It’s a fitness trend sweeping the Lower 48 and available exclusively for Alaskans in Eagle River at the Northern Glitter Boutique.
“We are the only store in all of Alaska allowed to sell the Simply Fit Board,” Sherry Denny, boutique manager, said. “We get them in sets of 10, and they are gone just as soon as we get them in here.”
The Simply Fit Board is made of durable plastic and measures 26 inches long by 11 inches wide and supports up to 400 pounds making it an exercise tool that nearly anyone can use, Denny said.
If you see her twisting behind the counter at Northern Glitter it is because she’s on her own board getting a workout while she tends to the store.
“It is just that simple,” she said. “You can use this board anywhere to get exercise while you are doing other tasks.”
Denny first saw the board when its original creators — Linda Clark and daughter, Gloria Hoffman of Colorado — appeared on ABC’s “Shark Tank” television show seeking funding for their business producing and marketing the exercise board.
“I was like, ‘hey, I know her,’” Denny said. She recognized Clark from when Denny lived in Colorado.
Denny contacted Clark saying she just wanted one to try out.
Clark suggested Denny watch an online video demonstrating the product.
“’I guarantee you’, she told me,” Denny said, “’that you will want to place a full order tomorrow morning.’”
It didn’t take that long for Denny to get back on the phone with Clark. Denny ordered her first set of 10 immediately after watching the video highlighting the nine different exercise positions the board accommodates. That was a few weeks ago. This week, Denny placed her fifth order.
The Simply Fit Board comes with a multi-page booklet with instructions on performing the “basic twist” — the first move suggested — and giving direction on how to move on to more advanced moves such as squats, donkey kicks and Spiderman planks. The nine different exercises work each of the body’s muscle groups providing a workout that has no impact, Denny said.
To say she is sold on The Simply Fit Board might be an understatement.
“I am already seeing my stomach tightening, and I have been consistently on it for only three weeks now,” Denny said. “I love it.”
A recent post on The Simply Fit Board’s Facebook page showed one woman burning 120 calories and taking 1,809 steps in a mere 11 minutes of twisting on the board.
The board and its system is touted to slim the waistline and target the “muffin top” while burning calories, improving balance and strengthening one’s body core and toning legs, according to its marketing information.
Denny isn’t the only woman hooked on the board’s exercise program.
Lori Grenier, the queen of cable television’s QVC (Quality, Value, Convenience) shopping network, is one of ABC’s “Sharks.” In November 2015, she entered into a deal with Clark and Hoffman giving the mother/daughter entrepreneurial team $125,000 in exchange for giving Grenier a 20 percent in their company.
On QVC, Simply Fit has been dubbed the “balance board with a twist.”
The board comes in four different color choices: blue, lime, magenta and orange.
Its normal QVC price is $44 plus shipping. This week, it has been on sale during special online promotions for $39.99 with five bucks tacked on for shipping for the special only. However, when The Star went through the ordering process, the $5 shipping deal was not available to Alaska. Instead, the lowest shipping cost was $15.97 for delivery described as “offshore non-priority.”
At Northern Glitter, Denny sells the board for $49.95.
• Amy Armstrong is a freelance reporter for the Chugiak-Eagle River Star. She can be reached at amyarmstrong@gci.net or online at facebook.com/pages/Armstrong-Communications-Words-by-Amy-Marie.
