We’ve been seeing him on tv for years. You know his name. You know his horrible hairdo. And you know his cheesy theme song. His name is John Basedow and his claim to fame is a set of workout tapes called Fitness Made Simple.
Basedow claims that his workouts are revolutionary and are a great way to get into shape. The problem? He won’t divulge what this workout regimen is without the consumer paying for the videos. And let me tell you, these videos are pricey. Each one is around $30, with a $12 fee for shipping and handling. That’s $42 for a video that might not even be good. Sounds like a rip-off to me. Probably because it is. Basedow’s entire website is formatted to look like an informercial and does not appear sincere. My biggest problem with it is that he does not take the time and effort to discuss his workout theory or anything to do with fitness. He cares about the money more than he cares about giving people good advice. Now, why should someone pay $42 for a video when they could get the same information online for FREE at places such as this one?
Basedow is so conceited (just look at the picture on the left) that it’s both pathetic and hilarious. Instead of trying to connect with people, he is always flexing and trying to impress his audience with his physique. He has launched a Myspace Page as well as a video log. And again, instead of using these mediums to educate the public about fitness, he is using them to feed his ego. If you don’t believe me, just go check them out for yourselves. There is one video entry on which he stars in a low-budget flick where he pretends that he’s James Bond. It makes no sense.
It seems to me that Basedow is more interested in making loot and establishing himself as “fitness celebrity” then genuinely caring about his clients’ well-being. I don’t know about you, but in my eyes he’s pathetic and needs to stop what he is doing because he is an embarassment both for our industry and personal trainers everywhere.
What do you guys think?
I believe that this is the same dude who has a book entitled “8 minutes in the morning”, the premise being that if you lift weights the ways he instructs you to for 8 minutes every morning, your body will change. He tells you not to do cardio. I didn’t buy the book.