapping a neoprene sleeve around your stomach, what you do is raise the temperature on that part of your body, which leads to more sweating from that area of the body;  Hence the picture showing the highly scientific “Thermagraphic Test.”  What does the additional sweating produce?  A dehydration in the skin which will in fact cause you to lose inches in your waist.

. . .  Until you drink water and your body re hydrates those cells.  You can achieve the same effect by wrapping a trash bag around your waist;  Or cling wrap.  It’s a technique that is sometimes seen in the pageant and bodybuilding worlds the day before a competition.  Have you ever seen a video of someone dabbing a moist sponge on their tongue?  It’s because they used a dehydration technique to tighten their body.

At the end of the day, this product does nothing to help you achieve your goals, and is a bit of a waste of money.  Of the five issues with “As Seen on TV” products we listed above, this satisfies 3 of the issues.

This is a continuation of our series of posts under the “Stuff You Don’t Need” category, and is the start of a series of posts where we review and / or debunk fitness equipment and products.

Filed under: Stuff You Don't Need by DeVinePhysiques
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I work in a place that sells workout equipment and accessories.  For anyone who has ever seen the fitness department in a store and is knowledgeable in the ways of the body, it’s a good laugh!  There is so much stuff being sold that no one needs, and is full of inflated claims. . .  That is the start of this series:  “Stuff You Don’t Need.”  Today’s topic is. . .  Lifting Straps, a.k.a.  Wrist Straps.

What are these used for?  It’s for people who can’t get a proper grip on a bar and need some sort of assistance to complete the lift.  You’ll most often see this when used with Dead Lifts, as they require a supreme amount of forearm strength.  You’ll also see people use them for other workouts such as the Upright Row, and for some reason, the Lat Pull Down.

What is wrong with wrist straps?  Wrist straps are just like any other piece of unnecessary lifting equipment, and the problem with these items is that they handicap you.  By using the straps to grip for you, you are robbing your forearms of most of the work they have to do.  While this doesn’t seem like much a problem, when you look at the bigger picture, it is:  Your forearms are involved in most lifts in one way or another, and if you don’t allow them to develop with the rest of your body, you jeopardize all of your lifts.  In addition, this will cause your body’s different muscle groups to develop at different rates, which could lead to a disproportionate physique.  Finally, there’s something called “Lift Integrity,” which people often look at me strange for saying. . .  To maintain the integrity of a lift, you must use proper form, follow the standards for the lift, use little to no assistance, and the maximal load based on your goal.

What should I use instead of wrist straps!?  Your forearms.  And if you’re having a trouble with grip, develop stronger forearms.

At the end of the day, do as you will. . .  There’s a piece of equipment I use that is shunned by about half of the bodybuilding community, so in the end, it’s all up to you on how you want to treat your workouts–  I just chose to handicap myself as little as possible, and recommend you do the same.

Filed under: Stuff You Don't Need by DeVinePhysiques
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