Body Trimmer Review

As my life continues to build in Cleveland, I'm finding myself more and more on the go during the day - every day.  It's getting harder and harder to commit decent chunks of time to working out, especially with some of the local gyms' hours.  I've started instead to consider some products that allow me to work out in my own home, on my own time, and am slowly building a bit of a home gym.  Primarily I've been looking for low-profile, easy-to-store items (since I don't really have my own home right now) that provide a versatile range of exercises to be done in small spaces.

One of the items I've encountered on my search immediately caught my attention for its unusual design: the Body Trimmer elastic exerciser.  It's essentially a variation on resistance tubing, and even features a set of four resistance tubes as the core of the product, but it uniquely adds a double handlebar and some little foot stirrups!

Disclaimer: I received this product at a discount in exchange for my review.  All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Right away I had some ideas for how to use it - which is good, because the overseas company that sells it doesn't include any type of instructions in or on the packaging.  Fortunately, I've been doing this fitness stuff long enough to have a whole repertoire of resistance tubing exercises at my fingertips for just such an item.  After learning that only my stocking feet would fit into the stirrups (and barely at that, the loops are pretty small), I took off my shoes and got settled with the Body Trimmer.

First I tried standard exercises like standing rows and seated biceps curls:

Then I realized that with the band anchored to my feet instead of a wall or pole (as with traditional resistance tubing), I could challenge my stability, and therefore work my core, by lifting my legs and making the resistance work against gravity at the same time:

THEN I realized I could add both dimensions together to REALLY work my core!  By moving both arms and legs at the same time, I could make traditional core exercises like boat pose or v-situps more challenging and more functional:

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that this weird little thing actually had some new options to add to my repertoire.  Core work is difficult and takes a lot of time, but when you find new ways to challenge those muscles, especially with dynamic exercises, gains are a little easier to come by.

At the end of the day, though, it's basically a cheaply made resistance tube that only fits small feet.  There's enough resistance for my fitness level for now, but there's no way to increase or decrease the resistance to meet other levels, and once the Body Trimmer breaks, it's probably done for good.  I have serious doubts about how sturdy this thing will be in the long run, or even in the short term.  If it lasts, it could be an interesting piece of equipment for a home gym, but I probably wouldn't spend too much money on it because it just doesn't offer as much versatility as other products.  I'd much rather invest in a set of traditional resistance tubing for the variety and ability to change difficulty.

What interesting or unique fitness products have you seen on the market?  What's the most unusual piece of equipment you've tried?  Any suggestions for other Body Trimmer uses?