Women Fitness in it never ending endeavor to bring you authentic information on health and fitness welcomed submission from fitness world of experts on some of the Wackiest Fitness trends seen in the last 21 years.
Here are a few to take note of,
Strip Aerobics or cardio strip tease:
According to Carly, fitness instructor and freelance writer for fitnessauthority.co.uk. It is hard to say when exactly it started, but it went mainstream around 2003 when Carmen Electra essentially became the public face of it.
This one is wacky because it ditches everything you would associate with standard aerobics and instead focuses on the sort of moves; one would usually expect to see at a certain type of club. In some classes, people were told to bring heels, preferably six-inch ones. That is not exactly what you are expected to see in a standard cardio class. Strip aerobics stuck around the mainstream for a good ten years.
Tae Bo:
As mentioned by Camille Chulick of Averr Aglow. Tae Bo came out in 1999 and Billy Blanks made us all feel like we could punch our way through anything in life. It was a fun and not-so-easy routine. The wackiest part was that Tae Bo stands for Total Awareness of Excellent Body Obedience. It was insanely popular though and outsold some of the biggest movies of that year. As far as I know, Billy Blanks is still going at it!
The Shake Weight:
Modified dumbbell that oscillates, purportedly to increase the effects of exercise. As put by Tyler Read an industry-leading certified personal trainer and successful entrepreneur “The Shake Weight must be one of the weirdest and most hilarious fitness trends of the last 21 years.”
“The Shake Weight’s first commercial debuted in 2009 and became a huge success because the video went viral. Even though most of the coverage for the Shake Weight was making fun of the sexual innuendo it became associated with, the company who created Shake Weights sold over two million products.”
Suzanne Somer’s ThighMaster:
According to Nerissa, a USAW Certified Sports Performance Coach, personal trainer, CEO of The Bright App, a leading fitness management app ”Suzanne Somer’s ThighMaster started selling in 1991 and in the next year and a half, six million ThighMaster’s were sold before the sensation fizzled out like so many fitness trends do.”
The ThighMaster is basically two curved and padded metal tubes with a hinge between allowing to squeeze it repeatedly between the thighs. As Somer’s said in the original ThighMaster commercial, “It’s easy to squeeze your way to shapely hips and thighs! ThighMaster, we may not have been born with great legs, but now we can look like we were!”
She further adds “I’ve seen dozens of fitness products just like the ThighMaster over the past 20 years. With every iteration, one thing remains the same: these products make millions because people are always looking for one simple solution to solve all their fitness needs.”
Elevation masks:
Jamie from Truism Fitness was taken aback when he had first sighting of one in the gym about five years ago. He adds “Every claim made by the manufacturer is easily debunked, yet there are customers gleefully scooping them up (for about $100 apiece) based on the empty promise of a better workout.”
The elevation mask simulates the lower oxygen you experience at a high altitude and is based on what Jamie calls Monday Night Football Science. Every time a football game is broadcast from Mile High Stadium in Denver (home field to the NFL’s Broncos), you’re sure to hear one of the announcers pontificate on the effect of the high altitude on the visiting team. The logic for elevation masks goes that the Denver Broncos exercise at high altitude, giving them extra stamina, so re-creating that workout environment can do the same for you.
Jamie debunks the mask use ” There is absolutely zero scientifically established benefit to donning a mask for a one-hour workout at sea level, then taking it off. Yet there are folks looking even sillier than the monkey shoe wearers.”
Running Backward:
“Running backward has to top the list in being weird. Running itself is a great workout habit that can be exercised by any age group but running backward is totally wacky.” according to Jennifer, Editor at Etia.com. Experts claim that running backward uses 30 percent more energy than moving forward at the same speed. So, why exert so much energy and achieve almost nothing new in return.
These 6 are real eye openers on how people get carried away to try everything to lose weight and get fit. To add, Goat yoga, exercise mask, Skateboard Pilates, Prancercise trust me the list is endless.