Snake Oil – Spot Weight Loss!

Well lets face it, everyone is getting used to politicians lying to get votes but at least we can trust our weight-loss industry (lots of implied sarcasm)! Ok I am as sick as the next guy with one candidate running a cheap attack on the next – they all seem to do it. Soon I will not care as I will mail in my ballot.

 What is my point? Just when I thought the main players were starting to let people know that it takes actual work to lose weight, I found this article in an obvious attempt to perpetuate the spot reducing myth by innuendo! I will examine what 24 Hour Fitness is apparently doing and if spot reducing is really possible in this post. I found the picture below of the Bikini Boot Camp from Town and Country Travel Magazine story here.

This article (the 24 Hour Fitness article) starts out with an emotional argument of how you can get ready to wear a bikini. Ok so far so good but the second paragraph starts out speaking of the trouble areas. The last sentence of the second paragraph does mention diet and exercise. Ok so far so good… what am I upset about?

Here is the short third paragraph stating, “Here are some cardio exercises to enhance [emphasis mine] those spots ‘not fit for the beach:’” The next six paragraphs speak of exercises to “shape up” and “strengthen and lengthen.” One could easily mistakenly get the idea that you can do exercises to spot-reduce, meaning if you do lots of sit ups – you can lose inches on that problem area. Here is a link to a funny 24 Hour Fitness video (sorry embedding is disabled so you have to click the link to see it).

The 10th through 13th paragraph finally start to speak about nutrition but no where does this article point out the futility of spot reducing. What is does state is a quick note that one cannot overeat and get into shape. 

I think this article is slanted to mislead people into buying gym memberships to spot reduce! What they should have said is if your problem is not too much fat but rather flabby muscles – the gym membership (if you use it regularly) can help you tone up your muscles and have a tighter body.

The impression I got reading this article is that I can work on my just a couple of problem areas so I (if I was a girl) would look better in a bikini! That is bull… oh yes I can hear the gym types yelling at their screen – regular toning workouts with cardio and proper nutrition would help the problem areas (as well as the rest of the body)! Well gosh darnit… if that is what you (insert 24 Hour Fitness here) mean than you should say it and not try to peddle snake oil and false claims! Do you remember when gyms had these belt reducers?

Well gyms have come a long way from those days but I found modern day versions of these machines called the Slender Shaper… and yes snake oil in the diet and exercise industry is alive and well.