70s Fitness

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Feeling the burden of a few extra festive pounds?
Need a quick fix to weight loss?

In the 21st century there is access to an array of high-tech weight loss gizmos and gadgets but for fitness fanatics in the 1970s technology was not on their side.
These hilarious pictures and  weightloss aids of four decades ago were a bit bizarre.

Bizarre: Among the curious inventions from the 70s is the sauna exercise suit, which is supposed to make you sweat away the pounds while you go about your daily business

Funny snaps from the 1970s show a range of products designed to shed the pounds from the comfort of home, were tailored for exercise while others were simply for the lazy who hoped the weight would magically disappear.

Among curious inventions was the sauna exercise suit meant to make you sweat the pounds away while about your daily business.

The advert reads: 'Just slip on and wear while you work or play, while you exercise or do housework. Seals in body heat to help you shed extra moisture. Like having a portable sauna bath.'

Another bizarre item was air shorts - a pair of inflatable pants worn by men and women doing general activities at home like housework or sit-ups. The pack description promised 'support and massage at waist, hips, thighs, buttocks' and had a pack shot of a man modelling the strange inflatable pants.

Inflatable: These hilarious air shorts were designed to be worn whilst carrying out your daily chores so that you could shed body moisture at the same time

Home devices: The funny snaps show a range of products that were designed to help shed the pounds from the comfort of your own home

Another brand, the Vita Master boasted a variable speed massage machine that vibrated away pounds, demonstrated by smiling Lycra-clad models. A pre-cursor to the popular PowerPlate of today, perhaps?
Also 'Inches Away Reducing Belt'  promised slimming action instantly for just $14.99 (£9.22). The description read: 'Take inches from stomach without exercise or special diet. Perfected by a doctor. Just dab on Sealer Lotion and slip into a belt...slimming action starts instantly.

Inches away: Supposedly 'perfected by a doctor', the Inches Away Reducing Belt claims slimming action starts immediately - just add Sealer Lotion

Seventies Spanx? This bizarre felt belt is the 1970s' answer to control pants and shapewear - and looks a lot less comfortable

 

'Just wear one hour a day. Not just a girdle...some have lost 4 to 6 inches.'
The reducing belt has been 'clinically-tested and doctor approved,' the ad states.
A vintage take on today's Spanx - the Slimmer Belt - which in the 70s took the form of a thick, velcro belt worn under clothes to tone and reduce back fatigue. 'Wear under panty hose without a girdle,' the advert says.
The 'Twist 'N Tone' device which describes itself as 'fun, easy and works' could be put down as a retro gimmick but the item is still on sale today at many supermarkets and fitness stores.
It had cost $5.95, and claimed to 'provides the same simulating exercise as expensive equipment used in health clubs'. Precisely which machine they meant is unclear...

Inexpensive: The Twist 'N Tone is described as providing the same stimulating exercise as expensive gym equipment