America Peals

So I may be the last blogger to not mention the Jersey Shore’s Mike (aka The Situation). Mike named his abs “the situation” and I guess when you have abs like that you could name them Gimli from The Lord of the Rings for all I care..

Lest you funny readers think I am paid for this gig, fear not. I want to talk about a product I recently purchased as a Christmas gift that has only recently arrived in the care of my friend: The Trainer Mat for Abs.

First, my friend does not feel jiggy unless she has copiously poured forth sweat in Power Yoga. And, on the girlfriend it shows. I used to link Gwyneth and Madonna were complete liars about the efficacy of yoga. I have living proof that Yoga does shred a Zaftig woman into a sexy machine.

Anyway, despite, having a great body, this friend always  mentions her core not being strong. Enter stage left: the G2Fitness Trainer Mat for Abs. In short, the Trainer mat is a yoga mat, except a little longer. It has a red background and a multiplicity of well diagrammed men doing ab movements. The Mat is broken into three sections by tiny white writing (so if you don’t have your bifocals you may miss the gestalt of the program) into lower abs, upper abs and obliques. Just for clarity’s sake, it would make sense for the demarcation to be more pronounced.  Yet, on a whole the the exercises put forth are sound and again well demonstrated through the graphic design.

Per the G2Fitness site, the specifications are:

• 24 Complete Abdominal Exercises
• Mat Color: Red with Black highlights (black underside)
• Breakdown of Upper Abs, Lower Abs, and Obliques!
• ECO Friendly (100% Recyclable)
• Physician Certified Stretches
• Thick Cushion Design
• Bacteria Resistant
• Washable Nonslip Surface
• Long-lasting and Durable
• Revolutionary Patented Material
• Dimensions : 6 Feet x 2 Feet x 4 mm
• Material: 100% TPE

So we get the point, it’s green. Now while I think this is a wonderful tool for those who are fully committed to an ab work out, I would like to point out a few things.  I think G2Fitness missed the boat entirely by launching this product too early. From the date I purchased on line, a day in which I had to speak to a customer service rep b/c their payment system was wonky (and customer service was lovely), I did not receive the mat for over two weeks (this waiting time was not delineated on the site). After speaking with customer service, I was told the transaction was complete and I could look forward to receiving my mat within 5 business days. This seemed a appropriate as there was a lump $10.00 attached for shipping fees.

In actuality, I spoke with this rep at the beginning of the week, funds were withdrawn and it wasn’t till later in week, I received note that the Trainer Mat would be delivered  two days from receipt of that note. Another week and a few days passed before I received the product. Now, I mention this not to badmouth company but to underlie the point that a product should be fully vetted, shipping, ordering, whatnot before its available to the public.

Conversely, I have ordered Olympic Plates from Wrights Exercise store and their fee for shipping 40lbs of bumper plates was $20 and it arrived in less than a week after I purchased them on-line. So with the bumper plates being approximately $20 to ship, the 3 lb Trainer Mat at $10 with a 2-3 week shipping wait appears overpriced.

G2Fitness is definitely worth watching the company grow in the fitness product venue. I love their customer service, I love that they are ramped up to be way ECO friendly.

However, I think that they have missed the boat in making their product more social. They do have videos on their site that will guide customers through an effective use of the Trainer Mat. Yet, that requires a password that was not furnished in my package. I sent an email requesting to my password 5 days ago and I have yet to have heard from them. There product is pretty but in this Huxley world of the web, the G2Fitness missed a great opportunity to create ambassador programs like Lululemon, or similar to the CrossFit application Beyond the White Board, an ability for people to track their progress, share and interact with other owners of G2Fitness and upload videos of their personal use.

Most importantly, I need to sit down and use the TrainerMat, the truth is in the pudding.

Of note, Paula Abdul is the celebrity endorser of the Trainer Mat for Abs. Only in America, Kids!

For right now, I fully throw my campaign endorsement for the amelioration of abs behind Rodney Yee.  Go buy it. They sell new disks on Amazon for less than $10 and if you aren’t happy, well I can’t refund you money, but I will be surprised.