The Shake Weight is a modified dumbbell that oscillates, purportedly increasing the effects of exercise. As a result of the perceived sexually suggestive nature of the product, infomercial clips of the exercise device have gone viral. A 2011 study in ''

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'' states that for the chest, shoulder and triceps, the Shake Weight's exercises are inferior to conventional exercises that target the individual muscles. For the biceps, the results were similar. Additionally, the report found that the Shake Weight routines burned fewer calories than walking at .

Specifications

The Shake Weight has a female and male version, though it was initially released as a product "designed specifically for women". The female version weighs . The male version weighs twice as much at .

Reception

Shake Weight has gained popular attention and parody because its use involves the appearance of pumping a phallic object. The product's commercials have been described by Diane Mapes of

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as "slightly pornographic". Following its July 2009 debut, clips from a Shake Weight

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

quickly went viral. The viral

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clip has more than 4,000,000 views. When

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visited

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in September 2010 and host Jimmy Kimmel asked her if she had heard of "this great invention", her spontaneous reaction was "it's practically pornographic!". The Shake Weight commercial has also been parodied by ''

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'', and '' Thor: Ragnarok''.

References

{{reflist Products introduced in 2009 Infomercials Viral videos Weight training equipment