We’ve talked recently on the SeenOnTV Express blog about ways to look slimmer with no effort (Kymaro Body Shaper for women and Slim T for men) and ways to improve muscle tone with little effort (Flex Belt and Flex Mini).  Though there are many As Seen On TV exercise videos and equipment that are low-impact and moderate intensity, perhaps the hottest selling infomercial exercise videos are the extreme workout routines from Beachbody.

Among the best selling Beachbody videos are Insanity with Shaun T. and Tony Horton’s P90X.  Recently, Shaun T. released a new version of his popular Insanity workout entitled The Asylum, a thirty-day sports training workout.  Now, Tony Horton and Beachbody are expanding their offerings for die-hard P90X fans with the release of P90X2.

P90X2 is more than just a new set of workouts to replace P90X; it is designed to build on the successful transformation of those who have completed P90X by increasing agility and athleticism.  P90X was created to transform bodies into the best shape of their lives, replacing fat with muscle through a technique of Muscle Confusion.  P90X2 continues with Muscle Confusion but also incorporates Post-Activation Potentiation (P.A.P.), a groundbreaking exercise technique based on two additional years of research and development by the fitness experts and sports scientists at Beachbody.

P.A.P. essentially combines heavy strength training with plyometric exercise to engage more muscles during and after a workout.  This explosive combination increases stamina, agility, core strength, and overall athleticism.  P90X2 is not designed as a replacement for the original P90X; it is not simply more of the same.  Rather, P90X2 takes fitness to the next level.

In this video, Tony Horton explains the difference between the original P90X and the all new P90X2:

Because the P90X2 workouts are completely new and different from the previous series, new equipment may be necessary.  When you order the P90X2 workout kit, you have your choice of three packages, depending on what equipment needs you may have:

• P90X2 Base Kit:  12 workout DVDs, 1 How to Bring It Again DVD, P90X2 Workout Guide, P90X2 Nutrition Guide, P90X Workout Calendar
• P90X2 Deluxe Kit:  everything included in the Base Kit plus a foam roller, two 8-pound medicine balls, a premium stability ball, and two additional extreme workouts:  V-Sculpt and Chest + Shoulders + Tris
• P90X2 Ultimate Kit:  everything included in the Deluxe Kit plus Tony Horton’s PowerStands

The twelve P90X2 workouts use strength training, plyometrics, yoga, and core strength exercises and routines based on Muscle Confusion, but they incorporate P.A.P. to take your workout beyond the original transformation of P90X and into increased athletic ability, stamina, strength, and agility.  P90X2 workouts include:

• X2 Core
• Plyocide
• X2 Recovery + Mobility
• X2 Total Body
• X2 Yoga
• X2 Balance + Power
• Chest + Back + Balance
• X2 Shoulders + Arms
• Base + Back
• P.A.P. Upper
• P.A.P Lower
• X2 Ab Ripper

Staff members at SeenOnTV Express who have used the original P90X saw phenomenal results with the original program and look to build on their efforts with the all new P90X2.

Look out now.  SeenOnTV Express is going to be too hot to handle and too fast to catch . . .

As the SeenOnTV Express blogger, I’m constantly being made aware of the newest, hottest As Seen On TV products.  While some of the products don’t necessarily appeal to me, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t frequently stumble across a product that I just have to have.  As Seen On TV beauty products, kitchen products, exercise equipment, fitness videos, and comfort items all make my list.  With the holidays just around the corner, I thought it would be a perfect time to share some of my favorite products–the ones I hope show up under my Christmas tree.  After all, Santa knows I’ve been very good this year.  Well–at least he knows I tried.

As Seen On TV Christmas List

• Forever Lazy – I’m not gonna lie.  This looks super cozy and comfortable.  For someone who works from home, this would be the perfect gift.  I may never wear actual clothes again.  At least until spring.
• Instyler – If I’m not mistaken, this made my list last year, but I didn’t find it in my stocking.  I think if I’m going to be spending my days in a giant, adult sized onesie, at least my hair should look good.
• Flex Seal – I know–household products shouldn’t really be on a Christmas list.  Next thing you know I’ll be asking for a blender.  But I really, really want to make a boat out of a screen door.
• Ninja Kitchen Blender – Yep.  I told you I’d be asking for a blender next.  I have a blender already.  It even has a food processing bowl.  But it is not this cool.  Not. At. All.
• Flex Mini – Seriously.  I can tone my butt without ever doing a single squat?  Sign me up.
• Any of the Beachbody videos - I don’t really like to work out, but I do really like to eat.  If I’m going to work out, I want it to be worth my time and energy.  I want it to feel like a workout, and I want results.  Beachbody workouts like P90x, Insantity, TurboFire, and Chalean Extreme are effective workouts for people who aren’t afraid to work hard to get results fast.

If I’ve been good enough this year, expect to see me in January, recovering from my Insanity workout by mixing up a healthy detox smoothie in my Ninja Kitchen Blender while wearing Forever Lazy and getting a workout boost from my Flex Mini.  And, gurrrl, my hair will look goooood.

We’ve talked before about how celebrity pitchmen help sell infomercial products by adding a famous face and endorsement to a variety of products.  We’ve also talked about how the growing popularity of mixed martial arts has influenced As Seen On TV exercise equipment and spawned MMA champion endorsements from the fighters who pin their names on the latest fitness products.  This post will take each of those topics and combine them to focus on the trend of professional athletes who act as infomercial pitchmen.

For the most parts, athletes lend their names and images to fitness products, sports training equipment, exercise videos, and even kitchen products.  They may simply lend a testimonial as endorsement or they may allow their name or image to be used in conjunction with the product–even as a part of the product name.  Other professional athletes act as infomercial pitchmen for the product, and some take it a step further, endorsing and pitching their own products.

Some professional athletes and the As Seen On TV kitchen products or exercise products with which they are associated follow:

• Hulk Hogan (WWE) – Hulk Hogan Ultimate Grill
• George Foreman (Boxing) – George Foreman’s Everyday and More Cleaner
• Randy Couture (MMA) – Tower 200
• Chuck Liddell (MMA) – JackRack
• Andrew Bynum (NBA) – Celebrity Sweat Complete Exclusive Sports Workout Edition
• Carlos Boozer (NBA) – Celebrity Sweat Complete Exclusive Sports Workout Edition
• Travis Limauro (MMA) - Muscle Warfare Bodybuilding Supplements
• Georges St. Pierre (MMA) – Rip60
• Terrell Owens (NFL) – NOX360 Muscle Building Supplement

Obviously, finding a famous athlete to promote any product geared toward the consumer’s health, fitness, or nutrition is a good idea.  After all, who is going to want to use exercise equipment endorsed by Kevin James as opposed to Kevin Durant?

Which professional athlete’s endorsement would you most trust in purchasing As Seen On TV fitness products?

One of the really, really hard things about working for a company that offers As Seen On TV products is that you want to buy almost everything you see.  We’ve discussed before how infomercial products are designed to fill a need that you may not have even realized you had, so when I see a product that solves any dilemma in my life, or that looks fun, or that will make things easier, or . . . well, I just want it.  A lot.

Of course, money does not, in fact, grow on trees, so I have really worked to curb my impulse spending.  Instead buying the things that I oh-my-goodness-have-to-have-now, I have started keeping a mental As Seen On TV wishlist.  Here are some of my top picks on infomercial products that I desperately want (and will only be able to refrain from buying for so long):

1. The Instyler – Smooth, shiny, and bouncy hair?  Eliminate frizzies in less time?  Straight hair that isn’t smashed flat and limp?  Using one tool to curl or straighten?  Who wouldn’t love this?!  Sign me up.
2. The Flex Mini – Okay, seriously.  A butt workout without working out.  A lunge-free and squat-free way to get firm thighs and rounded glutes.  It’s on.
3. Big Top Cupcake – I don’t honestly know why I want this so badly.  I just do.  I think it would be fun to make these for my son’s birthday parties.  Or maybe it’s just the idea of a ginormous cupcake sounds so heavenly.
4. Luminess Airbrush Tan – I was raised in the era of the “healthy glow” by a mother who ingrained in me that “tan fat looks better than white fat,” but am now forced to face the facts about the sun’s damaging properties.  With an airbrush tan, maybe I could have that sunkissed look I love without those pesky wrinkles and melanoma.
5. Gyro Bowl – I have a toddler.  End of story.

Of course, this is an incomplete list of Stuff I Want.  I pretty much want every Beachbody exercise DVD program and all of the plants that let me grow my own cherries/blueberries/peppers/insert-produce-here at home.  As long as I’m doing this, I know my As Seen On TV wishlist will continue to grow like grass on a Canada Green lawn.

On a side note, a few of the products to which I’ve already succumbed include Strap Perfect, Kangaroo Keeper, Emery Cat, Snuggie, and Bare Lifts–all of which have been well worth it!

What’s on your infomercial wishlist?

As Seen on TV Best Sellers

Infomercial products are designed to fill a need, solve a problem, minimize an annoyance.  The inventors of these As Seen on TV product innovations have an uncanny ability to find television viewers’ biggest pet peeves and market a solution.  Describing the invention of the Snuggie, one infomercial product review website noted,  “One day a guy put on his robe backwards and said, ‘I want a Porsche.’”  With over 20 million Snuggies sold in 2009 alone . . . well, that’s a lot of Porsches.

When an infomercial hits big, it REALLY hits big.  According to several sources, the television infomercial business, or Direct Response Television (DRTV) marketing, is a $300 billion dollar industry.  Forbes.com cites Remy Stern, author of But Wait . . . There’s More, in saying that the direct response marketing industry is “larger than the film, music and video game industries combined.”  So in an arena filled with failed ideas, which As Seen on TV products are generating the most revenue?

Top Ten Infomercial Products and As Seen on TV Products

A Forbes.com article released by ABC News reveals the ten most successful television infomercial products as determined by California-based research firm Jordan Whitney.  This list is based on sales figures from Nov. 2009 to Nov. 2010:

1. Bowflex Home Gym
2. Carleton Sheets Real Estate Tutorial
3. Proactiv Solution Acne Treatment
4. Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Pro Electric Rotisserie Oven
5. Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Air Purifier
6. The Firm Bodybuilding Fitness Videos
7. Walk Away the Pounds for Abs Weight Loss System
8. Gazelle Freestyle Home Exercise Equipment
9. Total Gym Challenge Home Gym
10. Foodsaver Food Vacuum Packaging Machine

Though this list provides the most successful products for last year, the As Seen on TV best sellers are constantly evolving.  In fact, infomercial researchers at Jordan Whitney also list weekly top sellers.  Last week’s best selling As Seen on TV products included mostly fitness and personal care products:

1. P90X
2. Insanity
3. No!No! Hair
4. Six Week Body Makeover
5. Turbo Fire
6. Zumba
7. Genie Bra
8. Wen Hair Care
9. Cindy Crawford’s Meaningful Beauty
10. Sensa Weight Loss System

Hm.  That list looks suspiciously like the As Seen on TV products in our Spring Fever Series.

I’m not sure what I ever did to cause “Television’s Toughest Trainer,” Jillian Michaels, to rain down her wrath upon me.  Maybe it was the doughnuts.  Or my insatiable love of cheese.  Whatever it is, Jillian’s tough love approach is . . . well, tough.

I’ve been writing a lot on the SeenOnTV Express blog about how we all feel the impending bathing suit season approaching.  We have a choice of how we greet the body-baring summer.  We can either whip ourselves into shape through a vigorous and renewed workout regimen, or we can throw our hands into the air in resignation and throw our ample behinds on the couch.

Personally, I tend toward the second approach.

This year, though, I’ve had the luck (?) to greet the summer about 25 pounds lighter than last summer, through a top secret weight loss plan.  You, my readers, are going to get the secret of my success–stress.  I used to mock people who said they were “too busy to eat,” or “forgot to eat,” but now I’m one of those people.  And while the Stress Diet* is highly effective at shedding the pounds, it is also highly effective at shedding the muscle.

*The Stress Diet can also have the opposite effect on some individuals, causing marathon doughnut and pizza eating sessions–not necessarily simultaneously, but maybe.  Or so I’ve heard.

While I’m excited to actually fit into my bathing suits, I am a little disappointed at the complete lack of muscle tone, and the complete non-lack of cellulite that accompanies it.  Yes, folks–I have become the dreaded “skinny fat” (which I prefer to being “fat fat,” but still.)

Enter Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred.

Now, Jillian has a whole diet and fitness website whose ads you may have seen on TV.  The program at JillianMichaels.com is geared as a weight loss program, and I’m not currently looking to lose weight (it’s even weird to say that), so I didn’t really want to go that route.  I do, however, know that I have a limited amount of time in which to work out, and that if I want any results, I need to maximize that time.  Jillian Michaels has a reputation for tough workouts, and each workout in the 30 Day Shred DVD is approximately 24 minutes, including warm-up and cool-down.  I figure even someone who “doesn’t have time to eat” can manage to squeeze this workout in.

I was a little concerned that such a short workout wouldn’t seem effective, but, man alive, was I wrong.

Each workout on the 30-Day Shred is comprised of a 2 minute warm up, followed by 3 circuits, followed by a 2 minute cool down.  Each circuit is based on Jillian Michaels 3-2-1 training system:  3 minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs.

The strength portion consists of one single-muscle group exercise (for example, pushups) and one compound exercise (for example, squats with shoulder presses).  You might think 3 minutes of that doesn’t sound so bad, but it was all I could do to finish out each strength portion of the circuits.

Next up is two minutes of cardio.  Jillian prefers old-school cardio like jumping jacks and butt-kicks.  This works out well for me, because I suffer from what you might call a Lack of Coordination.  Fancy grapevine steps or anything remotely resembling a dance move will cause me to trip and possibly damage an integral body part.  Plus, this boot-camp style cardio is very effective.

Finally, you endure one terrible minute of abs.  The great thing about ab work is that you get to lie on the floor.  Trust me–after only 5 minutes of Jillian’s 3-2-1 combination, you will be ready to flop onto the floor.  The problem is that once you are done, she makes you get back up for two more 3-2-1 circuits.

I am an astounding 3 days into my 30-Day Shred, and I can tell you that every place where a muscle should be HURTS.  I need a geriatric handrail just to lower my aching quads so I can use the bathroom.  Pure.  Torture.

And I love it.

Less than half an hour, and I’m done.

I really do believe that in 30 days, this will make a significant change in my physique, or at least in the ratio of muscle:squishiness.

As for now, my squish hurts.  Check back with SeenOnTV Express in 30 27 days to find out if I still feel the same when I’ve finished my 30-Day Shred.  Maybe by then I’ll be ready to double my efforts and take on Rip:60.

Smooth, tan, hairless legs?  Check.  Toned, shapely legs?  Mm . . . not so check.  As my get-ready-for-Spring plan develops, I’m now saddled with the part I like the least.  Working out.  Time to get a beach body before I have to actually hit the beach.  Or the kiddie pool in my back yard.  Whatever.

Now, I know that working out releases endorphins, improves energy, promotes cardiovascular health, boosts metabolism, builds muscle, and all that good stuff, but the truth is, well, I’m really pretty lazy.  Some people enjoy working out, some people work out for better health, but me?  I work out so I can eat cupcakes and still button my pants.  Of course, with as seen on TV products like the Big Top Cupcake,  I may have to step up the workouts a little more (or buy the Perfect Fit Button, whichever).

In the SeenOnTV Express neck of the woods, Spring Break will be here next week.  That means that it is just a matter of moments, practically, until I will be forced to publicly unveil my legs below the knee (even possibly *gasp* above the knee) and my batwing arms will be displayed for the world as the tank tops come out of storage.  Because of the rapidly impending fabulous weather, I need a fitness program that works and works fast.

This?  This ain’t going to cut it:

I mean, sure, I could cover my calves and ankles with leg warmers, put a thick leather belt on over my briefs to try to camouflage my waist, and divert the eye of the beholder with the sheer height of my hair, but that would be cheating, right?

(And oh-my-goodness, is that guy wearing spandex capris?!)

As much as I dislike working out, I hate working out ineffectively even more.  If I’m going to go to the effort of exerting myself in any manner, I want to feel like I’ve accomplished something, I want to look like I’ve accomplished something, and I want to see results fast.  Luckily, Beachbody Fitness understands that some of us don’t want wimpy, spandex-wielding, 80′s style bending and stretching.  Instead, we want hardcore workouts with hardcore results.  P90X is designed to give you an amazing transformation in just 90 days (in other words, by the time summer vacation hits).  Insanity is a high-intensity total body conditioning program created by expert Shaun T. to give you amazing results in only 60 days.  For those intimidated by P90X and Insanity, Shaun T. brings Hip Hop Abs, because dancing sounds a lot more fun than a workout so intense you have to be “insane” to try it.  Beachbody trainer Chalene Johnson leads ChaLEAN Extreme and TurboFire--personally, I’m leaning toward one of these two fitness programs.

For those of you who spend your workouts calling on a Higher Power to help you through (and with these intense Beachbody programs, that includes me) Beachbody also offers BodyGospel, combining spiritual and physical fitness.

Now, if I can just get the motivation to actually get off the couch and DO the workouts, instead of sitting on the couch and writing about them, I may just be able to take my legs from this:

to this:

Help me get a beach body, Beachbody!

Today’s workouts for men are all about working hard and getting ripped.   The hottest--and hardest--workouts include boot camp workouts, P90x, and Insanity.  The infomercials for these video exercise programs show men dripping with sweat, groaning in agony, and pushing themselves to the limit in order to get the lean, muscular, rippling body I enjoy ogling they want.

But things were not always so difficult for all of these poor men in pursuit of fitness.  Enter the manliest man of them all--Richard Simmons.  Our dear Richard is generally known for cavorting around with the ladies, dancing with them on stage in malls all across America, giving them the confidence to be seen in public “Sweatin’ to the Oldies.”  But Richard knew that men were not immune to the perils of low self-esteem from a less than stellar body.  Because a full THIRTY FIVE PERCENT of his letters come from men, he decided to create a program to help these poor men achieve weight loss results without resorting to grueling, painful workouts.

Enter “Farewell to Fat.”  Today’s seen on TV workout videos are all about feeling the burn and taking your workout to the extreme, and the titles prove it.  TurboFire and Chalean Extreme are only two examples that showwomen aren’t immune to this phenomenon of working out until you drop.  But with Farewell to Fat, the title reflects the softer side of working out.  You can practically see Richard’s wrist a-fluttering as he waves buh-bye to that unwelcome fat.  “Toodle-oo and farewell, fat, old friend!”

With Farewell to Fat, Richard Simmons invited men into his world of booty-shakin’ workouts.  Mall stages weren’t just for women anymore:

Richard Simmons:  The Great Equalizer

(I can’t let this post go without drawing your attention to the spectacular molestache at 0:58.)

Today we go way, way back--all the way to 1985 and a commercial that appeared on MTV in its early days.   A young Alsfonso Ribeiro, best known today for his role as Carlton Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, can be seen in this television infomercial promoting his how-to dance book, Breakin’ and Poppin’.  Ribeiro appears as a Michael Jackson look-a-like and shows off his hottest break dance moves in this book geared toward kids and teens:

“Tell mom and dad it’s the safe way to break and pop--not the things you shouldn’t try,” Alfonso whispers seriously.  This tiny breaker showed kids how to break dance through a step-by-step instruction booklet, foldable cardboard dance floor, and not one, but two RECORDS with the hottest breakin’ tunes.  Alfonso’s Breakin’ and Poppin’ also included a “rap sheet” for would-be rappers.  I’m guessing some of those fledgling rap stars have since developed “rap sheets” of their own . . .

Ironically, this how-to dance manual was created by the boy who would later become the man who gave us “The Carlton”:

Seen on TV dance instruction products are still popular today, although they now come with DVDs instead of instruction booklets, and their music is generally CD or downloadable MP3 format rather than vinyl.  Most “as seen on TV” dance videos today are fitness based, but still rely on the hottest current music.  Exercise videos such as Hip Hop Abs and Turbo Jam promote moves that not only burn fat, but burn up the dance floor.

If they only came with a breakin’ board.

When thinking of infomercial product marketing, several big names come to mind:  Ron Popeil, Billy Mays, Anthony Sullivan, and of course, the legendary Jack LaLanne.  Now in his mid-nineties, Jack LaLanne began his career as a fitness expert, and was among the first to encourage weight lifting for not only men’s health, but for women as well.  A fitness innovator, he created some of the first weight training machines, including the leg extension machine and the Smith machine.

LaLanne was the first to take his fitness programs to television.  Even before the days of selling “as seen on TV products,”  LaLanne was a television fitness guru.  In the following clip from one of his early shows, LaLanne shows how important it is to exercise even your face:

Since then, a number of products and videos have launched to help people with facial exercise, including the Neckline Slimmer, Facial Flex, Flexaway, and Rejuvenique, which we’ll look at more closely next week.

Jack LaLanne himself didn’t stop with his fitness programs.  LaLanne has authored books, developed nutritional supplements, and marketed two of the top selling infomercial juicers:  The Juice Tiger and Jack LaLanne’s Power Juicer.  LaLanne touts the nutritional benefits of juicing, and since he celebrated his 96th birthday last month, I’d say he may be on to something.