INFOMERCIALS:
This section will consist of some of the Infomercials that you sometimes find yourself watching late at night. For the most part, I think most of them are a waste of time, a waste of money, or both. I can guarantee you, that all those hard bodies that you see in the Infomercials were NOT created or refined using ANY of the devices, gadgets, or pills that they are hawking. Not one....
Let's look at one that I believe is the most offensive with it's claims
THE TORSO TRACK
Ok, we've all seen this one. you have all these people who are supercut (as in very very low bodyfat), claiming what a great device this thing is for the abdomen. Just think, no more of those "boring" sit-ups, and it works in only 5 minutes! Not only that, it also tones your shoulders and upper back muscles! What a bargain at $69.95 or whatever price they have it going for.
First off, isn't there a similar device that was introduced a few years ago? It was some kind of roller device, a wheel with handles on it. This device only cost about $9.95, and from what I can see, does exactly the same thing. Just use a wall as the stopping mechanism, and you've got the Torso Track for about sixty dollars less. Even better, use a dumbbell (adjustable) using the plates as wheels and the bar as a handle. do I think it works the stomach muscles? Yeah, but more as a stabilizing mechanism than actually working out the abs directly. The same thing with the shoulders and upper back...you are just not going to build muscle using this thing. I think you work your abs and entire body just as much by doing heavy squats. I suspect that most people are going to buy this device, use it for a few weeks, then put it in the garage with the rest of the gadgets that they have bought. Don't waste your money folks.....
ENFORMA SYSTEM
Ok, I wasn't going to mention this one until later, because frankly, I don't know how people are going to react to my statements about these infomercials, but this one can't wait.
The Enforma system consists of two types of pills:
1. The Fat collector pills
2. Exercise in a bottle
Let's start off with the Fat collector pills. These little fellas allegedly cling to fat in your stomach, make them insoluble so that they can't be absorbed through the stomach and small bowels, and then are secreted through the digestive system. They even show a demonstration of fat molecules being coalesced when these things are placed in a cup of water with fat! Wowsee wow wow! Imagine that..being able to eat all the fat you want and not absorb it! (Actually, I believe it's limited to 100 gms a day). Now how they can market this and not mention that you are going to have diarrhea (those fat globs gotta come out somewhere) is beyond me. I've got a simpler and cheaper solution, and it's not limited to 100gms of fat a day....it's called BULEMIA. You know, where you can eat whatever and as much as you want, and then excuse yourself to the bathroom, and throw it up. (I'm kidding of course, I do not recommend this at all). Let's face it, if people are going to get the go ahead to eat 100gms of fat..do you really think they will have the willpower to STOP at 100gms? If they had the willpower, they wouldn't need the pill.
Exercise in the bottle. I never thought I'd see the day when somebody actually had the gall to advertise this. Exercise in a bottle? What's next? Intelligence in a bottle? Face lift in a bottle? Liposuction in a bottle?
Puh-lease.....
FACE TONER (or whatever the hell it's called)
Ok, we've all seen this one. It starts off with all these old and droopy looking people with double chins etc....they use this gizmo for a few weeks and lo and behold, it's as if they all got face lifts..without the surgery! Now i do believe that this device has some merit, in that you can tone the face and platysma muscles (the platysma muscle is the muscle that you see when you tense your neck..it's a flat muscle that runs from your chin to your collar bone), but to spend $39.95 for a big rubber sponge? C'mon. You can use a rubber ball $1.99, or even better, use your hand to press up against your chin as you slowly force your chin down (look at that, you get an arm and shoulder workout as well!)