A couple of weeks ago, my abdominal (ab) wheel broke. It’s one of those workout devices that you roll along the ground, extending your arms in front of you, to stretch and tighten your abdominal muscles. It’s colossally successful in doing the job.
When it broke, I was a bit bummed because I’d had that model for over ten years. It served me well. One of the handles cracked, so there was no way to tape it together and limp forward. A replacement was a must.
Shopping at the sporting goods store is fun for me. I enjoy browsing through the machines used for different workouts -- checking out running and basketball shoes, seeing what new stretch garments Nike and Under Armor have developed to help you run faster and keep your muscles compressed, and examining any new apparatus that helps you stay in shape. I looked forward to seeing what new technology had been developed to better strengthen my abs.
I wasn’t looking forward to the expense. It was mildly surprising looking at the ab rollers that the prices were so low. Something that provides such consistently high quality results should have cost a chunk of change, it seemed to me. But for $6.78, I walked out the door.
Think about that price. Think about the cost of a lunch at Burger King or Wendy’s. Consider what two cups of coffee cost you at Starbucks. Consider that six-pack of Budweiser. Those are all consumable, disposable products. One and done for $6.78.
The abdominizer, on the other hand, stays with you for years. If experience is a barometer, my previous one lasted 10+ years, and it was used an average of 1-2 times per week, so let’s say 70 times a year for a low estimate. Let’s also say, for the sake of a conservative argument, that it only lasted 10 years. So that’s 700 uses for $6.78 (though we could also pretty confidently say that it cost less than $6.78 ten years ago).
If you divide 700 into $6.78, you get .97 cents per use, or less than a penny per workout. Not bad. Not too many products you buy today give you that kind of value.
Compare that cost to other things you buy. Hmmmm, smart phone? That’s at least a few hundred bucks. It gives you a lot of information, sure, but does it turn you into the man of steel?
Your television? That’s going to run you a grand, maybe more or less depending on the size and quality of the screen. Does that make your arm and back muscles make you look like a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers? Absolutely not.
How about your car? Sure, for $26,000 (or much, much more) you can drive that around for years, and it helps you buy food, get to work, take vacations. That’s useful in fundamental ways. But it also makes you lazy and cuts you off from the environment. And it doesn’t turn your stomach muscles into a ridged board that you can light a match on like the ab roller does.
How about your monthly cable fees, a case of bottled water or a pair of blue jeans? These will all set you back more than the abdominizer.
What I’m saying is this: Buy the ab roller. It’s a bargain. Even if you don’t use it, there’s no reason to feel bad about the purchase because your initial investment was so small.
There aren’t many bargains left like this in the world. The ab roller will help you increase your active life while pushing you away from the sedentary life. It’s all good.
When it broke, I was a bit bummed because I’d had that model for over ten years. It served me well. One of the handles cracked, so there was no way to tape it together and limp forward. A replacement was a must.
Shopping at the sporting goods store is fun for me. I enjoy browsing through the machines used for different workouts -- checking out running and basketball shoes, seeing what new stretch garments Nike and Under Armor have developed to help you run faster and keep your muscles compressed, and examining any new apparatus that helps you stay in shape. I looked forward to seeing what new technology had been developed to better strengthen my abs.
I wasn’t looking forward to the expense. It was mildly surprising looking at the ab rollers that the prices were so low. Something that provides such consistently high quality results should have cost a chunk of change, it seemed to me. But for $6.78, I walked out the door.
Think about that price. Think about the cost of a lunch at Burger King or Wendy’s. Consider what two cups of coffee cost you at Starbucks. Consider that six-pack of Budweiser. Those are all consumable, disposable products. One and done for $6.78.
The abdominizer, on the other hand, stays with you for years. If experience is a barometer, my previous one lasted 10+ years, and it was used an average of 1-2 times per week, so let’s say 70 times a year for a low estimate. Let’s also say, for the sake of a conservative argument, that it only lasted 10 years. So that’s 700 uses for $6.78 (though we could also pretty confidently say that it cost less than $6.78 ten years ago).
If you divide 700 into $6.78, you get .97 cents per use, or less than a penny per workout. Not bad. Not too many products you buy today give you that kind of value.
Compare that cost to other things you buy. Hmmmm, smart phone? That’s at least a few hundred bucks. It gives you a lot of information, sure, but does it turn you into the man of steel?
Your television? That’s going to run you a grand, maybe more or less depending on the size and quality of the screen. Does that make your arm and back muscles make you look like a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers? Absolutely not.
How about your car? Sure, for $26,000 (or much, much more) you can drive that around for years, and it helps you buy food, get to work, take vacations. That’s useful in fundamental ways. But it also makes you lazy and cuts you off from the environment. And it doesn’t turn your stomach muscles into a ridged board that you can light a match on like the ab roller does.
How about your monthly cable fees, a case of bottled water or a pair of blue jeans? These will all set you back more than the abdominizer.
What I’m saying is this: Buy the ab roller. It’s a bargain. Even if you don’t use it, there’s no reason to feel bad about the purchase because your initial investment was so small.
There aren’t many bargains left like this in the world. The ab roller will help you increase your active life while pushing you away from the sedentary life. It’s all good.