The Rookie Diaries: Can the Shake Weight Really Trim and Tone?

If you haven't seen the actual commercial for the Shake Weight, perhaps you've seen it being demo'd or parodied on Ellen or The View. Aside from its, ahem, naughty-looking motions (I'll leave that up to your imagination…or just watch this SNL skit), it seems like a fun, if not bizarre, way to tone up your arms in the privacy of your own home (I doubt anyone would be caught dead in a gym using this thing.)

The Shake Weight (only $19.95 plus shipping and handling, folks!) is a 2.5-pound weight that runs on human power—not battery power, as it may first appear—and claims to tone your arms more effectively than a traditional dumbbell thanks to two springs on either end of the weight that allow you to shimmy and shake the device as if it were a clogged ketchup bottle or a salt shaker. According to the manufacturers, the shaking provides more resistance—the slight movement creates a bit of velocity that you have to work against to control the weight.

The big question is: Does it work? I tested the device for a week—following the six-minute routine on the free DVD—and here's what I discovered:

The Shake Weight works…but not much better than a traditional 2.5-pound weight. The reality is, doing the six-minute routine with a traditional weight will have close to the same effect. The shaking moves may give you a little edge, but not much. If you're turned on, er, entranced by the Shake Weight and want to up the ante, you can order the men's Shake Weight (that's right guys, there's a special one just for you), which is a five-pound weight that can give you a more intense workout.

And the recovery moves—ones you do between sets to help your muscles recover before another active set—are no different than the ones you've probably done in a gym class or on your own. (Also, note to the Shake Weight maker: The woman demo-ing the moves on the DVD is waaaaay too skinny—her shoulder bones look like they are going to pop through her skin. Yes, women want to look at a fit, toned instructor as motivation, but this woman reads scrawny, not healthy and toned.)

The Shake Weight oversells itself. Sure, go ahead and get one to tweak and tone up. But don't expect it to transform your arms. On the website, you're told that you can get the equivalent of a 32-minute dumbbell routine in six minutes with the Shake Weight. What's not clear is how they're measuring the effects (and who does an entire arm workout for 32 minutes straight?). Truth is, you will get more out of a six-minute push-up/pull-up workout than a six-minute Shake Weight routine. The weight simply isn't heavy enough to give you serious sculpting. It can tone, yes, but it's not going to give you Jennifer Aniston's buff upper body in six minutes per day. In fact, on The Best Life Plan, members are encouraged to start with three- to five-pound weights, minimum.

The Shake Weight is fun. I won't lie—the six-minute routine went by really quickly. The device is novel and different, and even though you feel super silly using it, it can inject some life into an otherwise boring arm-weight routine. If you're the type of person who groans and runs the other way when she sees her arm weights sitting on the book case (or in the closet, or wherever you've stashed yours), this might help "shake" things up for you in a good way.