We’ve all seen 'em in old movies and TV shows. Just about every physical comedy performer used them in sketches that were set inside of a gym or spa. Of course I’m talking about those waist-high devices that featured a big loose belt that jiggled like crazy when the machine was turned on. The belt went around the user’s butt, or waist, or belly.
Was this thing supposed to make the user lose weight? Or maybe “break up” his/her fat cells? Or was it nothing more than just a feel-good butt massager?
They were, theoretically, supposed to be a sort of passive exercise, whereby some fat was “broken up” or burned off without a person actually doing any work. Snake oil.
When I was a child our neighbours had one of these. We thought it was the height of sophistication and were always begging to be allowed to play with it. We never did get a chance.
Entirely snake oil? Not really doubting, but I suspect that when we’re tossed around, we’ve got this instinctive reaction to resist the tossing, to set ourselves ‘straight’. I know that after I get off a small boat, I feel a lot more tired than when I got on - though admittedly, much of that might be the sun and excitement and whatnot. Still, the belts might have had some good effect (sure, best combined with other regular excercise and diet control) - perhaps?
Description of item from linked site, emphasis mine: “It is now known by professional trainers that this activity is a perfect worm up for ***you mussel * ** and a great blood circulator to start your day or any activity.”
It seems to me that it would be harmful, shaking your booty that much. Like it would indeed “Break up” fat. Along with all the other tissue that you want to keep intact. If you shook that much, it might [pure speculation here] damage connective tissue and result in that part of your body becoming all droopy and losing tone. A massage device should at least be slower or gentler in order to prevent such damage.
Given the limited range of motion of these machines, and the fleshy (and thus absorbing of impact) bits of the body they were designed to be worn around, I can’t see much in the way of connective tissue damage. I can definitely see nerve damage from prolonged use, though.
I’ve always wondered about these sham devices though. Is there a provision, much like “holistic” and “herbal suppliment” provisions are to legitemate medicine, where these can be sold while still making outrageous claims? Is it simply weasel words like “can,” “may” and “up to” that allow them to be marketed as devices that can achieve results that are patently absurd even on the surface? Wouldn’t the makers, if legally pressed, be required to show some kind of directly correlated positive results – however nominal – that back up one or more of their claims?
When I was a kid our family belonged to an athletic club that had a couple. This was the seventies. We had a blast messing around with those things. They were quite strong, and you could set them to different speeds. They did have a little bit of a message quality to them, but I think the biggest weight loss potential to them was that you couldn’t eat while using one.
I may be wrong, but in the Seinfeld series finale, when we see Newman leaving his apartment on his way to watch the trial in Latham, MA, I believe there is one of these machines standing by the door. At least, it looks like some sort of contraption that stands about high-waist high, and has a big rubber belt hanging loosely off of it.
