Fitness trends are nothing new. In fact, they have been setting fires to the industry for hundreds of years. Some are all hype while others really are beneficial. Here are the most entertaining fitness trends to date.
The Shake Weight
This infamous dumbbell went viral after a weekend of ad testing turned shockingly great. No one really expected much from the product and the marketing team wasn’t even sure it would sell.
The product was designed with the help of a team in Taiwan. They patented it and created a prototype and then the product just hung around for about a year. No one really knew what to do with it. Then, in 2009, one of the head designers read an article about Michelle Obama’s arms and how women desired a similar toned look. This was the moment to launch the Shake Weight.
After running some test ads over a weekend the results came back on Monday morning and it produced nominal sales. Everyone was still a bit on-the-fence about the product. Several hours after the initial test result came back, there was an issue with Shake Weight’s website. It was crashing due to extremely high traffic. The next day the product was featured on Jimmy Kimmel and The View and by Friday the YouTube Video ad had millions of views.
Of course, the popularity was driven by the fact that the product looks sexual or slightly inappropriate. Even Ellen had a few laughs with it on a few of her talk show episodes. The product was definitely different and people are attracted to different.
ThighMaster
In the ’90s a man named Joshua Reynolds created a fitness toning tool that was originally called the “V-Toner”. Reynolds initially struggled to get his product into the market. With a little help from a savvy marketing team, the product was renamed “ThighMaster” and strategically placed into some influential hands.
The lead of the marketing team was a man named Peter Beiler and he ended up licensing the product himself which meant that all the royalties were now his. Beiler had Hollywood connections and had previously worked with Suzanne Somers. Once the two had agreed on a contract the product officially launched in 1991. In just over a year, 6 million ThighMasters were sold.
The success was largely due to celebrity endorsement and an aggressive retail strategy. There were ThighMasters in every Walmart and Target in the country with a few weeks of advertising. Product ownership changed hands in 1993 when Suzanne bought the rights to the product. She still owns it today.
Jazzercise
If you could describe the decade of the 70s in a few words, Jazzercise would be in there somewhere. This was the workout of the ’70s. It was all about having fun and mixing dance moves with exercise to pique the interest of novice attendees.
A woman named Judi Sheppard invented the class in 1969 in response to a high dropout rate of her Jazz dance classes. It wasn’t until Judi moved to San Diego and began teaching her classes that they exploded. As she began training her first round of instructors most happened to be members of the military. Jazzercise classes quickly spread as these newly trained instructors began moving around the country in the military.
It wasn’t long before Jazzercise began being featured in t.v shows and movies. Taxi, The Golden Girls, Troop Beverly Hills, Futurama, Flight of The Conchords, The Mighty Boosh, and Glee.
Jazzercise officially became a franchise in 1983 and by 1984 was the second-fastest-growing franchise just behind Domino’s pizza. After over 50 years the franchise currently spans across 32 countries with over 8,000 locations. Jazzercise has over 200,000 customers and boasts average annual earnings of over $100 million.
Vibrating Belt
Originally invented in the 1850s vibrating belts were created for improving health and toning the body. Swedish physician Dr. Gustav Zander created the first vibrating belt. He used it along with several other pieces of equipment to rehabilitate sick patients. They made a huge comeback during the ’50s and into the ’60s and were mainly marketed toward women.
The original concept was that vibrating machines could massage the body in certain ways as a means to remove toxins, increase circulation and rejuvenate users. They were later marketed as spot reducers that could loosen fat for the body to sweep away.
Of course, these claims were never actually backed by studies but that never stopped them from becoming a fitness craze.
Power Plate
A modern-day spin in vibrating belts is the Power Plate. It first became available in Holland in 1999 with the group efforts of several collaborators. Later, the machine was redesigned and relaunched in 2004. The claim is that the 3-dimensional vibrations each provide unique results to users. Left to right and front to back claim to enhance coordination and balance. While the up and down movement is said to tone muscles. The vibration movements are quick yet short to keep mobility intact and not cause falling.
Many celebrities were quick to jump on this trend ranging from Madonna to Claudia Schiffer. Toting promises of increased bone density, flexibility and muscle tone you can’t blame anyone for spending close to $3,000 for the machine.
The Power Plate is still very much alive and available today and yes, they do have an app as well. The company also offers a smaller more portable step version.
Goat Yoga
In 2016, Lainey Morse was trying to heal from a bad divorce and health issues. She was a farm owner and found comfort in spending time with her goats. She decided to invite a few friends over so share her newfound comfort and to see if anyone else might benefit from it. One of the friends who came over happened to be a yoga instructor and suggested they practice amongst the goats.
Before you get too confused about this entire situation let’s look at some facts. There have been studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that show animal therapy lowers blood pressure, lessens general pain, and supports autistic children in bonding.
Participants have said that the goats offer to calm and slightly distract from difficult mental and physical obstacles in yoga. Celebrities from Kevin Hart to Khloe Kardashian have tried out a class and there are plenty of YouTube videos to have a laugh at. All jokes aside, this craze brought in over $200,00 in just the first year alone.
Richard Simmons
If anyone can speak about losing weight and overcoming obstacles it is Richard Simmons. Back during adolescence, Simmons struggles with obsessive eating and gained a substantial amount of weight. He was faced with the reality of his health problems around the age of twenty and decided that he wanted to lose weight but quickly. From this point, he spiraled into eating disorders on the opposite end of the spectrum. He began a cycle of binging, purging and food restricting.
A new light went off within him and he was determined to get healthy but in a responsible way. This time around it was about eating correctly and learning how to have a proper relationship with food. Eager to share his journey and knowledge, Simmons opened a gym to help others. It became an instant hit with his unique personality and personal connection attracting clients in droves.
By the ’80s Simmons had his own t.v show highlighting nutritional advice alongside workout routines. He became wildly popular and became responsible for setting an array of fashion trends. Simmons appeared on talk shows, movies, and wrote books as well as staring in a library of exercise videos.
The iconic gym first opened by Simmons finally closed in 2016. The last class taught at the gym was attended by over 60 patrons who helped bring closure to a sensational moment in history.
Toning Shoes
The very first concept of toning shoes was created in the ’70s by Anne Kalso. They never really became popular or that notable. Then in the late ’90s, toning shoes were recreated by a Swiss company. The purpose of them is to replicate the difficulty of walking on sand or other such soft surfaces. The popularity spread rapidly with over 200,000 pairs sold in 2005 alone. Many companies quickly followed and introduced their own version of Toning shoes. Only five years later in 2010, and these shoes generated $1.5 Billion in sales.
Shoes with uneven soles do have certain benefits for many people. For example, if you suffer from joint pain or inflexibility within the toes then toning shoes help to push the foot forward. Initial claims were that these shoes helped tone muscles not usually targeted during walking. However, many studies debunked this and found no actual benefits. It is not advised for anyone with balance problems or disorientation to use toning shoes. As it puts them at a higher risk of injury.
