Study: Fitness DVDs may be psychologically harmful for users

[Chomper]

Originally Posted by Sue B

Does anyone here have access to the study's full text? I'd like to know which DVDs they looked at. (If they just went to Target and pulled 10 DVDs at random off their shelf, I can guess who was in them )

I do agree that many DVDs lack diversity in body types and ethnicity, and portray a false image of what fitness is supposed to look like. Also that if negativity and shaming made people thin, everyone would be thin.

Sue, I think that's exactly what they did (go to a big box store and grab an armful) and I'm not sure that's a bad way to do the study. One of the study leaders said they were concerned with new exercisers, and I know I started with Crunch DVDs, 10 minute solution, etc. I was fortunate enough to remember Margaret Richard from PBS and order her DVDs directly from her online.

You have to do some research to find the good workout DVDs that fit your needs.

I wonder if anyone who decries this study is actually denying that that type of fitness DVD (lacking diversity, negative messages, not well programmed) isn't out there and on store shelves?

[TinierTina]

Originally Posted by Sue B

Does anyone here have access to the study's full text? I'd like to know which DVDs they looked at. (If they just went to Target and pulled 10 DVDs at random off their shelf, I can guess who was in them )

I do agree that many DVDs lack diversity in body types and ethnicity, and portray a false image of what fitness is supposed to look like. Also that if negativity and shaming made people thin, everyone would be thin.

Add to that, all those exhortations to "smile", "suck in your gut", "send those fat cells packing" and ... "you've got to move it, to lose it" ...

It is tough if what you need in a DVD, happens to be that same DVD that posits that everyone has the same goals, i.e., they want (even if "subconsciously" ... kind of like that manipulative "therapist" I'd once seen while "plump" in his eyes) to lose weight ... whether or not fitting in the bikini, figures in ...

Many belly dance DVDs (rag on its mildness if you must, but personally I do need low impact) may go the "sexy talk" route, but they don't talk about bikinis ...

[Vintage VFer]

Originally Posted by dutchgirl

Where do I even start to rip apart this awful 'study'? And I use the word study loosely as this more resembles a piece of crap in my eyes.

But, how do you really feel?

Personally, I find the "sexy" talk and super-skimpy outfits annoying. If being annoyed can cause psychological damage. Then, I'm damaged!

[athompson10]

Spare me. A study with sweeping generalizations based on 10 DVDs. Ten.

Many of the instructors had little or no qualifications - well, were they picking up "Kim Kardashian Shows You How to Get an Hourglass Shape Like Hers" or Cathe Friedrich?

Did they have exercisers start a program and see if they stuck with it? Did they TALK to any exercisers who'd actually done the DVDs and see how they felt about them?

I tried to view the full study but don't want to register; but from their synopsis, it looks like they read the DVD blurbs, viewed the workouts and drew conclusions.

[superfit41]

I am officially offended Ridiculous. That's all I have to say. I have been doing workout DVD/VHS since 1996.
Sherry

[Sue B]

Originally Posted by Chomper

You have to do some research to find the good workout DVDs that fit your needs.

I wonder if anyone who decries this study is actually denying that that type of fitness DVD (lacking diversity, negative messages, not well programmed) isn't out there and on store shelves?

The "psychologically harmful" is a headline click-grabber, but ITA with this:

Fitness DVDs are a $250 million a year industry but there is no scientific evidence about their safety and effectiveness or the accuracy of the information contained in them, and the industry is largely unregulated, Cardinal said.

Cardinal urged potential fitness DVD consumers to be mindful of the potential pitfalls of the product when selecting and using exercise videos.

“Buyers should beware when making these purchases,” he said. “Remember that we all have different body shapes and styles, and our bodies may respond differently to the exercises being shown. Don’t expect to get the same results as what you see on the screen or compare yourself to others.”

The findings indicate that there is a need to further study commercial fitness DVDs, Cardinal said. Along with the language and imagery used in the videos, researchers should consider studying the effectiveness and safety of the types of exercises and techniques used, he said.

At the height of the Wii craze, when I was blogging about it, it seemed like a new study on Wii exercise effectiveness came out every month. There were short-term and long-term studies, they'd give a bunch of kids a Wii and keep checking in on them for months and compare to groups doing traditional fitness programs. I kept wondering "why hasn't anyone studied workout videos to this degree?" Now that Wii has died out, maybe that will happen and I welcome it even if the results aren't what we want.

[prettyinpink]

Originally Posted by Sue B

The "psychologically harmful" is a headline click-grabber, but ITA with this:

t.

Sure, but (of the part you quoted from the article) the same could be said for in-person fitness classes in studios and gyms.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Well, yes, as a 'study' it is ridiculous, but one of the things I enjoy about taking living classes is all the different bodies in the room! Videos typically are taught by very thin people with well-defined muscles, and the backgrounders are usually the same. In a live class, you see people of all shapes, sizes and fitness levels. I bet a number of people do videos because they fear they'd feel self-conscious in a class. But if you think a class looks like a video, in my experience, you'd be wrong!

[Yelly]

This "study" seems like they are really reaching for a story - just grasping at straws - and for what? I can honestly say that I am a pretty damaged person, and fitness videos would rank at "0" on the scale of things that have damaged me psychologically. In fact, I can attribute them to healing me psychologically, not the other way around. I have never felt remotely injured or psychologically harmed by watching pretty people work out, or receiving tough-love instruction. Sexy outfits also don't bother me in the least.

(I suppose I can see it being damaging for somebody with a very unhealthy body image, or one who is easily triggered by that sort of thing. That has just never been my personal way of being triggered)

[TinierTina]

You learn, on repetition, to desensitize yourself to the hackneyed culturally mandated exhortations of some teachers, if the DVD is good or effective ...

In a live class, the moment they bring up "bikinis", I give a shout-out while in class to the teacher: "for me it's about my health!" ... and she will tend to agree, noddingly. Of course, in this particular scenario, I am measurably older than the other members of class, but hardly much older than the teacher; and the class takes place in an intergenerationally friendly neighborhood (such intergenerational-fairness besmirched by its economic upscaleness - but that's another story for another day) ... soooo ... then .... eventually it leads to a better choice of teachers ...