Fitness Equipments

It makes good sense to check out fitness equipment ratings posted by consumers who have already experienced the product you are interested in purchasing. Consumers can offer valuable insights about effectiveness, service, and other product qualities you may not have even considered.

Fitness equipment ratings by users, however, may swing excessively high or low for reasons unrelated to the product itself. It helps to understand the human factors that could influence the reliability of consumer reviews and to know how to extract useful information before you buy.

The Underraters

Consumers may rate a fitness product excessively low due to:

-Anger: Users who are truly dissatisfied seek to warn others about the perils of purchasing a fitness product. Their objectivity, perhaps tainted by anger, may cause them to post excessively harsh reviews as they air frustrations.

-Limited Experience: A new, inexperienced user may underrate a quality fitness product because they have not have exercised long enough to realize a training effect.

-The Promise of Fast Fitness: Users may be disappointed if they do not see immediate results because they bought into "fast fitness" marketing claims. Even the best exercise products will not produce rapid body transformations that exceed normal human capabilities for adapting to exercise.

-Competitors: Raters who are claiming poor results or scams may not be consumers at all. They may have another motive for underrating-to promote their own products.

-The Bandwagon Effect: Fitness equipment owners are sometimes influenced by having read negative reviews and they simply jump on the bandwagon.

The Overraters

There could be a bandwagon effect on the positive side, too, of course. Other psychological and emotional factors that can cause consumers to overrate fitness products include:

-Expectation: If the ads convince consumers to buy, they expect results, especially if the product is expensive. Expectations can positively influence initial perceptions of product effectiveness.

-Motivation: When consumers buy a new product, they are usually motivated to work out. Higher levels of motivation create increased effort, which produces better results even if the fitness device contributes only marginally.

-The Learning Effect: Reviewers may enthusiastically report immediate results. However, products that require novel movements or greater skill can appear to produce short-term results. Early gains are more likely due to the effect of learning than to physiological changes from exercise.

-Visible Results: Real measurable changes can occur from exercising with effective products. The excitement of making progress toward achieving one's goals can also prompt excessively positive fitness equipment ratings.

-Affiliation: Affiliates, who may or may not have purchased a product, stand to earn a commission by posting rave reviews at multiple sites.

How to Use Consumer Ratings

1. Visit a variety of websites to access consumer reviews about the very same product you are considering.

2. As best you can, try to determine whether the website or reviewers are in some way affiliated with the product.

3. Identify raters who have exercised regularly for at least six weeks-long enough to evaluate the physical training effect, as well as the durability of the product.

4. Sort out comments that appear to be fair and objective from those that are emotionally charged.

5. Read at least 30 reviews by users who meet the criteria described in 1-4.

6. Rely more on consistencies and trends, rather than extremes and exceptions, to form your overall impression of the product according to consumers.

Consumer fitness equipment ratings are just one resource for deciding whether or not a product suits your needs. Temper your overall impression of user ratings with published reports from independent consumer groups, such as Consumer Reports and the Federal Trade Commission, before you make your purchase.

FOUR Cap Barbell 2'x6'x1.5" Folding Gym Mats $175.00

Brand New Still In Box Les Mill Pump Workout $100.00

NEW Valeo 6 lb Weighted Fitness Medicine Ball Weight $19.95

Danskin 1 lb Yoga Ball (Set of 2) $15.00

Plastic Green Training Fitness Sports Skipping Rope $9.24

SPRI Xertube Resistance Bands - Upper Body Work Out - Light $5.00

Orange Plastic Handle Digital Counter Burgundy Skipping Rope 2.6M $7.58

Yukon Fitness Angled Back Machine ABM-157 - NEW $329.99

Abcoaster!!! Treated very well!!!! $149.99

Set Exercise Gym Workout Fitness Resistance Tube Band for YOGA ABS $14.69

Gymboss GB2010 BLACK SOFTCOAT $19.95 A quality interval timer, such as this compact model from Gymboss, makes it easier to plan and execute challenging workouts. About the size of a small pager, the unit is protected by a rubberized, high-grip finish, and tracks one or two intervals between two seconds and 99 minutes, with a chime and vibration to notify you of each interval. The alarm duration can be set for one, five, or ten second...

Time Timer, 8 Inch $19.74 This timer can be used to solve time perception problems at all ages and ability levels. Everything you love about the Time Timer with an audible BEEP when time is up! The 8-inch audible option can be turned on or off for a purely visual experience if required. This is perfect for timed activities and for getting ready. The timer runs on battery operated quartz movement and can be free standing or...

Gymboss SILVER HARDCOAT $19.95 Gymboss SILVER HARDCOAT...

Perceptual Motor Rhythm Games CD (EA) $11.19 These field-tested "learning through movement" activities encourage eye-hand, aural-motor, and visual motor coordination. They also develop body image, balance, laterality, directionality, and visual perception. Easy to introduce to your class, the activities do not require partners or constant teacher direction. Song List: The Shoemaker (Shoemaker's Dance) Rope Turning (Wheels) Isolations #1 (Mis...

Fitness Equipment (Fitness, Cardio & Aerobics Session) $6.23 ...

AB Roller Plus: Rock 'n Roll Ab Workout (Tape only, machine is not included) $17.99 Venture Aerobic Productions, 1995. This 15 minute power program for ABDOMINALS hits the spot. For your best body ever, you need more than just hype. You need the BEST hardware and the right software. That's why fitness pro, Brenda Dykgraal offers some POWER programming to go along with the AB roller Plus. This program includes: 5 minute Beginner Ab workout; 6 minute ADVANCED Ab workout and TWO min...

The Firm: Total Body - Body Sculpting Basics [VHS] $14.98 Interval workouts incorporate a variety of activities that are powerful and short in duration. These intervals create an anaerobic workout that forces the body to adjust to variations of intensity and motion. Interval training has the real potential to burn fat and build strength. The Firm: Body Sculpting Basics utilizes these same aerobic and anaerobic components to create a 60-minute workout tha...

Jane Fonda's Step and Stretch Workout [VHS] $17.99 Four of Jane Fonda's instructors take turns presenting an energetic 45-minute, moderate-intensity step workout. The frequent switching of instructors adds variety and interest, and the different teaching styles keep the workout feeling fresh. The choreography starts out very simple, and as the workout progresses, so do the moves, although the patterns never get terribly complicated. Each pattern i...

Camelbak Antidote Cleaning Kit $15.00 The all-in-one tool kit for faster cleaning and drying.New click-in dryer hangs Antidote Quick Link reservoirs, ensuring water drainsExtra folding dryer arms lock open Antidote reservoirsTwo brushes and cleaning tabs keep the reservoir odor and taste-free...

STORM All-Weather Safety Black $5.95 This all weather whistle was designed for the US Army Special Forces. Works above and below water and can purge itself ofmud, snow, sand. 75% louder than most other whistles. Color: Rescue orange....

Tags: equipment, equipments, fitness, Fitness Equipment, health

Tagged with: equipment • equipments • fitness • health

Filed under: Fitness Equipment