Strange Exercise Fads

If you pay any attention to infomercials on late night television, you might see some interesting exercise machines and workouts but what crazy things did they have before the media and before the current exercise crazes.  Some are really crazy while others have been around on and off.

The last time this made an appearance was during the 1960’s when people tried to “jiggle” their fat away using a motorized set of belts that helped vibrate the fat on your body. Although it went away, a more modern version appeared in which the machine shocked the abdominal muscles with an electrical current to shrink them and firm them up.

Back in the early 1900’s, when stretching became the preferred method of exercise, someone came up with the idea of shrinking their shadow.  The person would stretch and move their body around so their shadow became as small as possible.   Many of the stretches used back them are the same we use to warm-up or cool down.

Then late in the twentieth century or early in the twenty-first century one of the shoe companies came up with a shoe that was supposed to help a person tone their rear when they wore them. The shoe had a rocker bottom so they were a bit unstable as if you were walking on sand and thus burn calories and firm up muscles.  Although shoe makers made quite a few claims, a study revealed the shoes did absolutely nothing for the wearer.

In the 1950s someone designed the workout vest so people could wear it while relaxing and supposedly it would make them fit.  Unfortunately, it had several design flaws which caused the government to ban it.  The government felt that there was the possibility of harmful side effects when using electrodes to stimulate muscles. Before it was banned, the inventor sold over 400,000 vests to the public.

Then in the 1970’s some brilliant person invented the Sauna Hot Pants. These inflatable shorts supposedly allowed the wearer to lose weight by sweating fat from the stomach and thighs rather than having to diet and exercise.  These didn’t catch on and didn’t seem to work.

Back in Medieval times, a French knight recommended climbing up between two walls as a great way to exercise and get fit without having to do anything else.  I don’t know if it became popular but there is a modern version of this being done now.

Finally, there were weights one had to wiggle them with enthusiasm.  If one used them, one could improve muscle tone and get fit but the reality is that there needs to be some sort of resistance involved.  In addition, it came in a limited number of weights and the workout only lasts for 6 minutes,  not enough time to do much.  Traditional weight training is much better.

So here are a few odd and weird exercise ideas through history. Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear.  Have a great day.