I’ve been sitting on this post for two weeks…
Not literally “sitting”.
A client of mine told me about an ad that was placed in the New York Times by Soloflex. They were advertising their new version of a Whole Body Vibration machine, the SoloflexWBV. Advertised as a less expensive version of the institutional models (the Power Plate), the WBV platform is available for 1/3 of the cost ($395 vs. $12,000).
I’m about done with this New Wave of Whole Body Vibrating Machines. This is an exercise fad I’m surprised took off, and can’t wait for it to subside.
Not to mention that the whole idea of a vibrating platform to do exercise on is bogus anyways. The ads state as much – “If you’re not training with weights regularly, here’s the next best thing.” Well, at least they see the value of weight training.
Soloflex apparently likes this thing so much, they’ve placed pdf files of the WBV’s advertisments on the webpage – now that’s devotion. Alas, the list is conspiciously missing the original ad that my client saw that sparked this entire post topic altogether.
She brought it in for me today. The headline reads:
*ahem*
“OUR NEW CONTRAPTION BEATS YOU INTO SHAPE!”
This is not a joke. I’d scan it and post it if I wasn’t worried I’d get sued by Soloflex Corp.
Well, I guess I’d seen bad ad copy for exercise machines, but this one is my current favorite.
I think I’ll have to pick apart the research for vibrating machines one study at a time. Not that I can access any of the research from their citations page – heh.
