Tower 200 is another one of the machines that I first saw on an infomercial. As you know watching infomercials is one of my favourite activities because I admire the hosts’ abilities to get so many people to pull out their credit cards.

Tower 200 has been created by Body by Jake. Since I don’t have time to try every single new exercise equipment machine out there, but I do like to bring forth valuable reviews. After doing quite a lot of searches for the Tower 200 reviews and reading a lot of them, I did find one review that truly gives a good overview of this exercise equipment machine for your home.

1. What Is It Tower 200?
The Tower 200 by Body by Jake is a resistance band training equipment you install onto any standard door. It offers 200 lbs. of resistance and 200 different types of workouts, hence the 200.
The Tower 200 is also designed for an 11-minute workout too, so there’s “No Excuses” as they say. Anyone can give 11 minutes for a workout.

2. Installing the Tower 200:
It installs by simply hooking the top part on the top of the door and hooking the bottom part under the bottom of the door. Yes it’s THAT EASY. So it’s perfectly easy to install for anyone. There’s no assembly required since everything is already put together for you.

3. The construction Tower 200:
It is surprisingly good construction and feels VERY solid and sturdy. It feels perfectly safe to use it as hard as I can with as much power as I can. There are a number of websites that have featured less than positive comments about products made by “Body by Jake”, but the Tower 200 has VERY good construction. It’s also quiet too, so you can listen to your music while working out without having any noises from it.

4. Does the Tower 200 Work?

Well, this depends on you. If you’re a beginner (the 11-minute workout is so good for beginners like myself who are trying to get back in shape) or haven’t worked out in a long time, then this could be GREAT for you. But if you’re a seasoned bodybuilder, then you might definitely give this a pass.
5. How much is this exercise equipment machine?
You can try the 30-day trial period for $14.95 (which includes free shipping and handling) and then you’ll be charged $39.95 for four months after each month. When you add sales tax on top, you’ll end up paying a total of $191.79!
6. Conclusion

Tower 200 is a good buy if you are a beginner. With the Tower 200 you can definitely push yourself hard and get a good workout.

>>> General consensus on Tower 200:

From the many testimonials I’ve read, people are unanimous in saying that this might be a good product for a beginner or someone trying to get back into fitness, but for those who are more advanced it might be a bit too basic.

>>> Is the Tower 200 for men?

From the advertisement it does seem quite focused on men. I find this quite interesting (aka, I’m scratching my head as to why) and I’m not quite sure why Jake doesn’t feature a woman training on his cable machine as well.

Us girls work out hard and us girls use cables to shape our bodies (I do all the time).

I’ve watched the video over and over and again and there are loads of moves that I do on a regular basis at the gym.

Body by Jake … women can also do your workout and you’re not promoting it to them. Is there a reason Jake?

>>> Krizia recommends the TRX Suspension:

If you are more advanced, I would recommend the TRX Suspension which remains to this day the hardest and most intensive workout EVER!

* You can read my review here and if you download the PDF, you get to see all of my exercises: Review: TRX Suspension training is VERY intensive!

**If you don’t have time to read the full review, you can check out the product here:

>>> You’ll find more details about the TRX Suspension training straps and the TRX Suspension training system here: TRX Suspension

>>> Here’s a promotional video explaining how the Tower 200 works (it’s obviously not marketed to women … that said the ad is killer and that guy is ripped like crazy!):

If you have tried the Tower 200, I’d love to hear from you and I’d love to know if you think it was a worthwhile purchase. Or have you bought the Tower 200 exercise equipment machine and now it’s because another piece of equipment in your garage collecting dust?

I’d love to hear from you on this one!

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These days, I work out my core with exercises that are inspired from Pilates and yoga. I also do a number of core exercises on the floor, the bench and I even do one with the cable machine (this one can easily be done with an exercise elastic band as well).

Also, when I do any type of exercise, I make a point of contracting my abs and holding my core as steady and strong as possible, so I’m basically working my abs along the way and not waiting until the end of my workout to sit on a mat and do 500 sit-ups.

Every year, there is a new batch of ab machines that hits the late night air waves (aka late night  infomercials that I like watching so much) and the market to lure couch potatoes in changing their ways.

As I was channel surfing (late one night), I saw an advert for the Ab Coaster. You should have seen my face because the minute I knew what this was all about, I was already rolling my eyes.

Wait a minute, I’m mistaken, I didn’t see the Ab Coaster for the first time on an infomercial, but rather on the Shopping Channel. From what I could see, the Ab Coaster is a fairly big machine and I don’t think you can fold it and hide it anywhere in your home. The whole point of the Ab Coaster is to help you perform assisted leg-pull-ups (where you pull your legs to your chest to create a crunch effect). I see really strong guys doing this exercise unassisted at the gym by gripping the top of the cable machine and lifting their legs to their chest while swinging in mid air. I’ve even seen many guys add up to 90 lbs of weight (they grip the weight with their feet) and do those types of leg-pull-ups and I can assure you it does NOT look easy.

I guess, the manufacturer of the Ab Coaster thought they would be offering the same benefits.

Now, my problem with this machine and pretty much every home-exercise-machine that I’ve ever seen (other than the Boxflex which is on a totally different planet of effectiveness) is that none of them take into consideration two important things: 1) boredom from performing the same-old-same-old exercise rain or shine 2) lack of muscle confusion. When you keep doing the same exercise, you will see results early in the game, but will quickly plateau as your body gets comfortable with the movements.

To be fair to the manufacturer, I’ve not tried their Ab Coaster machine, but at $349 CAD/$399 US (you’ll be paying 4 payments of $99.95), it begs the question:

“Will the Ab Coaster really deliver results or will this be yet another exercise machine that ends up in your garage?”

I’ve done a few searches on YouTube and found videos or a number of people who seem to be suggesting that they are getting good results from their Ab Coaster machine.

I’d love to know if any of my readers have had such great results. If you’ve tried the Ab Coaster, don’t be shy in leaving a comment below!

You might also want to read what I think of the Slender Shaper: Slender Shaper fat burner and muscle building machine

Here are a few Ab Coaster videos you might find interesting:

Ab Coaster promotional video:

Ab Coaster how-to videos:

Ab Coaster how-to videos – more exercises:

Ab Coaster review done by a woman:

Paul’s consumer review part 1:

Paul’s consumer review part 2:

Since I work fairly late, I usually end up catching a few really good infomercials. My dream is still to be able to come up with a product that I can sell via infomercials and make boat loads of money in only a few months. Another of my dreams is to be asked to represent a product on one of those shopping channels. I simply love to watch those sales go up as the hour counts down.

I’m still keeping my eyes open for such opportunities.

The other night I saw an infomercial for the Slender Shaper machine. Now, to be fair to the product, I’ve not tried it or tested it and the following banter is simply common sense (my common sense that is).

First let me explain what the Slender Shaper is and what the manufacturer claims it will do to help you ***effortlessly*** whip yourself back into shape. Did you notice the three stars I placed in front and after the word “effortlessly”? That will come in handy later in this post.

So the Slender Shaper is (and I quote): “A unique oscillating system helps that help ‘melt’ away unwanted fat”.

The machine is supposed to: “help burn fat”, “build muscle”, “no exercising required” AND you only need to make four payments of $29.95 or pay $119.80.

Nope … no efforts are required, hence ***effortlessly***, you just need to sit around with the Slender Shaper machine strapped around a targeted part of your body and in a few weeks you’ll wake up with Madonna’s body.

I’m not old enough to talk about the 50s or 60s as decades that I remember, but I do remember seeing a number of old black and white adverts showing women with a huge belt around their waste attached to a machine that was supposed to “shake off” the pounds (remember those?).

(Warning, I’m about to get very sarcastic): P-L-E-A-S-E! Does anyone still believe they can sit around watching the telly with a little gizmo strapped to their waist that will burn off fat and build muscle?

I’ve been lifting weights and been a hardcore strength trainer for a decade now and I can assure you that if you are just sitting around and not lifting weights or squatting, you are NOT building muscles and you are NOT burning fat (period).

There are some of those TV workouts that are legitimately going to help you lose weight because they force you to move and sweat. There are a number of TV exercise machines that will also provide some level of results if you actually use them on a regular basis, but again, this means that you are actually exercising.

I’m sorry, but unless you actually break a sweat you will NEVER lose weight and there is NO chance in hell that you’ll build muscles.

I can assure you that the model on the photo you see with this post has surely not acquired her lean and firm body by sitting around.

I’d love to hear your views on the topic. Do drop me a line in the comment section below.

Photos from Slender Shape’s Web site.