The Pavlok. Motivational Shock Band.

cool new piece of exercise tech as much as anyone, but Pavlok is not cool. It’s actually not that new either — this story was published in July — but we just had to make you aware of its existence so we could warn you to steer clear of getting one.

The Pavlok fitness band is a novel way to monitor your regimen; because if it senses you slacking, it shocks you. Yes, it gives you an electric shock, if you sit on your duff for too long.

Oh, but there’s more. If you think the shock won’t be enough to get you into the gym, the band also charges you money and posts “I didn’t make it to the gym today,” on your Facebook wall. So you end up publicly shamed, effortlessly charged dough and physically harmed. And here’s the weird part of the story; This product has already collected over $170,000 in funding on Indiegogo. Maybe people are thinking of buying them for slacker “friends” they don’t really like.

Yes, we understand that the inventor of this was inspired by his idea of affixing himself with a shock collar to keep him off Facebook (so you can see what kind of dude this is), but that is what a shock collar is supposed to do — prevent someone from doing something. If you want to buy this to keep you off Facebook or to stop smoking, then by all means go donate today and get in line for a human shock collar.

We hope you will consider the carrot over the stick when creating motivation to exercise. Set simple short term exercise goals and give yourself small rewards for reaching goals. Treat yourself to a massage or a pint of Guinness after hitting targets. We also encourage people to find exercise that’s fun and that feels good. This can create a virtuous circle; exercise – feel great after the workout – want to exercise more – feel healthier – exercise again.

Stephen Colbert provides a very funny take on the Pavlok.