This past weekend, I was in San Diego at a fitness meet. We all went out for dinner and started chatting about the Shake Weight.
Shake Weight is a common thing that fitness professionals talk about. The people behind it have built a big business with it. And how ridiculous it is even though it has helped more people than most of us ever will.
But I ask, “Is the Shake Weight Bringing Down the Fitness Industry?”
It was a very animated and entertaining discussion on shake weights. We tossed around all the workouts we could do with the Shake Weight and all the different exercises we could do with the Shake Weight – but is the Shake Weight the problem?
Fitness Professionals Being Negative About the Fitness Industry is Bringing Down the Fitness Industry
I don’t think the Shake Weight is the problem, but us.
When fitness professionals go out there and blast other aspects of the fitness industry, it fragments the whole fitness industry. It shows the industry is in chaos and confuses consumers about what can help them reach their health and fitness goals.
The negative energy and talk repel customers away. Who wants to be in a negatively chaotic environment like the fitness industry?
Diversity of Fitness Will Be Our Success or Failure
The fitness industry is incredible.
I don’t know of another industry so diverse with options and various specializations. This adds to our strength, but it is also the key to our failure as different professions within fitness fight each other to outshout the other on which field is the best – as opposed to focusing on helping clients reach their fitness goals in a fast and safe way.
How Much Fitness Negative Noise Did You Have to Overcome?
I would have to say fitness is a continuum, very much like the life of an endurance athlete.
If you look at endurance athletes, they will often start with running. They will build up their running to a marathon. Then continue and move on to triathlons and build their way up to an Ironman triathlon. They continue into Adventure Racing and Tough Mudder events. They still have the drive to train and are looking for a new challenge.
Fitness is no different. A client might be 100 lbs overweight and not feel comfortable going to a gym. They order the Shake Weight, and this is the first step in the right direction to a new life. They use the Shake Weight to start feeling better and making other changes in their lives, like eating better and trying to move around more.
The benefits continue, and they look for something else. They worry about being fit enough to be a part of a group, so they take a workout magazine to the gym and build on their fitness. This is fun and different for a while, but they are getting bored and need more excitement, encouragement, and others to work with, so they look into the Bootcamp.
You look for something new and find that Crossfit is something new, challenging, and kicks your butt. They love the Bootcamp as the instructor pushes, encourages, and supports them. The other campers are great to be around, but you reach a point where you are one of the fittest people in the class and are getting bored of the same old thing.
That Crossfit thing was great, but your joints start talking to you, and you need to step back. You are living your life in the fast lane. From 4 am to 10 pm, you are going. It would help if you slowed down, relaxed, and de-stress, so you looked to Yoga. As you are doing Sun Salutation, you think about your life-changing journey and remind yourself it all started with the Shake Weight. You are so glad you ignored all of those negative fitness professionals that said it was crap, and you wonder how many people did not start their fitness journey because others in the fitness industry did not let them in.
Hmmm, kind of a powerful story.
My Shake Weight Fitness Story
I look at my fitness journey, and it is like the above. I was active in high school, but when I hit university, I stopped. After university, I found running. The running led to a marathon, Ironman, then a five-month hike, then a 2.5-month bike ride, and now I run for fun, do resistance training to stay fit, and do things like Yoga to relax. I don’t know where I would have been if I had listened to the people that said, “Running sucks,” and “Why run when you can drive?”
Think Before You Criticize
Maybe look at what she is doing right next time you want to put up a photo of Jillian Michaels and blast her kettlebell routine. She knows who she can help and does everything to help all those people. She doesn’t have time to argue over perfect technique, especially when it happened during the 13 hours of shooting her DVDs that have gone out to help millions.
Another Great Reason to Get a Shake Weight
If you watch the Shake Weight commercials, they don’t mention how great of a shoulder rehabilitation device the Shake Weight is.
If you are looking for an affordable tool to help with perturbation training, try the Shake Weight.
It would be great to hear what you think about how we are repelling people from entering the fitness industry and how Shake Weight is a practical training and rehabilitation tool.
Rick Kaselj, MS
