Essay - Critical Evaluation of the Bun and Thigh Roller (Www.bunthigh.com) the...

Critical Evaluation of the Bun and Thigh Roller (www.bunthigh.com)

***** exercise device known as ***** Bun ***** Thigh Roller 'as seen on televisi*****' proclaims itself to be a five-minute w*****y to sculpt the so-called problem areas of the thighs and buttocks. The promotional television clip on ***** website states that the Bun and Thigh Roller can activate the muscles of the thigh and rear areas just as much as more expensive machines. It also claims to *****fers a pain free, injury-free work out unlike squats or the use of heavier weights. Its celebrity endorser, Don Tornabene, "former Mr. America," says that he was inspired to create t***** machine when ********** out on a Swiss ball. "Before my workouts, I was using the ***** ball to stretch my lower back, hips and thighs. I realized this would be a f*****ntastic way to ***** the ***** body if it only offered the resistance necessary for fast results" ("The ***** and ***** Roller," 2007, Official Website).

***** claim is problematic for two reasons. First of all, Don Tornabene is not a doctor, personal trainer, or scientist. He is not even an athlete, as a Mr. America is evaluated upon h***** appearance, not ***** his physical fitness. Secondly, Tornabene admits that he *****d the low-impact ***** while warming up for his regular work-out. In other words to gain his physique, ***** ***** strenuous effort is needed. ***** machine comes with a diet plan, so essentially the advertisement's real claim is that ***** per*****n, who buys the machine, sticks to a low calorie diet and adds at le*****t some additional activity onto ********** current exerc*****e regime will lose weight.

It could be argued that at very least, the machine does no harm, as it does encourage the person desperate for weight loss to engage in low-impact movement, *****out harmful supplements. However, the mach*****e, which costs 3 installments of 16.95, is *****t cheap, when one considers that very likely, doing crunches ***** other exercises at home similar to the activities the machine is supposed to facilitate would be equally effective. The money would likely be better spent, ***** at all, on ***** inexpensive free weights to be used in conjunction with a workout found for ***** on the *****ternet, in ***** magaz*****e, or in a book ***** the library (Noakes 2003: 777-789). Or ***** yet, since raising ***** heart rate through cardiov*****cular exercise is more effective for weight loss in the short term because it burns more calories, an individual would be better adv*****ed ***** spend his or her ***** on a new pair of running or walking shoes (Kolata 2003).

What is more troubling about the product is the ***** that it plays upon fears, usually female fears of having 'fat thighs' or ***** buttocks' which are not even ***** most dangerous *****as to ***** *****, from a health standpoint. A study ***** the Institute of Pr*****tative Medicine in Copenhagen ***** ***** ***** apple-shaped woman with excess fat around their waists were ***** to be