# John Basedow's chest freaks me out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754 "2005-01-02T23:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/1 "2005-01-02T23:44:04Z")
[His website](http://www.fitnessmadesimple.com/) Mr. Basedow has been on TV for some time advertising his _Fitness Made Simple_ videos. There’s something about his chest (or, at least, his upper torso) that weirds me out. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the way he stands. Or perhaps his long neck. Either way, he’s creepy ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/2 "2005-01-02T23:48:32Z")
I know what you mean. I think it is his weird posture, kind of slumping, slouching with a half turn to the side. It’s unnatural, like a mannequin in a department store. I want to just slap him and say, “Straighten up there, Boy!” ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/3 "2005-01-03T00:11:38Z")
It always seems to me that someone cut and pasted a 90-pound weakling’s head onto an athlete’s body. There’s something that doesn’t look right about him. ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/4 "2005-01-03T00:24:39Z")
Ha! I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought Basedow looked freaky! He creeps me out too; the posed shots look very strange. Heh, thanks for posting this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/5 "2005-01-03T00:51:11Z")
John Basedow is one of the reasons I thank Og for TiVo’s fast-forward capabilities. Have you seen his latest commercial, in which he sports hair both the color and texture of straw? ::shudder+cringe:: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/6 "2005-01-03T00:57:58Z")
He looks like a Ken doll come to horrible life. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/7 "2005-01-03T01:09:44Z")
He looks “odd” mainly because he’s got a small, narrow face which is made to look even tinier by his beefed up chest below, and his big head of wavy, blow dried hair above. It also looks a bit odd because his wrists and fingers are relatively thin and delicately proportioned as well. He’s this thin, delicate/wiry man with a beefed up chest and arms. [His photo gallery](http://www.fitnessmadesimple.com/gallery.php) ---
**Author:** ![Nurobath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nurobath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nurobath)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/8 "2005-01-03T06:44:40Z")
His head’s the wrong size altogether and it’s also the wrong color. He looks like a bad Photoshop job. It’s creepy as hell. Oh yeah, and his man-boobs are too big. ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/9 "2005-01-03T06:48:31Z")
It’s not his chest or his weird posture that bothers me, it’s his grotesquely ugly face. And I think, well, maybe I would try your routines, except that I’d have to look at your face and no thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/10 "2005-01-03T08:07:40Z")
Een my kids think his head has been Photoshopped onto anothers’ body. And BTW, would it kill the guy to crack a smile once in a while? And, while we are at it, who really believes that Bowflex woman is a 50 yr old grandmother? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/11 "2005-01-03T13:58:14Z")
Basedow CAN’T smile because he’s flexing every muscle in his upper body as tight as he possibly can, and standing at an angle that will make him look more “cut.” If you want to see it in real life, just go to Ocean City, NJ over Memorial Day weekend. All the high-school boys who haven’t worked out over the winter and suddenly find that they’ve got to take their shirts off rock this pose nonstop. I’m surprised there aren’t more ER admissions for hernias. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/12 "2005-01-03T14:08:48Z")
> [@Lyllyan](#): > > … And, while we are at it, who really believes that Bowflex woman is a 50 yr old grandmother? And how is the fact that she’s a grandmother relevant? 50 years old is 50 years old. Whether or not her children have children is completely useless info. Yeah, and I’ve always felt that Basedow looked weird ever since I first saw him. I suppose he has a good body. But it looks like he’s in pain. Like he’s going to double over any second now. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/13 "2005-01-03T17:40:45Z")
Count me in the completely skeeved group. I think it’s his pencil neck compared to his overdeveloped torso. Someone should tell him to work out his neck muscles, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/14 "2005-01-03T17:42:54Z")
Just what is a ‘fitness celebrity’ anyways? ---
**Author:** ![JustPlainBryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JustPlainBryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustPlainBryan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/15 "2005-01-03T18:27:13Z")
As far as I can see, he’s a phony-bologny celebrity. I did an IMDB search, and he has bupkus film/TV credits. I did a Google search, and his name comes up only in conjunction with his “Fitness Made Simple” product. I think he’s marketed as a “celebrity” only because he’s appeared in his own commercials to hawk his own product. I call Shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/16 "2005-01-03T21:05:27Z")
:sniff: It’s not easy being me, ya know…I try to promote fitness in a country desperately in need of it, look at the reaction I get. Oh sure, I do what I do for money, I mean who doesn’t? But mostly it’s about the fitness. :sniff: I mean, I didn’t want to use the dead-eye stare in all those pictures, but the photographer said it would make me look more rugged. Ya know, to compensate for the hair. I mean, you have to try things, right? And imagine going through life with your shoulders locked at a 45 degree angle to your waist. I can barely drive a car, dogs give me that confused look when I walk by, it’s hell. I’m willing to do it all though, just to promote fitness. I know the whole world loves my killer abs, but I’m not about that, I’m about fitness. :sniff: …It’s always been about fitness…what do you do that’s so great?..you bastards… ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/17 "2005-01-03T21:16:24Z")
I can picture them being egg sacs - imagine, if you will, the man posing on stage, when suddenly, his chest _implodes_, revealing thousands of squirming insects, with black, slime-coated, segmented bodies, inches long, and with thousands of tiny legs, which proceed to move over him, devouring his muscle tissue, eating through bone and flesh, leaving him an unrecognizable heap of assorted unfavourable parts before even the last spectator has fled the auditorium, screaming. Or, you know, don’t. ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/18 "2005-01-03T21:22:07Z")
I suppose it’s just an example of poor lighting, but [this photo](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1808405099&cf=premiere&photoid=555006&intl=us) makes Teri Polo’s chest look like a Klingon’s forehead. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/19 "2005-01-03T22:18:54Z")
> [@chukhung](#): > > I suppose it’s just an example of poor lighting, but [this photo](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1808405099&cf=premiere&photoid=555006&intl=us) makes Teri Polo’s chest look like a Klingon’s forehead. Can somebody get this poor woman a sandwich? ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754/20 "2005-01-03T22:25:12Z")
His hed is pastede on yay. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-basedows-chest-freaks-me-out/282754.md?page=2)