The Shake Weight Review
photo by Pewari Naan - is this the heaviest weight women should lift?
Oh my damn. Where to being with this one . . .
I’ll go ahead and be blunt and honest: this is another worthless piece of crap that won’t provide the results it promises.
Check it out:
Other than that, here are a few observations from the advertisement:
1) Every woman in this video is very thin and already “toned”. They didn’t use the shake weight to get those results. More than likely they engage in some form of resistance training, whether it’s with weights or bodyweight exercises.
2) “Heavy exercise machines are designed to create bulk” is a bunch of non-sense. Most guys struggle to build muscle mass, and it’s even more difficult for women to build muscle. This is another example of people trying to tell women not to lift weights, be weak, do cardio, and not to lift anything heavier than a soup can. Or in this case, a two and half pound piece of junk.
Lifting heavy weights and getting strong will not make a woman bulky. In fact it’s one of the best ways to transform your body and build true confidence.
Every woman I have ever trained lifts heavy weights and performs exercises with their own bodyweight. And guess what! They do not get big and bulky. They lose fat and sculpt their body.
3) “The long, lean, defined look” is a myth. You can’t make a muscle longer; it’s impossible. If you want a “lean, defined look” then you should engage in resistance training. This is the ultimate way to sculpt your body and lose fat. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a moron.
This is a great quote from Charles Staley: “saying that lifting weights will make a woman look like a man is like saying that by doing Pilates I will look like a woman”.
4) There is absolutely no progressive overload with this device (you can’t increase the resistance). Progressive overload is the ultimate way to continue to transform your body. This is why people who do the same exercises, with the same weight, for the same number of reps for weeks, months, and even years don’t get results. You must improve your performance consistently and expose your body to a new stimulus on a regular basis if you want to get results.
5) I don’t care what they say. This device will not “workout your entire upper body”.
6) “Dynamic inertia”. Once again someone is just throwing random words together in order to make it look as if they have something revolutionary and groundbreaking.
Inertia – Thanks to Newton’s First Law of Motion we can define this word as “the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion”. Basically an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
Dynamic – of or concerned with energy or forces that produce motion, as opposed to static.
There is nothing special about the phrase “dynamic inertia”.
7) If you need to lose weight (which will help you look “defined and toned”), shaking that stupid thing won’t help. You will be much better off performing big compound movements that take a lot of energy to perform. What exercises? You guessed it: squats, lunges, deadlifts, push-ups, dips, inverted rows, chin-ups, and exercises with free weights.
Oh, and don’t forget you must make smart nutrition choices. That is vital.
8) If you truly want a great pair of arms, then you should not focus entirely on isolation exercises such as curls and kick-backs. You will get much better results if you do exercises like push-ups, dips, inverted rows, [assisted] chin-ups, and other compound exercises. Not only will those exercises allow you to build a great pair of arms, but you will also work your entire upper body.
9) To the “professional personal trainer”: shame on you. If you are actually a trainer, you are part of the problem. You are one of the reasons women keep buying these worthless gimmicks and become incredibly frustrated because they don’t get the results they were promised.
10) There are some many more things I could say, but I can’t go on anymore. Gimmicks like this make me sick.
What else do you think about the Shake Weight?
Comments for This Entry
Pretty good post.
I just stumbled upon you blog
and wanted to say that i have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.
Any way i'll be subscribing to your feed and i hope you
post again soon.
Posted by Amir at 12:02pm Nov 10, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Charmed-
Thanks for the great comments!!! And I appreciate the compliment! ; )
Posted by Nia Shanks at 12:23pm Feb 10, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Edt workouts are great. I have done the original edt for strength, hypertrophy, compound edt, and convergent phase training is a great way to work on body comp and maintain or add strength. I use my own modified versions of it. The thing is he will say do it for a while and then move on to something else for a while, but infomercials have people saying "I have been doing slim in 6 and 10 months later I have lost 90lbs". They make it like the only thing you have to is this single workout that has no emphasis on progression and variation and it works for life. Like Nick is basically saying these mainstream female trainers (certainly some men included) make female trainers seem like airheads. I know this is not true and I feel bad saying that, but they come off like if the had to add 10lbs of muscle on a person with a year of experience they couldn't do it. I think women don't see a problem with that ( because they just wanna tone) but they are suppose to be personal trainers not personal fat losers. You are not a "fatloss" specialist by default. Men who scare women into not trying hard or you'll get bulky are 100x's worse. When women scan the net or books they will gravitate to what is comfortable like www.don'tgetbulky.com and they will stay away from anything that is athletic or progressive in nature. The women who happily scan your site and women like you are very impressive.
Posted by charmed1taz at 10:08am Feb 10, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Jo-
Oh, thanks!
I'm so glad you like the article!!! Keep up the good work!
Posted by Nia Shanks at 8:00am Feb 10, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
DH = Dear Husband
Great article! So glad I've learned what I have from trainers like you!
Posted by Jo at 7:34am Feb 10, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Michelle-
Great comment, and quite funny! I used to get upset when I saw people doing stupid shit in the gym or buying these worthless gimmicks. But then I realized that some people honestly don't know better. There is so much contradicting information (especially in regards to how women should train) that I understand why people are confused.
I hate it when I see women wasting their time on the inner/outer thigh machines, doing endless sets of triceps kickbacks, and crunches. Some women just don't know better. They're doing what the "women specific" training magazines are telling them. Granted, some women just don't won't to work hard, but the majority don't know any better. All we can do is continue to provide the right information and hope they follow it. Thanks again for the great comment!!!
Jessica-
Glad you liked the post! Ha ha! Yeah I know exactly what you mean. ; )
Maria-
Hm . . . not sure what "DH" stands for. ?? THanks for the comment!
Nick-
I definitely remember you!! How did you do in that powerlifting meet?
Thanks for the comment and I hope you're doing very well! ; )
Posted by Nia Shanks at 7:11am Feb 10, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Nia, don't know if you remember me but I met you last spring at Ifast while I was interning there. Came across this post and had to comment. Its funny because my mom got one of these ridiculous things as a gift at some christmas party and I got her to get money back for it. The fact that people actually spend money on crap like this really irritates me. It definitely makes me feel better that there are some good female trainers like yourself educating other females on how they should be training. I've had a few blog posts about the reasons females need to lift more than 2 pounds, the myths around it, etc. you may be interested in checking out. I bet you are a big fan of Tracy Anderson, definitely kidding. Keep the good info coming.
Posted by Nick Rosencutter at 8:53pm Feb 9, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
My DH was just telling me how great the Ab Pro looked. He should know better!!! Quote: " how else do you work those side muscles?" UGH!
Posted by maria at 4:50pm Feb 9, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Very entertaining Nia :)
I share your frustration!
Ads for the 'cardio twister' are driving me nuts...lol
Jess
Posted by Jessica Campbell at 2:32pm Feb 9, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Great post Nia. Unfortunately this is another piece of worthless crap created by unscrupulous marketers attempting to profit from the fears and hopes of countless women looking for an easy way to get the body they want.
I feel no sympathy for the sheeple that purchase products such as the shake weight or body blade (my husband subjected me to watching the infomercial on shop nbc the other night until I threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't turn the channel) as they aren't really willing to do what it takes to transform themselves and if they want to waste their money then so be it.
What gets me most upset is as you stated, they show models that you know did not get that way by using this piece of shit product AND they have the nerve to say that they are personal trainers. It can make it that much harder for intelligent, knowledgeable professionals such as yourself to counteract the damage of so much misinformation.
Keep up the fight.
Be well train hard
Michelle
Posted by Michelle at 12:48pm Feb 9, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Jack-
Yeah, I tried his EDT workouts a few years ago, and still use his concepts with some of my clients. If you like EDT, you'll really like his book "Muscle Logic". Highly recommended.
Thanks again! ; )
Posted by Nia Shanks at 8:47am Feb 9, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]
Great post Nia! As usual, very informative and full of passion.
J
ps have you ever tried Charles' EDT method? Love it!
Posted by Jack at 8:25am Feb 9, 2010 [permalink | flag as inappropriate]