Weight Loss On Your New Years Agenda? Prepare For The Top Weight Loss Scams Of 2006! PART 3
If you have read Parts 1 and 2 then hopefully you are considering the possibility that maybe these pills and diets are NOT going to be a long term solution for weight loss success this New Year…or EVER! If not, that’s perfectly alright because if you feel inclined to still use them just know I’m not recommending them but many people won’t listen until they experience failure. I just don’t want you to go blaming yourself for failing because that’s what causes that vicious guilt cycle leaving many people believing that something is really wrong with them. Anyway, here is Part 3 of the Top Weight Loss Scams of 2006.
3. Work the Abs, Reduce the Waistline and Tone, Firm and Shape a Particular Area with “Research has Proven” Infomercials.
There’s that phrase; “research has proven.” Everybody wants great abs, a firm butt, and thighs, sleek arms, etc right, so will this plethora of ab devices and “butt and thigh shapers” ever disappear? Never! When an infomercial throws the word “research” out there and has a scientist or doctor alongside making the claim people are going to tune in with both eyes and ears. It’s all about perception.
Let’s talk about abs for a moment. In a study conducted by the biomechanics lab at San Diego State University and sanctioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), researchers found that when you perform movements lying face up in a horizontal position that allow the spine to hyperextend beyond a neutral spine there is a greater recruitment of abdominal muscle fibers i.e. contraction as opposed to doing a crunch on a flat surface? Performing crunches on a stability ball will achieve this nicely and the “research has proven” it consistently. Yes, it is legit. The same research has proven similar findings of greater abdominal muscle recruitment with exercises that have you raise or tilt the pelvis forward or towards the rib cage. Picture a hanging leg raise or reverse crunch. The research is legit as well.
Want to know what they found to be the 10 WORST abdominal exercises or devices?
1. Electronic Ab Stimulation (these came under FTC injunction by the way but for some reason are still sold in certain places. They only have value in a rehabilitative setting).
2. Bent Over Twist with a broomstick or pole
3. Straight Leg Sit-ups
4. Roman Chair Sit-ups
5. Two Dumbbell Side Bends (Seems like everybody believes these work…they don’t)
6. Straight Leg Double Leg Raises
7. Ab Rocker (Ab Roller)
8. The Ab Wheel (just because you “feel it” doesn’t always mean proper stimulation)
9. Improper use of the Nautilus ab machines.
10. Seated Spinal Twist Machine (People in the health clubs flock in droves to this one believing it’s going to get rid of the love handles…not so it seems).
Where else have you heard this type of “research has proven” stuff? On ab machine infomercials, that’s where. These guys are smart. They know the research exists but they take it a step further and camouflage the “research” part as meaning to reduce the waistline. You see the great looking models on the infomercials with great abs using the particular device being advertised and the before and after photos that seem pretty darn convincing. Yes, the research took place on abdominal contraction but it had NOTHING to do with waist reduction!
It all plays into the false belief of spot reduction but with a “research has proven” twist. And you know what? The ab devices aren’t the only ones using this method of selling, there are many others and some of them take it a step further and use heat imaging cameras to make you believe that you are actually localizing the fat burning process in a particular area. It’s false! There’s one particular product out there right now geared towards women that uses this form of marketing to make you believe “it works.” If you cannot see your abdominals or you do not have that nice toned look to the rest of your body it’s because there is a considerable layer of fat shrouding their existence and the ONLY way to lose that is through the combination of the right nutrition, moderate aerobic exercise and a concern for muscle.
I definitely want you to try these types of products if the infomercials have you convinced. No, I’m not being sarcastic; I’m serious. I want you to buy that device with high hopes of slimming down your waistline, feel your abs get sore at first so you know “it’s working,” be excited for the first few weeks about using it and then when too many other “things” get in the way of your daily abdominal sessions, tuck it under the bed and remind yourself on a daily basis that you need to work out but don’t have the time or motivation. I’m serious…buy these products. There’s no reverse psychology here but DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF WHEN YOU DO NOT GET THE RESULTS YOU WERE HOPING FOR! If you don’t have a concern for the right nutrition, moderate aerobic exercise and a concern for muscle in a strategic and synergistic fashion then long term results will forever elude you.
Stay tuned for Part 4: The Supplement Labels That Say “Proprietary Blend.”
© David Otto *All Rights Reserved
David Otto is a Personal Trainer in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. To receive David Otto’s e-newsletter “The Otto Report: Getting Real With Fitness,” simply send an email to [email protected] and request your copy.
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