Getting into shape can be a tough goal to accomplish and with all the fitness fads making their way around the Internet, picking the most effective workout plan can be even harder. Devising the easiest yet effective workout method for dropping a couple of pounds or toning your body has led to various workout fads that you can’t help but laugh at. From exercise equipment that looks like it belongs in a comedy skit to workout videos that make you question if what you’re watching is real, the Internet is chock-full of outlandish fitness fads that just didn’t work out.

  1. Prancercise- Joanna Rohrback described her bizarre workout plan as "a springy, rhythmic way of moving forward, similar to a horse's gait and is ideally induced by elation." Some may also call it galloping like a horse to lose weight. But ever since Rohrback first conceived her prancing workout method back in 1989, the eccentric exercise program has somehow managed to stay relevant in the year 2014.
  1. Buns of Steel- Other than the fact that a man was leading a workout video designed to strengthen and shape your buttocks, the Original Buns of Steel was slightly unorthodox. Complete with exercises that target certain areas of the body, including the butt, thighs, legs, and abs directly from the comfort of your own living room, it’s no wonder Buns of Steel took off at the start of the infomercial-laden 1980s.
  1. Thighmaster- Trying out her hand in the workout business, actress Suzanne Somers invented the Thighmaster for what she described as the ultimate lower body workout. Designed to tighten and tone our inner thighs, today the Thighmaster comes with Buttmaster, a device used to tighten and tone our hips, buns, and outer thighs.

Although the Thighmaster was designed for strengthening the lower body, the exercise device could also fit with muscles on an angle such as our biceps. Infomercials back in the 1990s asked consumers to “squeeze, squeeze your way to a shapely figure.” As one of its most well-known benefits, Thighmaster users can improve their physique while completing other tasks.

  1. The Marky Mark Workout: Form… Focus… Fitness- Before he was starring in top-selling movies and winning Oscars, Mark Wahlberg was just Marky Mark of the Funky Bunch. When his attempt at a hip-hop career brought us the music video for “Good Vibrations,” The Departed star’s sculpted physique had people wondering who was the new "New Kid on the Block."

Yup, that’s right — your very own workout video with Mark Wahlberg helping you get in the best shape of your life. Complete with a day-by-day workout plan that includes a nutritional guideline to craft the perfect diet, the actor teaches you all the basics without the assistance of a shirt. Who’s to say Marky Mark’s workout plan doesn’t work? After all, the man has been carrying that six-pack around Hollywood for over two decades.

  1. BodyFlex with Greer Childers- Greer Childers has been at the fitness game for upward of 20 years, and her first fitness video back in the early 1990s was a definite attention grabber. Dubbed the "BodyFlex" workout, Childers’ unique workout method involves one simple action: breathing. While making an “O” shape with your mouth, Childers’ face exercise, the “Lion,” reveals the secrets of opening your mouth as wide as it can go and sucking in as much air as humanly possible. How didn’t any of these workout gems get picked up?