I’ve seen a number of commercials recently advertising a new miracle way to get your abs in shape. Like all other products that are too good to be true, the Ab Rocket Exercise Chair makes big promises and shows a lot of pictures to try and back it up. If you’ve been considering buying this exercise tool you should start by setting all of the hype to the side and reviewing the product for what it really is. Your beer belly won’t turn into a 6 pack in a week if you use it for 5 minutes a day, and the ‘lift off seat’ won’t do all of the work for you. Like all other exercises you need to work hard if you want good results.

Benefits of the Ab Rocket Chair

Now that you’ve dismissed all of the hype lets look at what you do get when you buy an Ab Rocket Abdominal Trainer. The design of the chair is compact and it can easily fit under a bed or in other small places. As someone who lives in an apartment, it is important for me to be able to store this, then easily get it out and ready to use with minimal effort. It fits in my coat closet which is conveniently located just a few feet from my couch.

This machine is not designed to help you lose weight, only tone your figure. The chair is built to support up to 250 pounds, and made with a sturdy steel and foam construction. From other reviews I’ve found the chair seems pretty durable, and the only faults reported are construction issues such as screws coming loose. The Ab Rocket is much more comfortable than doing sit-ups or crunches on the floor is, so if your need to work your abs this is a comfortable way to do it without going to the gym.

In addition to the Ab Rocket, you also get a workout DVD which, while it isn’t the best quality, does help you get a good ab workout. The low calorie meal plan it comes with is interesting for a quick read but you’re much better off buying a low calorie cookbook online. The price point is right for what you get, if you buy the Ab Rocket Abdominal Trainer from Amazon you can get it for under $100 and free shipping. This is a much better deal that buying it from the manufacturer’s site, plus then you get to work with Amazon’s customer support if any issues arise rather than the manufacturer.

Issues with the Ab Rocket

The biggest issue the people I’ve talked to had with the Ab Rocket is that it just didn’t live up to their expectations. They saw the video and expected a miracle, and no product can deliver that. There isn’t much resistance when doing sit-ups, so aside from being more comfortable it isn’t much more beneficial than exercising without it.

As mentioned earlier, this exercise machine has a 250 lb weight limit which reduces the number of people who can use it. It is also not as comfortable for those, like me who are over 6′ tall. Since the level of resistance isn’t too high this isn’t for people who are already in great shape. The target audience is people who have a little weight to lose, or who are looking to start working their abs again to build up to more intense workouts.

Should You Buy an Ab Rocket?

If you’re looking for an easy workout to do when you wake up, or while watching TV you’ll love the Ab Rocket. You won’t see results from doing it for 5 minutes a day but if you can do it for 20 to 40 minutes a day while watching your favorite television show you’ll find that your abs will be much more tone after a few weeks on the Ab Rocket.

For those people who are already at a healthy weight and not too tall they will find that this makes it a lot easier to work their abs. For those of us who don’t fit that category, the Ab Rocket won’t be comfortable. If you are planning on buying this product I highly recommend that you do not buy it using the manufacturer’s $15 trial offer. You will end up spending more in the long run than if you bought it outright. You can buy it from Amazon and if you don’t like it they’re likely to accept a return and you’ll just be out the return shipping cost.

Bearing the above in mind, as long as you don’t have unreasonable expectations for what this product will do for you I think you’ll find that you enjoy it. I’d recommend it to friends, so I recommend it to you. If you have purchased this I’d like to hear what you thought. Please leave a comment below so other reads can learn from your experience.

This past weekend I was browsing my local grocery store when I found a treat I didn’t expect. There is a new line of low calorie Jello available called Jell-O with Antioxidants. One of the products in this line is Strawberry Acai Jell-O which seems to contain Acai Berry juice, a natural supplement used in weight loss. Since I was curious I picked up a pack to see how it tastes.

Like many other products that claim to contain Acai Berries the ingredients are a bit deceptive. The first give away was the phrase “New Exotic Acai Flavor” which caused me to read the rest of the package carefully. I read the ingredients and didn’t find a trace of acai, acai berry juice, or acai berry powder. In fact there was no trace of strawberries, or strawberry juice either. The product is flavored to taste like strawberries and acai berries, but doesn’t actually contain any juice.While the Jello only has 10 calories there is nothing on the package to indicate that it will help with weight loss if you read it carefully. It does have Vitamin E and Beta Carotene, but it contains more Red 40 than either of these ingredients. The front label clearly advertises that this product contains antioxidants which are a good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin E. When you read the nutritional information you find that there is only 10% of each of these vitamins.

Kraft, the manufacturer of JELL-O clearly wants you to think this new type of Jello is great for you. This is just not true, at least not any more true than any other Sugar Free Jello product. Anytime you hear about something that is too good to be true you should always look more closely. Luckily the Jello does taste pretty good, though I’m not sure I can tell the difference between Strawberry and Strawberry Acai Jello.

If you do want to add a little acai to your Jello it is easy to find many supplements online that you can mix in with your Jello. Even Amazon.com sells Acai Supplements now and I’d recommend you take a look at a freeze dried Acai Berries like Navitas Naturals Organic Acai Powderor Acai Berry Juice such as Acai 100% Juice by Genesis Today. You can read the reviews on Amazon.com and decide which will work best for you. Since acai juice tastes tart mixing a little bit of it with Jello can give it a great flavor. If you want a special treat you can mix some low fat whip cream or CoolWhip in with your Jello for a really tasty desert!

Hoodia Gordonii is a type of cactus found exclusively in South Africa. This plant has long standing medicinal uses by the indigenous people to treat different stomach illnesses such as indigestion, but it is its hunger suppressing abilities which have become the most popular recently. For centuries this plant has been used before going on a long hunt to suppress appetite once consumed. This would allow the hunters to stay out longer without the need to carry large amounts of food with them. For those familiar with Lord of the Rings, this plant was essentially the Elven Lambda Bread of the South African Desert.

It wasn’t until the late twentieth-century that scientists were able to isolate P57, the active ingredient of the Hoodia plant that causes appetite suppression. This was patented in 1996, and released to the general public by Pfizer in 2002. Ever since, the popularity of this supplement has increased and a variety of products have been released containing Hoodia. Many of these products contain other ingredients which can dilute the effectiveness of P57 so it is important for consumers to research any Hoodia Gordonii product thoroughly before purchasing it.

To add to the confusion of Hoodia products the US Department of Agriculture has imposed restrictions on the Hoodia plant which require a permit to import it. This has caused manufacturers to severely dilute their products since Hoodia is expensive to import. The best way to verify that a product contains the P57 ingredient is to look for reports from independent labs which test for the presence of the Hoodia Gordonii plant.

Hoodia products only suppresses hunger, they do not actually make you lose weight like Alli Pills or similar products. For those of us who know that we’re not hungry and still eat anyway we will not see much benefit from Hoodia Gordonii. Hoodia is ideal for people who find themselves hungry between meals. It is important to not use it to skip meals or eat portions to small too satisfy your daily nutritional requirements. If you do so you may find yourself feeling less energetic and could end up with serious medical complications.

Since Hoodia curbs your thirst as well as your hunger it is important to make sure you drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. There have been some reported side effects for people with specific medical conditions so it would be a good idea to consult your doctor before starting this, or any nutritional supplement.

Because it can be difficult to find Hoodia products that actually contain Hoodia Gordonii and the P57 supplement I researched the most popular products that actually contain Hoodia. I recommend that you research the ingredients in these products to make sure they won’t effect you adversely. Amazon.com has a lot of reviews on these products so I suggest that you take a look there first.

Power Pops with Hoodia come in 8 different flavors and have approximately 28 calories. Star Magazine and Extra TV have both recommended these pops, they are one of the most popular Hoodia products because they taste good (according the the reviews on Amazon.com) and are a great snack that will hold you over until your next meal. It is important to remember they are not candy, and only consume them when you need to suppress your appetite. The ingredients in power pops are: Hoodia, Citrimax, L-Tyrosine, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Guarana, Natural Flavors, and Corn Syrup.

Hoodia Gordonii Plus capsules are the most recommended Hoodia pills on Amazon.com. These are designed to be taken one hour before each meal (lunch and dinner) and allow you to eat less food during the meal without feeling hungry afterwords. Two capsules of Hoodia Gordonii Plus has the following ingredients: Hoodia(400mg), Magnesium(250mg), Garcina Cambogia Extract(50mg), Green Tea Extract(50mg), Gelatin Capsules, Protease, Amylase, Cellulase, Lipase, Invertase, Lactase, Maltase, Papain, and Bromelain.

Bija Hoodia Slimming Tea is an excellant way to take the edge off your hunger during the day. This can be prepared before a meal to allow you to feel more satisfied with smaller portions, or you can have a cup of tea during the day to prevent yourself from getting hungry before your next meal. The ingredients in Bija Hoodia Slimming Tea are: Hoodia, Green Tea, Magnolia Bark, Oatstraw Herb, Garcinia Cambogia, Bitter Orange, and Grapefruit.

Another fitness game for the Nintendo Wii was released on Tuesday, May 19th. EA Sports Active had more hype than usual among the fitness community of Nintendo Wii players. Many people have been looking forward to an exercise program that would give them a better workout than the Wii Fit does.  For those people who are looking for a Wii game that could become part of their daily fitness routine, this game is what they’ve been looking for. There is a lot more to write about than I can cover in one article, but I’m going to provide you with the features that makes this game unique.

Track Calories Burned

One of the most anticipated features of this game was the ability to track the number of calories burned with each exercise.  EA Sports Active will tell you before each 30 minute workout routine how many calories you’re projected to burn, then as you exercise it will show you in real-time exactly how many calories you’ve burned during your workout. This is similar to the way a treadmill will show you how many calories you’ve burned, based on your weight and intensity of the workout.

Once you’ve completed your 30 minute routine you will be able to view  a graph of your Projected Calories Burned versus your Actual Calories Burned. You can see at what points in your routine you exceeded your trainer’s expectations and at what points you fell below the projected calorie burn. Unfortunately you cannot view which exercises you excelled at, you can only view the graph based on the time of the workout. Also once you leave this summary screen there is no way to get back to it. You cannot track your calories burned over a day, week, or month which is a feature I really wish they would have implemented.

Personal Trainer

EA Sports Active offers the best workout routine to date for the Nintendo Wii. You can tell that the goal of this game is to provide a virtual personal trainer that is a good replacement for a live person. In EA Sports you have the option to chose from either a male or a female personal trainer, both are comparable and you can choose either depending on your personal preference.

Your EA Sports Personal Trainer will be responsible for motivating you and explaining the proper technique to complete each exercise. Your Virtual Trainer will excel at both of these tacks. Throughout the exercises your trainer continues to tell you that you’re doing a good job and are on your was to success. I’ve only done 5 sessions (about 30 minutes each) with my trainer, but as of the last exercise routine I found that I was motivated throughout the routine.  The trainer will not say many different phrases  to motivate you, and the phrases aren’t specific to what you’re doing at the moment so after a few more training routines she will likely become less motivating.

The most important task of your personal trainer is showing you the proper technique to get the most out of your workout. I  consider EA Sport’s success in this area the biggest strength of this game. When you start each exercise you are presented with a few pictures and a description about what you’re doing. If this is your first time doing the exercise you will also be presented with an instructional video where you can watch your trainer do the exercise first.  You should watch your trainer carefully because the position of the Wii Remote is critical in many exercises. For example in rollerblading, you crouch to gain speed, when doing this it is important to hold your hands behind you and point the Wiimote towards the ground so the game knows you’re crouching. This may seem burdensome, but the instructional videos make it very easy to understand. If you forget how to hold the Wiimote mid-exercise you can always look in the bottom right corner of your screen to see how your training is doing the exercise.

If you don’t hold your wii-mote just right, or if you don’t have the sensitivity of the wii-mote adjusted properly you will find that the game doesn’t detect what you’re doing and it will pause the workout while you redo the repetition you were working on. This can get slightly annoying, but I’ve found the more I’ve played the less that happens. Your EA Sports Personal Trainer also lacks the ability to challenge you further depending on your stamina. This is really what makes a real personal trainer so worth while. They know your limits better than you do, and will push you to them. EA Sports Active has a set number of repetitions that you have to do, and while it will motivate you to complete them it won’t push you any harder to do more reps if you still have the energy.

Resistance Band and Leg Strap

Included with your purchase of EA Sports Active are two fitness accessories, the resistance band and the leg strap. These accessories are used during your fitness routines to help you get a more intense workout and track your movements more accurately. If you’ve ever played the Wii Fit jogging exercise you’ll remember how you were required to put the Wii Remote in your pocket to jog. Not all of us had pockets large enough to fit the Wiimote, and some of us had such deep pockets that the Wiimote wouldn’t sit properly. The Leg Strap included with EA Sports Active was designed to resolve that problem. You wear it on your upper leg and slide the nunchuck into the pocket of the Leg Strap. Not only does this allow your movements to be recorded properly for jogging exercises, but you will also use it for lunges, jumping, and rollerblading.

I have been very satisfied with the performance of the leg strap; no exercises that use it have an issue recognizing my motions. To achieve the best accuracy the Leg Strap needs to be worn as high on the thigh as possible, and for those people with big legs,  an extension is included which allow you to extend the size of the Leg Strap. This won’t be a problem for most people, but in the event that the resistance band doesn’t fit properly you can put the nunchuck in your pocket, or modify the Leg Strap by either sewing it onto a pair of workout pants or extending it by adding another elastic to it.

The Resistance Band on the other hand doesn’t seem to work so well. I’m pretty tall at 6′4″ and the band still doesn’t offer me much resistance. This seems to be a common complaint from others who I’ve played with. I’ve found that if I want to get a little bit more resistance out of the band I can tie the handles on in a way that makes the resistance band just a little bit shorter. This has worked great for me, though I’m not sure that the Resistance Band was designed for this, and I may be shortening the life of it by doing it this way. The alternative is purchasing a  high-quality resistance band that will provide you with a better workout. You can purchase a 5 pack of resistance bands from Amazon.com that range from 3 to 42 lbs of resistance. Ripcords Exercise Bands – Power Tension 5 Pack are the resistance bands I’ll end up purchasing when the EA Sports Active band breaks.

One of my favorite features of EA Sports Active is that you can workout with a friend. Many exercises do not require you to use the Resistance Band and Leg Strap, however if the second player want the full experience an EA Sports Active Multiplayer Pack can be purchased separately for a retail price of $26.99, so if you require an extra set for a friend this might be a great option.

Wii Fit Balance Board

If you’ve already purchased the Wii Fit then you already have the Balance Board, which is an optional accessory for EA Sports Active. When you create your profile you can specify whether you have access to the Wii Fit Balance Board. If you do have access to this accessory then a number of additional exercises will become available to you. Typically the exercises that utilize the Wii Balance Board are not a better workout than those that don’t utilize it, they’re just different. For example the standard Rollerblading exercise requires you to crouch down, then jump up when you go over a ramp so you can do a trick. For the Balance Board enhanced version of Rollerblading you crouch down to gain speed, then instead of jumping up you need to lift either your left or right leg to avoid obstacles. It is fun to use the Balance Board occasionally for exercises, but it is not a necessary accessory to play the game.

Since EA Sports Active does have a multi-player option available, you should be aware that the exercises that utilize the balance board will not be available in multi-player mode. There is no way to add in an extra Balance Board if your friend has one. One area I do find lacking is the use of the Balance Board outside of fitness games. While it is easy to access the Wii Fit game to weigh in if you create a shortcut on the Wii Home Screen, it would be nice if EA Sports Active gave you the ability to track your weight. Since you can view reports of how well you ate, and how much you sleep it would be nice if you could compare that to how much weight you lost. Unfortunately this isn’t an option.

In conclusion EA Sports Active is a good buy at a retail price of $59.99. The included resistance band and leg strap help justify the higher than normal retail price tag, however in my opinion that justification is not necessary, as this game is already a great value. If you’re looking for an interactive workout routine then there is no better option than EA Sports Active. For those of you looking to replace Fitness Videos with a game, this is the title to check out. However, if you’re looking for a party game that will generate a lot of laughs like Wii Fit, then this may not be the game for you. This game doesn’t try to do it all, but when it comes to its goal of getting you fit with variable workouts it does an excellant job.

There is still much more to discuss about this game, feel free to post any questions or comments you have about the game here. Also look forward to some additional articles from me reviewing specific exercises in this game. Thanks for reading my article, don’t forget to subscribe to my Twitter Feed so you know when I add a new article.

EA Sports Active

It has been nearly a month since I’ve posted an article on bregan.info and I’m starting to get anxious to start posting more often. To that end I spent a good part of last night brainstorming things I’d like to research further. For me this blog is not only a way for me to share my knowledge about health and fitness with you, but it is also a way for me to research the latest diet pills, exercise programs, and cheap weight loss techniques so I I can pass the knowledge along to you. It is my goal to completely research any topic I write about so you don’t have to. Instead of getting bits and pieces from other sites, you can come to bregan.info and get it all in one place.

To further that philosophy I’ve recently created a Twitter account that I will use exclusively for fitness news. If you’re not familiar with Twitter, it is a way that people keep up to date on topics of interest by following users that share similar interests. Since I’m interested in losing weight I searched Twitter for people tweeting (posting) about weight loss. Using Twitter I can find interesting headlines then research them at my leisure. For example, another Twitter user I’m following tweeted about a study where people who drink diet soda are at a high risk of obesity than people who don’t. I can take this idea and learn everything I can about it. Then once I get enough information I can write a well researched article on it.

In addition to using Twitter to follow people that write interesting notes I can also tell all of you a little more about me and my struggle with weight loss. As my frequent visitors already know, I lost about 100 pounds in under a year, then I hit a plateau. I’ve become less motivated to workout and eat right because when I do I just don’t see the results I’m used to.

I need to reverse that trend, and I’m starting today. It is summer time here in the south I’m getting ready to get out and start being more active. As I do that I’m going to tweet about my challenges along the way, as well as post here about decisions I make and research I do. So if you’re interested in hearing about what I’m doing to stay healthy please follow me @OutdoorsyGeek on Twitter and I’d be glad to share my story with you!