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:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubc1AQwSi1k

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.

One of the most common New Year’s Resolutions is to lose weight.  Combining post-holiday weight gain with the motivation to make a fresh start at the beginning of the year makes As Seen On TV exercise equipment a fantastic gift idea.   However, the best idea is to buy these items for yourself.  Buying any type of weight loss or exercise product for someone else is a risky endeavor–particularly if that someone else is your wife.  Here at SeenOnTV Express, we recommend only buying exercise equipment for your wife under the following circumstances:

1. She asked specifically for it.
2. When she opens it, you say things like, “I only got it because you wanted it.  I think you look amazing.  I’m still not sure why you want it.  I mean, you are GORGEOUS!!”
3. You also include a very sparkly, blingy gift that comes in a tiny box.
4. You never, ever, EVER ask her if she is using it or why she isn’t.
5. Add a little more effusive praise of her beauty here.

Last week, we talked about how to achieve a slimmer silhouette–or at least make your pants fit comfortably–after packing on holiday pounds.  This week, we’ll segue from disguise to transformation by looking at infomercial toning products that make stimulating the muscles effortless.  Electronic Muscle Stimulation, or EMS, is an FDA-cleared method of toning muscles that has long been used for physical therapy in medical settings.  Now, EMS is becoming a leader in muscle toning for fitness at home.  To use an EMS ab toning belt or other electronic muscle stimulator, you simply put on the device, turn on the device, and let the electronic current go to work  contracting and stimulating your muscles.

Among the top selling As Seen On TV ab belts and electronic muscle stimulators:

• The Flex Belt Ab Belt for toning the abdominal muscles
• The Flex Mini for tightening the hips, thighs, and buttocks
• The Sport Elec Ab Belt for tightening the abs

Using gentle electric impulses, these EMS toning devices stimulate the muscles to contract and release, much as they would during dozens, even hundreds, of exercises such as crunches and sit ups for the abs or squats and lunged for the butt, hips, and thighs.  In the case of the Flex Mini, the device can even be worn discretely under clothes for anytime toning without a workout.

Remember, As Seen On TV exercise equipment is a gift best bought for oneself–get started using yours now to prevent holiday pounds and to kick off your New Year’s Resolution right.  If buying exercise equipment for a loved one, do so only if it is requested and only if you are prepared to spend the next five years telling her that you did NOT call her fat!

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?

Last week I wrote a little about the unbearable heat–more 40 days of 100+ temperatures in our area this summer, with no end in sight.  We are actually having roads closed as they buckle in the combined heat and drought, damaging cars and causing accidents until the roads are repaired.  With the ridiculous heat combined with an unrelenting drought, damage to surfaces and structures becomes inevitable.  Although it may seem like it will never rain again, now is a perfect time to patch cracks and leaks around the house.  The evidence of how temperature extremes can warp even concrete, asphalt, and steel demonstrates how important it is to repair your cracks with a flexible material that can withstand movement.

Flex Seal is an As Seen On TV product designed to seal cracks and leaks with a flexible rubber seal.  A liquid rubber sealant, Flex Seal sprays onto virtually any surface, drying quickly to a firm yet flexible seal.  It conforms to the crack to eliminate leaks, and it can be painted any color.  An easy to use aerosol spray, Flex Seal can be used to patch cracks and stop leaks on roofs, gutters, pipes, skylights, and more.  If past weather patterns are any indication, it would be wise to take care of leak repairs now, before the drought is ended by rains of epic proportions.

As I was considering Flex Seal as an As Seen On TV home repair solution, I couldn’t help but notice just how important “flexibility” is in marketing infomercial products–especially when it comes to As Seen On TV exercise equipment.

Note the following:

• Flex Belt – An electronic ab belt that uses Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) to flex and contract the abdominal muscles
• Flex Mini – An EMS shaper designed to tone the butt, hips, and thighs
• Solar Flex – An infrared heated yoga mat designed to improve flexibility
• UltraFlex – An easy to use fitness tool to sculpt lean muscle through flexible resistance
• Flex Shaper – Combines resistance and aerobic training for total body fitness
• Bowflex - From one of the leaders in home fitness, Bowflex gyms feature flexible Power Rod technology for an effective workout

So go ahead and flex your purchasing muscles by checking out one of the many “flexible” As Seen On TV products available through SeenOnTVExpress.com.

And fix those leaks before it’s too late.

Life Mimics Art, and As Seen On TV Exercise Products are No Exception

Strangely shaped walking shoes designed to shape and firm your derriere have recently become quite popular.  On one hand, I’m intrigued, because anything that will give me a workout without me having to, you know, work out sounds a-okay to me.  On the other hand, I think these shoes with the bulky, curved soles look flat ridiculous.  Whenever I see them, I can’t help but think of the old Seinfeld episode, “The Jimmy.”

In “The Jimmy,” George and Jerry befriend Jimmy who wears special shoes that are supposed to help him jump higher.  Somehow, Kramer ends up wearing the shoes, and yada, yada, yada . . . Mel Torme thinks he’s mentally challenged.

This is what Jimmy’s shoes look like:

As much as I think the new shape-up, toning shoes look ridiculous and make me think of Jimmy’s shoes, I found As Seen On TV exercise equipment from the 1980′s and 1990′s that out-jimmies Jimmy.

Enter the Exerlopers:

The spring-soled Exerlopers are designed to:

• Reduce shock to the joints associated with running
• Maximize your workout by adding varied motion to your running
• Increase your speed and your vertical leap with spring supported action
• Make you look like a complete fool

Exerlopers were developed in the mid-1980′s by Canadian inventor Gregory Lekhtman, and enjoyed celebrity fame in 1993 when Lekhtman’s girlfriend, then-Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, was seen wearing Exerlopers as she exercised.

Exerlopers are still available today, and you can even adapt them for an at-home workout using Insta-Runner.  According to the Exerlopers website, Insta-Runner is a “unique collapsible running stand which provides a workout for the upper and lower body.”  The handlebars on the Insta-Runner swivel to provide upper body resistance while you run in place wearing your Exerlopers.

As Seen on TV Exercise Equipment for Multi-Taskers

The idea behind Exerlopers is sound exercise advice.  Why simply run when you can run AND jump at the same time?  Why do cardio alone when you can combine cardio and strength training in one workout?  People want maximum results in minimum time, and infomercial exercise videos and equipment that allow you to combine effective fitness routines are among the most popular As Seen On TV products available.

The Bowflex Treadclimber combines the motion of a stairclimber, a treadmill, and an elliptical trainer to amplify fat-burning cardio.  FlexShaper is designed to combine resistance training with aerobic exercise for simultaneous toning and fat burning.

Products using Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS), like the FlexBelt ab belt or the FlexMini butt and thigh toner, let you discreetly work out your abs or lower body as you go about your daily business.

Of course, if modesty is not important when it comes to your As Seen On TV exercise routine (you’re not still wearing spandex pants, are you?) then Exerlopers are, er, leaps and bounds beyond discretion.

Electrifying Buns Courtesy of the Flex Mini

Although it is fun to take a look back at some of the more popular, amusing, or confusing infomercial products in As Seen On TV history, it is also important to take a look at what is hot now.  Today on Way Back Wednesday, we are going to introduce a new SeenOnTV Express blog feature:  What’s New Wednesday.  What’s New Wednesday will alternate with Way Back Wednesday posts, bringing the blog a mixture of old and new infomercial products.  Although this week kicks off our new What’s New Wednesday series, we could also easily have called today’s feature “Way Backside Wednesday” as we look at the hottest thing in butt-sculpting since Buns of Steel:  The Flex Mini.

The Flex Mini is the latest Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) toning device from the makers of the Flex Belt.  EMS has come a long way since its early days, as described in our post about Dr. Ho’s Muscle Massager.  EMS devices no longer look like something used for shock therapy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but they are instead safe, effective tools for sculpting and toning the muscles.

The Flex Mini Revolutionizes Butt Workouts

Before the Flex Mini, sculpting, toning, and shaping the gluteal muscles required heavy exercise of the large muscle groups of the lower body.  Squats, stiff legged deadlifts, and lunges were de rigueur for a tight rear view, until various lower body sculpting infomercial products such as the Thigh Glider and 3 Minute Legs offered an easier way.  With the Flex Mini, though, your butt gets an effective workout without the traditional workout.  In fact, you can get intense muscle stimulation while you go about your daily routine.

The Flex Mini is discreet and comfortable.

The Flex Mini is medical grade, yet can be worn comfortably under clothes.  In just thirty minutes with the Flex Mini, the muscles of your butt and the backs of your upper thighs will get targeted stimulation, simulating the contractions of traditional, weight-bearing lower body exercises.  In fact, in a clinical study, 100% of Flex Mini users said the product worked for sculpting and toning the rear.  Furthermore, the Flex Mini is FDA cleared as a Class II medical toning device, proving that EMS for consumer use has truly evolved.