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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Before really getting into this blog I would like to say that I realize many of you may not like what I have to say.  I also realize that the environment does lead to health and obesity problems, I just don’t believe that it is the full cause of the obesity epidemic in our country.

Recently I was talking with a co-worker, who is morbidly obese, about weight.  She was telling me how she grew up eating fast food and that all of her family is overweight… This story sounds pretty similar to my own.  The difference is that I decided to change my body, she let her “circumstances” dictate hers.  She is now suffering from many health ailments including hair loss at only the age of 33.   She said she doesn’t know what to eat to help lose weight, but as soon as I started giving her suggestions her response was “that sounds too hard” or “that is too time consuming.”

Come on people… We have to be responsible for ourselves.  We will not be able to change our bodies, our health, or our minds until we can hold ourselves accountable.  So much of our society likes to blame everyone but themselves.  They also tend to forget that we are in control of what we eat, no one is forcing us to eat anything.  Do fast food restaurants make it easier to eat thousands of unhealthy calories? Yes.  Are junk foods cheaper and easier to find than the healthier options? Yes;  But if you truly want a healthy body, a body that works the way it is meant to, a body that will be strong for many many more years to come, then you will make the sacrifices necessary.  Society may make empty, non nutritive calories cheaper and more accessible, but at the end of the day, we are the people that choose to eat the doughnut instead of the banana.

It doesn’t mean you have to eat all organic, or even 100% natural; It means that you find ways (like buying at Costco) to afford the foods that will be good for your body.  It means you cut out as much processed food and sugars as you can.  In a lot of situations, a healthy alternative is very close–  It just takes a little willpower and knowledge to choose the correct option.

We only get one body, a healthy body not only makes us feel more attractive and healthier but it helps us to live a fuller life.

Let’s learn to take responsibility. Let’s chose to make healthier choices. . .  And let’s not forget what most bodybuilders and fitness experts will tell you:  Genetics don’t determine your health or body composition–  They only determine how easy or difficult it will be to stay healthy and achieve your fitness goals.  You are the master of your own destiny.

Filed under: Health by DeVinePhysiques
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When you are pushing yourself during cardio, do you ever find yourself hunching over on the machine?  Do you know what you are doing to your workout?

Here’s a different question:  Why do you burn so few calories while doing the stationary bike at the gym?  Give up?  It’s because cardiovascular activity requires your largest muscles in order to be effective, and the more muscles you engage, the more calories you will burn.  So with the stationary bike, the only muscles engaged are those in your lower body–  Typically just your quadriceps and hamstrings, with some minor involvement from other muscles.

So, the elliptical is more effective because it engages more muscles in your body–  Specifically, doing the elliptical right is more effective.

At this point, you might as well be on the stationary bike.

When you do the elliptical, or stairmaster correctly, you’re keeping your body upright, which engages your core to keep you this way.  Your lower body is obviously working, and not just your legs;  Your glutes are also targeted when you do the elliptical, which is another large muscle group.  Whatever you choose to do with your arms will engage them somehow.  If you hold on and keep them still, they’re working (slightly) to keep you steady; or, if you have them assist you, this engages your entire upper body.  As soon as you hunch over, however, you isolate your lower body and make the work easier. . .  And then you’re back to a low intensity workout that burns a significantly lower amount of calories.

It’s more effective to do a lower resistance on a cardio machine than it is to sacrifice your form, since the lower intensity will keep the maximum amount of muscles engaged to burn calories.

Filed under: Fitness by DeVinePhysiques
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