The Amazing Vibrating Belt and Other Crazy Fitness Fads

Ever wonder how we got where we are with fitness fads? We’ve come a long way, baby, and I have a feeling we have a way to go. Take a stroll down the fitness fad memory lane with me and see if you remember any of these gems:





1940s=Working Out Not Allowed



Guess what women’s fitness trend swept the nation in the 1940s. Um, nothing. Not a workout in sight. It’s not surprising when you consider that in the 40s, many experts were still telling women that exercise could damage their uteruses, according to Fitness for Dummies. Women spent their days pursuing domestic activities like cooking, baking, sewing, ironing aprons and having Tupperware parties. Who in the world could fit fitness into a busy schedule like that? Would June Cleaver have been able to look so fresh and perky when Ward came through the door each night?



1950s=Jack LaLanne’s Glamour Stretcher



In 1956 (yes, before I was born), the President’s Council on Youth Fitness was formed. Jack LaLanne had his own exercise show–The Jack LaLanne Show. It was one of the longest-running health-and-fitness shows in history, having first aired in 1951. In 1959, (I was one that year!) Jack developed the Glamour Stretcher. It was the first elastic band used for resistance training, though he didn’t market it quite that way. The Glamour Stretcher came with a record called "Glamour Stretcher Time." The new gizmo promised women a lovelier, more flattering figure. Gee, who’d have thought that resistance training could do that? I always knew I liked Jack LaLanne.



1960s=Vibrating Belts



I remember going with my Mom to a Venus De Milo exercise studio (Remember them? Yikes!) and seeing these women getting jiggled by a belt slung around their butts while they gossiped endlessly and smacked Doublemint Gum (not really a pretty picture). These belts were thought to melt fat…huh?? All they did was give these poor women red streaks on their hinnies. The sad but true thing is that I was channel surfing the other day and poof! A new hybrid version is back on the market. If only it could give you tan while melting your fat, I’d be suckered in.



1970s=Roller Skating



Now this one I like. With the advent of polyurethane wheels that made for smoother rolling, roller skating made a huge comeback in the ’70s. Olivia Newton-John appeared in her red and white skates on the cover of a July 1979 issue of People. She was quoted as saying, "Skating keeps my legs in shape." She?did have cute legs, right??Since?I don’t have any roller rinks near my home, so I was wondering if I could roller skate on?my treadmill…hmmm. Note to self: Be sure to?pay the health insurance premium…



1980s=Aerobics



Gotta love the ’80s - just don’t gag thinking back on the big hair, disco music, leisure suits and lest we not forget, Jane Fonda and her painful if not gainful burst onto the aerobic scene. Funny thing is, Fonda looked astonishing and I must say her routines worked. I mean how could they not? Sixty minutes of bopping around, leg warmers and all, sweatband perfectly perched on our heads so as to not muss our giant feathered-back bangs and the novel concept of cardiovascular activity to burn calories and tone muscles. Gee, I need to do some cardio. Has anyone seen my pink lycra leotard?



1990s=Boot-Camp Fitness



The military meets fat camp. The boot-camp fitness classes that sprang up in the ’90s offered intense tough-love motivation, often run by ex-military whistle-blowing instructors. According to The Gym Survival Guide by Gregg Cook and Fatima D. Almeida-Cook, The military aspect of this class stems from the idea of going through a chain of exercises strung together with little to no rest in between, as well as the idea of working in a team and fostering the spirit of camaraderie. Personally, I like the boot camp mindset. It forces you to either get tough or wimp out and get ridiculed by a maniacal camoflauge-clad trainer with a riding crop. Now drop and give me fifty!

2000s=Strip Aerobics



I know. How could this even be considered fitness? Strip aerobics. Pole dancing. Sexercise? (don’t ask). You can thank celebrity trainer Jeff Costa for jump-starting the movement. In 2001, he created Cardio Striptease for Crunch Gym. Then cutie-patootie Carmen Electra jumped on board when she started her own collection of workout DVDs called Aerobic Striptease. This evolved into pole dancing, with the S Factor workout, a combination of yoga, ballet, striptease and, naturally, pole dancing (brainchild of Sheila Kelley). I tried pole dancing once…I did pretty good until the Principal came out and told me I was using the flagpole in an inappropriate manner…



So now were in a new decade…the 2010s (doesn’t sound quite right does it?) Any guesses as to what the new fitness fad might be?



I was thinking maybe Ninja Sleep Training. You know, since that recent study found that getting more sleep could help you lose weight, just think, if you could work-out while you were asleep, you could get fit and lose pounds and rest. And yay me, there’d be no school principals in sight!



Remember — a fad is just a fad, but fitness is forever!!