I was riding my bike on the trainer on Tuesday. To lessen the boredom, John hooked up a TV in the garage so we can watch while we ride. As I flipped through the channels, I noticed that various fitness products were being reviewed on Rachel Ray.
Eh, I guess I will watch this for a minute.
The show’s producers had several former Biggest Loser contestants test various “get thin quick” fitness products – you know the ones you see on informercials late at night? The BL contestants, Amanda, Sunshine and Matt, were to use the products for several weeks, and then report on Ray’s show about their usefulness for reaching weight loss and fitness goals.
Each of the products emphasized fast results with minimal effort.
- Body Blade – wait? Is that a David Hasselhoff look-alike?
For example, consider “3 minute legs,” which promises to be “the ultimate lower body reduction system” (above). I wish I had known that before I started spending 7 hours on my bike, or 3 hours running. Clearly, I’ve been wasting my time doing such long, hard workouts.
Or how about the body blade? You’ve got to get this one – its “the most comprehensive total body workout ever!” (at right). As the website asks, “Why isolate a few muscles at a time doing sit-ups or lifting weights when you can actively engage hundreds of muscles per exercise with the shake of the blade?” That sounds easy enough. Imagine all of those wasted hours of swimming, strength training and yoga – I’ve been such a fool!
My favorite of these products, however, is the hawaii chair. All you do is sit on the chair, turn it on and let it shake you around. Voila! Instant toning. This product is so amazing, you’ve got to see a demonstration.
Cool. Give me a Big Mac and some french fries while I do this bastardized hula.
Despite the fabulous claims of the product marketers, I didn’t wait to see what the assessments from the contestants would be. I already knew.
Those products simply don’t work. Or, if they do, they will require much more than 3 minutes to make a difference. (I’m pretty sure the Hawaii chair will not do anything except give you gastrointestinal distress. I suppose then you might eat less and lose weight?)
Here is the hard truth, the truth those get-fit-get-skinny quick and easy products don’t want to share.
- Weight loss is a simple formula: consume less calories than you burn. Eat too much and you will gain weight.
- Fitness is the outcome of consistent work. Minimal effort leads to minimal results.
The truth might be hard to hear, but it also comes with its own rewards.
As I’ve written before, the feeling of fulfillment that we might get from working out or training comes precisely from putting in the hard work. I feel invigorated when I work hard and sweat. This doesn’t mean that every workout has to be at the highest intensity you can muster. It just means that day in, day out, you’ve got to put in the work if you want results–whatever those results might be. Faster speed, more endurance, bigger muscles, a smaller butt.
The human body is an amazing machine if we let it be. The last several years of participating in marathons, ultras and triathlon have taught me that lesson time and again. I’ve seen the triumph of the human spirit and body at almost every race I’ve been to. Whether it’s the 65 year old woman who crosses the line of her first Ironman, or the veteran racer struggling through a tough day, or a man with one arm swimming 2.4 miles, or the young man who celebrated his 18th birthday by doing an Ironman, or the 72 year old ultrarunner who had completed a marathon in every state 7 times. These people – among countless others – inspire me and remind me of the beauty that is the human body, the human spirit.
So, yes, I suppose I become just a wee bit irritated by get-fit-quick-schemes that minimize or ignore this beauty, or worse yet, make fitness and effort our enemies rather than our allies.
What is the beauty of your body, your spirit? Push yourself, test your limits. After the sufferfest (and I mean “sufferfest” in the best possible sense of the term) of the workout is over, you will feel proud. This type of consistent, hard work is worth the effort when you accomplish your goals.
Hard work isn’t easy, and easy just isn’t worth it.
