That's Fit

I'm sitting at home last night, getting ready to watch game 1 of the World Series, preparing myself for the playful jeers I know I'm bound to get from my Red Sox fan fiance (chiefly because my favorite team, the NY Yankees, are also watching the game from home). Anyway, well before the game starts, we flip through the channels a bit to see what can tide us over until the first pitch is thrown. It's then that we stumble upon one of the several dozen fitness machine infomercials that air and/or have aired over the last fifteen years.

This one was for a product called the Red Exerciser; a machine that sort of looks like a flattened out grill that you'd put on your back deck, yet it purportedly can make your midsection look as though it has been carved from stone. The movement seems pretty simple - you take hold of the safety bars and then twist your body back-and-forth, left-to-right. Evidently, there are variations to this twist and, be still my beating heart, you can even special order resistance bands to also work your arms. Now, I'll point out very clearly that I've never actually tried the Red Exerciser, so I ask that you do take that into account when considering my next sentence. This machine, just like so many others we've seen over the years (Soloflex, Ab Rocker, PowerGlide, etc.) seems like a bit of a scam to me. Again, could I be wrong? It surely wouldn't be the first time. Be that as it may, I'm not entirely convinced that you can get a six-pack stomach just by twisting back-and-forth on modified desk chair.

As I've stated before, spot reducing is a bit of a myth. If you want to lose some chub around your waist, doing ab exercises, of any kind, won't really give you the results you're probably hoping for. The only way you'll see those abs is to lose body fat from your entire body, which can only be accomplished through full-body exercise and proper diet. That means that a much wiser investment of $175.00 (the average sale price of the Red Exerciser) would be in a 4-month gym membership.

Have you purchased any TV exercise equipment that now collects dust in your back room? If so, feel free to add your musings!!