I subscribe to Shop Smart, a fantastic magazine put out by Consumer Reports.  I never make a major purchase decision without checking out their reviews and recommendations.

This month’s magazine reviewed some of the best new home treadmills and ellipticals.  One of the machines they mention in a sidebar is the Ab Circle Pro.  I’ve seen the commercials for this product and was curious about it.  The commercial claims that, by using this machine for just 3 minutes a day, you can lose weight and get the “flat, washboard abs and sexy ‘V’ shape that you’ve always wanted.”  The claims sounded a bit preposterous to me, but what were Consumer Reports’ findings?

Well, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought … they did find that it works the abs, and if you stay on it long enough, you can get an aerobic workout about equal to a brisk walk (no one can get an aerobic workout in 3 minutes, with or without machines). Some of the testers said they felt like the machine worked their arms more than their abs and half said they felt little muscle fatigue at all.  A few even complained of back and knee pain.  The Ab Circle Pro comes with a strict nutrition plan … you’d probably lose weight just from following the diet.  The cost?  $200.  The conclusion?  Skip it!

This got me wondering about some of the other infomercial machines and their effectiveness.  The ads always claim the workouts are easy and fun and promise amazing results.  But do they really deliver what they promise? For a review of 10 of these fitness devices, check out Infomercial Fitness Devices Put to the Test .   By the way, these products aren’t cheap … the cost,  if you bought all of them, would total $2,355, which is about the price of a really good treadmill!

Out of the ten, one item did get a good review and that was the Urban Rebounder.  This is a mini-trampoline, with a removable support bar.  The testers found that they could burn about as many calories as they would jogging at about 5.6 mph, that it was easy to use and a nice change from typical aerobic exercise.  (And one point that wasn’t mentioned about rebounders is they give you a low impact workout, so they’re easy on your knees, hips and lower back.)

Bottom line?  The machines were fairly costly, cumbersome, uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous, and (except for the Urban Rebounder) mostly ineffective.  So, if you’re thinking about investing some money in fitness equipment, be sure to do your research before spending your hard-earned dollars.

Personally, I think you can get just as effective a workout with an exercise mat, a couple pairs of dumbbells, a set of toning tubes, and an exercise ball.  And they take up way less storage space!

If any of you have purchased infomercial fitness apparatus, please share your experiences, good or bad.  I’d love to hear about them!