The urge to buy or download pirated copies of expensive workout products is strong. If you have the technical savvy, or have found somebody online who’s willing to sell you a knocked off copy for half price, then what’s not to like? Get the quality goods, save cash, workout and get the body you want, all without breaking the bank. Smart? Actually, no, and not just because we retail these products. Read on to discover some very real dangers involved with these activities, and then ask yourself–is it really worth it?

One of the biggest temptations out there right now is to buy a burned copy of your favorite workout from a Chinese vendor. They’ll sell them to you for almost half price, and promise you that you’ll get everything you need in the box. Not true. We’ve had a number of people contact us here at EFR asking if we can sell them the workout calendar, or the nutrition guide, or any other key component of the workout that didn’t come with the DVD’s,. Frequently the DVD’s themselves don’t play. We know this for a fact: we ordered a sample from two Chinese vendors out of curiosity. One never arrived, and the second had three DVD’s that wouldn’t play.

What’s even more dangerous is that you’re giving unscrupulous people your credit card information. If you haven’t heard, identity theft is a growing crisis for banks and people who find their accounts wiped clean, and sending your financial information to people with no problem ripping off valuable products is a bad, bad move. Many of these illegal vendors are involved a wider array of criminal activity, and selling your credit card information is probably the least of it. So–ask yourself before you buy knock off products online for ridiculously cheap prices–is the high chance of identity theft and incomplete or missing products worth the money you’ll save?

Another avenue that people take is to download these workouts from the internet for free. Of course, you’ve probably already heard about all the viruses out there, and how they’re embedded in these popular products. How millions and millions of computers are now enslaved as ‘zombies’ to hackers who use their combined processing power and online capabilities to attack big, secure targets. This isn’t alarmist talk–google any of the terms I just mentioned, and you’ll pull up a number of reports from CNN, the NYTimes, etc. Downloading large, popular programs is a fast track way to infect your computer. Further, these downloads don’t come with all the required materials. No Nutrition Guide, no workout calendar, none of the other supplemental and vital information that comes with the authentic package.

Of course, the greatest damage won’t be done to you, your identity or computer–it’s being done daily by thousands of people who engage in these practices to Beachbody itself. Now, I’m not trying to make you feel sorry for them, but simply point out a fact. If they lose enough money to piracy, they’ll stop becoming profitable, or as profitable, and will stop making these amazing products. We’ve already heard from them as to how much they’re being hurt financially by all this piracy, and it seems like it will only get worse.

And finally, think about the message these fitness programs promote: P90X, INSANITY, all of them urge you to discover a new form of integrity, of self-respect, to reach deep into yourself and become a new, better you that is proud of not only their body but the determination, courage and effort it took them to get there. How can you begin such a journey if it starts based in theft and ripping off the very trainers and people who are seeking to help you realize your goals?

Piracy. We’re warned against doing it so much that we tend to tune those warnings out, and hear instead, ‘Blah blah blah’. But piracy has very tangible, real consequences, as the hundreds of thousands of people who experience identity theft can attest, or the ruined computers and the help they give hackers show, or the general disrespect to both yourself and these incredibly trainers that stems from ripping them off despite all their hard work. If you’re tempted to steal a copy of these workouts–don’t. Start this journey with integrity, because trust me, it’s truly, truly worth it.