Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Stupidest Products Ever or Brilliant Exercise Inventions?

I'm at a bit of a loss here.

As far as I'm concerned, it's not just one incredibly stupid product, it's a whole incredibly stupid product line.

Treadmills, exercise bikes and cross trainers for children ages 3-8.

Gymkids is the braintrust behind the idea.

And these things aren't cheap. $200 or so per product.

Now I'm not knocking kids exercising, but why can't a parent just buy a kid some shoes and play with them? Or a bike? Or a jungle gym?

Gymkids explicitly states on their website that, "Supervision by a responsible adult should be undertaken at all times."

I would love to meet the parents that actually sit around watching their kids walk on itty-bitty treadmills instead of playing with them.

My wife suggested that perhaps it was for parents who themselves use home gyms so if the parent was working out, the kid could too - That said, can you picture a 3 year old running on a treadmill for any sustainable length of time?

Do other people think these are ridiculous or am I being overly critical?