Ten Most Useless Exercises – pt. 2

I love to exercise.  I love the feel of the iron in my hands.  But mostly I only use free weights. Why?  Because they promote more stability and muscle activity than the machines.  Here is the continuation and conclusion of my top ten list of the most useless exercises, as I see them.

6)    Recumbant Bike.  Wow, that’s a comfy looking ride you have there, all reclined and reading your magazine.  Since when is exercise supposed to be ‘comfy’?  Get off that thing and if you HAVE to be on a stationary version of a bike at least get on the upright one and give your upper body something to do (like balance…it’s not much but at least its something).

7)    Thigh Master.  I hope this one is obvious.  If not, see point #8

8)    Hip Adductor/Abductor machine, any version (sitting, standing whatever) that you almost always find exclusively in any “Ladies Area” of any gym.  First of all, why do only Ladies need this?  Second of all, why does ANYONE actually need this?  This machine will NOT spot reduce your thighs or hips, as a matter of fact you might be working in the opposite direction by making the muscles bigger rather than smaller.  It’s a fact that “spot reduction” is a myth.  See point #10

9)    Any ab cruncher machine, or ‘gizmo’ like that ridiculous ab cradle thing.  I wish I could make this one number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10.  I hate ‘abdominal spot reducer’ gizmos.  See point #10.

10)    Any piece of equipment designed to ‘spot reduce’ any particular area of the body.  If you want to rip your abs, your thighs, your arms, your chest, whatever you MUST lose fat overall, it will not come off in one area only just because you’re working that one area.  All you are doing is working the muscle under the fat which is in turn making the muscle bigger (again, under the fat) which is probably the exact opposite result of what you’re trying to do, which is burn fat… am I right?  So get on a fat burning program, lose fat all over your body and watch that set of abdominals, thighs, arms, chest start to look more and more ripped as the fat comes off everywhere.

Bonus Baddie: Any piece of equipment that you’ll likely buy from a late night infomercial that promises to give you a ripped body without doing any actual work.  Do you really think sitting on your fat butt in a Hawaii Chair and having the thing yank your hips in circles is really doing anything to get you fit?  Please tell me you know better.  Save your dollars.  Join a gym, get comfortable with the idea of working hard to get fit and just go do it.

For more cool info on this subject, check out this article: Hot Yoga Is A Scam - Pt.2