The ThighMaster is an exercise product designed to shape one's

thighs In anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone tissue ...

Usage

The device is essentially two pieces of metal tube bent in a loop and connected with a

hinge A hinge is a mechanical bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation, with all ...

. The intended use is to put the ThighMaster between the

knees In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

and squeeze them together. This exercises the

hip adductors The adductor muscles of the hip are a group of muscles in the medial compartment of the thigh mostly used for bringing the thighs together (called adduction). Structure The adductor group is made up of: *Adductor brevis *Adductor longus *Adduc ...

. The simple mechanism allows exercising any suitable

muscle Muscle is a soft tissue, one of the four basic types of animal tissue. There are three types of muscle tissue in vertebrates: skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle. Muscle tissue gives skeletal muscles the ability to muscle contra ...

where a small angle can be created to press it, for example the

biceps The biceps or biceps brachii (, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle bel ...

(elbow flexion) or the hamstrings (knee flexion).

Marketing

Advertisements emphasized that the ThighMaster could be used while doing something else. The

infomercials 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 di ...

featured people watching television and exercising with the ThighMaster at the same time. It was mainly advertised in the 1990s by the actress

Suzanne Somers Suzanne Marie Somers (; October 16, 1946 – October 15, 2023) was an American actress, author, and businesswoman. She played the television roles of Chrissy Snow on ''Three's Company'' (1977–1981) and Carol Foster Lambert on '' Step by Step' ...

History

The ThighMaster was invented in Sweden by then-physical medicine intern (later "Dr.") Anne Marie Bennstrom (Prescott) as the "V-Bar" physical therapy device. It later received US design patent number 343882S as "physical exerciser." It achieved commercial success when marketed under the "ThighMaster" name by

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

(often erroneously credited as the inventor), who also made a great deal of money with his version of the

Mood ring A mood ring is a finger ring that contains a thermochromic element, or "mood stone", that changes colors based on the temperature of the finger of the wearer. Finger temperature, as long as the ambient temperature is relatively constant, is si ...

. Reynolds is an heir to the fortune of

R. J. Reynolds Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The son of a tobacco farmer and major slaveowner, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry Col ...

, founder of

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded by namesake R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a w ...

. :"The V-Toner...we took over ownership of it and renamed it ThighMaster" — Suzanne Somers

References

Exercise equipment 1980s fads and trends 1990s fads and trends {{tool-stub