It was a real challenge to put together the top 5 most ridiculous gym and fitness equipment list. Not because there wasn’t enough home gym equipment to include; on the contrary, there were too many weird harnesses and sticks to add, making it rather challenging to assemble only a short list.
Unlike the best dumbbells and best kettlebells, the fitness equipment on this list won’t help you build muscle or lose belly fat, but they will definitely help emptying your bank account for no reason. Ready to see some weird hula hoop replacement and strange neck harnesses? Let’s get right into it.
The most ridiculous gym and fitness equipment
(Image credit: ZNN)
1. Waist exerciser
The full name of this waist-size-shrinking wonder at Amazon is ‘ZNN Sport Hoops Yoga Waist Exerciser Hoop- Portable Detachable Belly Abdominal Muscle Trainer Circle Loss Weight Fitness Equipment‘, so one can tell they won’t rely on brand recognition in order to sell the product. The way this contraption works is similar to hula hoops, but with added steps that are completely unnecessary.
You need to adjust the ring that goes around your waist by adding/removing sections from the ring. If this doesn’t break the waist exerciser straight away, you pop what looks like a pedometer on a suction cup over your belly button and spin the little ‘weight hammer’ around by moving your hips.
The worst part? The waist exerciser cost more than most smaller kettlebells and way more than actual hula hoops that are A) less complicated and B) more effective in general.
What you should buy instead: hula hoops, of course. Hula hoops are not only fun to use but they can also help you lose weight and increase trunk muscle mass according to a 2019 study that compared hula hooping and walking.
(Image credit: New Image)
2. Squat Magic
Surprisingly, Squat Magic is not way more expensive than the aforementioned waist exerciser, but that’s pretty much all the positives we can say about it. Apparently, you can perform over 15 different type of squats with this device and as it “guides and supports you on the way down and assists you on the way up”.
Probably the main issue with Squat Magic is that air squats are perfectly fine exercises to boost metabolism and to increase heart rate (which in turn burns calories). Squat Magic advertises itself as a low impact fitness machine but you know what else is low impact? Not doing super deep air squats.
Seniors might appreciate low-impact nature but Squat Magic is clearly not aimed at them: according to the description, you can “build a sexy, lifted bottom, toned and defined legs, and a sculpted core” with it.
What you should buy instead: get a pair of the best workout shoes and start doing air squats (squats without weights). Squats are amazing exercises for strengthening the lower body and doing squats also burn a hell of a lot calories too. For more info, check out our ‘how to squat‘ guide.
(Image credit: ViPR)
3. ViPR tubes
ViPR ‘weight bar’ tubes are said to “bridge the gap…