angelweave

November 14, 2003

BodyFlex and da FTC


I've finally done it - broken up the Health/Fitness/Nutrition category.

In today's news, the FTC says "uh, no" to Bodyflex, according to this snippet from About.com.

    Think you can lose weight by simply breathing? Neither does the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC has charged the marketers of BodyFlex with false advertising whose website and infomercials claim their 18-minute "workout" of deep breathing and stretching is more effective than a treadmill session and will melt 4-41 inches off in one week. The BodyFlex website has already been taken down, but you can see a cached version here.
And so I visited. It's mildly amusing - not really worth your time. Its crazy claim is in the first paragraph:

    The power of BodyFlex lies in how oxygen helps burn fat. With BodyFlex breathing you will supercharge your blood with fat-burning oxygen and you'll lose inches fast. So fast that BodyFlex guarantees you'll lose 4 to 14 inches across your six target areas in the first 7 days. That's the upper arms, upper abs, lower abs, waist, hips and thighs. Once you've learned the secret of BodyFlex breathing, the exercises are easy to follow and there are no complicated machines to put together. You can even do it all while sitting on your couch.
Uh, okay. Breathe. Psycosomatic addict insane.

hln

Posted by hln at November 14, 2003 12:46 PM | Fitness | TrackBack
Comments

There's an exercise machine on TV that's basically a bow, like from a bow and arrow. You put one end on your foot or a doorhanger or something, and pull with the limb you want to exercise, or hook it to your waist or whatever. They show groups of people in gyms, on Asian-style hillsides, etc, they look hysterical.

I'm just waiting for one of those machines to have a 'tension band' snap and the bow fly back "with 200 pounds of resistance!" (as the ad proudly proclaims) and kill them.

Posted by: Aaron at November 14, 2003 10:25 PM

Bands have their place, but I'd posit NOT as a primary form of exercise (nice and easy to pack in the luggage, though, if one travels a lot).

I think my image of the day is going to be exercisers on the Asian hillside with pink bands. Gee, thanks, Aaron ;)

hln

Posted by: hln at November 15, 2003 07:24 AM