If you’re trying to shape up, there’s no shortage of exercise equipment and workouts promising to deliver bigger, better, faster results. But are they really all that?
We asked msnbc.com fitness contributors Gina Lombardi, Jay Blahnik and Kathy Kaehler to weigh in on some of the latest trends.
Skorcher
What it is: A fitness machine aimed at toning the buttocks and thighs. Reportedly, J. Lo has used the Skorcher to get in shape after having her twins, and Daniel Radcliffe (a.k.a. Harry Potter) got one to buff up his backside for revealing scenes in the Broadway play “Equus.” Web site: www.skorcher.com. Price ranges from $399 to $1,199.
The claims: "The world's best butt exercise ... The butt machine that will make your maximus, medius, and minimus the sexiest ... Skorcher shapes better butts with our signature exercise, the hip thrust — the best exercise for attaining a nice, sexy butt.”
Trainer feedback: Any exercise product claiming to be the “world’s best” understandably raises a skeptical eye in the fitness community. “It allows you to do good, solid exercises, but many if not all of the exercises can be done completely safely and effectively without the product,” says Jay Blahnik, a personal trainer in Laguna Beach, Calif., and author of “Full Body Flexibility." “Some people, however, like machines to do things on and are more motivated to do them with products than without.”
But another of our resident experts says the device can really rev up your workout. “This is a home run for challenging the body and taking average, pedestrian exercises into the stratosphere,” says Los Angeles fitness coach Gina Lombardi, host of “FitNation” and author of the forthcoming book “Deadline Fitness.”
