Exercise Gimmicks, Vol. 3: the Giddyup Core Exerciser
Like the Hawaii Chair in the last installment, the “Giddyup Core Exerciser” is yettanother core “workout” where the machine does the work for you. In this case, you “saddle up” and the dual motors provide you with an effortless workout based on “counter-balance exercise.” The idea here is that you have to contract your core muscles in order to retain your balance. As the fitness babe in the infomercial chirps: “The most appealing aspect of this counterbalance motion is that the user is exercising without really doing anything. There is no exertion from the user.”
No kidding.
Now I don’t doubt that the Giddyup Core Exerciser will provide some basic core strengthening. After all, horseback riding is used as a form of physical therapy (“hippotherapy”) for people with disabilities that affect motor control and coordination, such as cerebral palsy. There is, however, an upper limit to the benefits a device like this can provide. To truly strengthen your core, the exercise needs to be progressive…just like for any other muscle group.
The claim that you can “maximize the strength of the core body’s abdominal, oblique and low back muscles” is ridiculous…”improve a little” is more like it.
Update: Ok this isn’t the “Giddyup” – it’s a competitor’s model, the iGallop. But I still thought it was a howl. I guess this sort of device is more versatile than I thought.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWZKjtFUeco]
