Chapter 7The Input Paradox
Bowflex Behavior Modifier 2000
Last year US consumers purchased nearly four billion dollars' worth of new fitness equipment for use at home. The level of technological sophistication included in many of these products is astounding. Thanks to virtual classes with the world's best instructors now available in our own homes (see pelotoncycle.com), the 34,000 brick‐and‐mortar gyms are one step closer to obsolescence. Availability of the latest, most advanced equipment for home fitness is nothing new though.
Year in and year out, billions are spent by consumers who want to get in shape but lack the will to make it happen. For decades, the fitness gurus have been pumping out an endless supply of equipment that promises to tuck tummies and trim waistlines without requiring a great deal of effort. The commercials show scantily clad, incredibly fit average Joes not even breaking a sweat after working out for just seconds on a machine that requires “just minutes a day” to get the body we've always wanted. It's that easy. But of course it's not, which is why many of them fold up for easy storage. After all, tucking it under the bed keeps the dream of using it alive without having to be reminded every single morning and evening, that we've failed again.
From the ThighMaster to the elliptical, the Nautilus to the Bowflex Stairmaster, the technology represents great potential, but there's no getting around one very simple fact. Unless you actually put in the hard ...