As Seen on TV - The Ab-Doer and Other Infomercial Equipment
Oct 16 '00
“Never buy a piece of home exercise equipment from an infomercial or a cable shopping channel”. I read those words awhile back in an article in my Sunday newspaper. But do I ever take this advice and save my hard-earned money? NO! I love watching the infomercials hawking the latest fitness equipment that I simply MUST have. You know the ones – buy this ab machine and you’ll have rock hard abs in just 5 minutes a day! Use this and you’ll look just like the actors they hire to appear in their infomercials. Bull. I bet a million bucks those actors didn’t get their 6 packs from using THAT equipment!
My first infomercial “buy” was the Jane Fonda Treadmill back in 1995. It was OK for a manual treadmill and I almost kept it, but on the 29th day of my 30 day free trial, one of the rollers started making a dreadful squeaking noise. Back it went. By the way, the infomercials always stress the fact that you can return no questions asked within 30 days. I’ve never had a problem with that, but they don’t refund the original shipping charges and those can sometimes run $50 or more (the shipping costs are padded). You also have to pay the return shipping so that adds another $20 or so just to get the contraption out of the house. These companies make a profit on the shipping charges as it never costs as much to ship the item back as they charge to ship the item to you.
I’ve also tried the FastTrac skier that Cathy Rigby sold, the Power Train elliptical machine, Tony Little’s Gazelle Glider, Brenda Dygraf’s Air Walker, numerous ab crunchers, and the Aerofit. They also were returned.
So you’d think I’d wise up and quit buying these worthless pieces of junk. I saw a new infomercial – for a device called THE AB-DOER. This piece of equipment reminded me of the Waist Twist Machine I used at the Elaine Powers Fitness Center I went to 20 years ago. I watched the infomercial but I wasn’t going to fall prey to THIS one! No sirree. Then it popped up on Shop at Home, a cable shopping channel I watch from time to time but had never ordered from. John Abdo, the inventor of the Ab-Doer, was demonstrating it. And guess what? Free shipping and handling! I broke down and ordered it.
The Ab-Doer arrived at my door two weeks ago. It was easy to assemble, except where you have to insert four little screws to attach the hand grips to the arm bar. You’re supposed to “peel back” the foam rubber grips a good 2 inches so you can locate the screw holes. I broke two fingernails trying to do this.
If you’re short like I am (not quite 5’4” and short waisted), the Ab-Doer may not fit you. There are several holes spaced 1 inch apart on the upright assembly so you can adjust the arm bar to be at the proper height just for your size. Even on the lowest set of holes, my arms are too high in the air to feel comfortable. Being short, I can’t get much leverage to lean backwards. The built-in massage roller does feel very good on the back though. But I don’t need to spend $175.00 to get a massage!
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when a company lies to me. John Abdo himself stated the AB-Doer had a LIFETIME warranty. Not so! The instruction/assembly manual states a one year warranty, not a lifetime. The infomercial says “you’ll lose 2 inches off your waist in just 10 days” or your money cheerfully refunded! Not so! I’ve been using this along with the 20 minute workout video supplied “free of charge” for 2 weeks and I haven’t lost an inch (literally). And I’m eating right (Weight Watchers 1-2-3) and walking 2 miles a day, so I’m giving 100% to the effort. “The Ab-Doer can easily be stored in your closet”. Again, not so! The key word is “easily”. Unless you have a walk-in closet and are a neat-freak it won’t easily fit. The arm bar also needs to be removed before it will go through the door.
Now, if I can ONLY fit it back into the box the way it came……..
MY ADVICE: ( I SHOULD HEED THIS MYSELF !!! )
1. If you ABSOLUTELY must have exercise equipment you see on an infomercial, wait until it’s been “out” awhile. These things eventually show up at discount stores like K-Mart for a much cheaper price with no shipping charges.
2. Look for these items in your local second-hand sports equipment store, your newspaper, or on Ebay. The Ab-Doer is now showing up on Ebay as “returned but not damaged with no missing parts”.
3. In my opinion, one of the best pieces of home exercise equipment is a good quality, motorized treadmill or a Nordic Track Ski Machine, if you’re coordinated. I bought my Pro-Form treadmill at Sears, which I did have to order, but I didn’t have to pay any shipping charges. If you have a friend with a pick-up truck that will come in handy, as Sears charges $75 for delivery.
4. Leslie Sansone makes some excellent workout videos: Walk Aerobics – this is a series of tapes that are for all fitness levels, from Walk Aerobics for Seniors on up to a Four Mile Power Walk. These are done in a small area right in front of your TV. She also has an excellent beginners step video that’s been out for about 10 years called Basic Stepping with Walk Aerobics.
5. If you’re short on cash, improvise! Use canned goods as free weights, build an aerobic step out of some scrap lumber and “step” to some lively dance music on the stereo. Heck, if you don’t want to build a step, just dance around to some music by Janet Jackson or Britney Spears. If you have two left feet, who cares? No one’s watching, so have fun.
Just remember - whatever you buy, don’t use it to hang your clothes. Happy exercising!
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Member: Debby
Location: Indianapolis, IN
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