I loved my abs. They were flat and hard and while I never had a six pack, I sported at least a two- and on good days, a four-pack. At an age when many women’s abdomens grow slack and rounder, mine were firm and tight. I used to love working my abs and would do a couple of hundred crunches a day. (Remember that 300 hundred crunches in 30 days challenge of about two years ago? Piece of cake!) I also had been in the habit of holding in my stomach. I began doing that isometric exercise as a teenager when a model friend of mine taught me that trick. Her torso was world-famous, having appeared in national magazines in an ad for a popular product I no longer remember. This was in the days before Photoshop. My abs were awesome. And then I hurt my back in a way that prevented me from hitting the gym or even exercising at all and my abs became slack and weak and flat became round and, ugh, I’d give anything to have my abs back.
A few weeks ago, I was sent Slendertone Abs7 – for free – to review for EverBeautiful. (I like swag as much as anyone else but receipt of Slendertone Abs7 does not sway my review of it. The opinions in this post are mine, all mine, and are given honestly.) Slendertone Abs7 is a belt that utilizes EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) technology to create a current that engages the abdominal muscles. (In other words, I don’t have to do anything except put it on. The belt does the work of engaging my ab muscles in a way that will strengthen and tone them.) Slendertone Abs7 is FDA-approved and, in clinical tests, proved effective at strengthening, firming and toning all major abdominal muscles. Study participants showed visible results in 6 to 8 weeks when they used the belt at least 5 days per week for 30 minutes. “This is too good to be true,” was the first thought that popped into my skeptical head.
But I’m game for anything and what did I have to lose?
The first thing I did was to check out the reviews on Amazon and other internet sites. They were mostly positive and encouraging. Next up? I read the Instruction Manual. (Well, I skimmed, but you should read it.) The device seemed easy enough to use. Apply gel pads where indicated on the inside of the belt. Place the belt around your waist and turn it on with the controller. The experience can be customized with 150 levels of intensity and offers a choice of 10 programs, the longest of which is 30 minutes. Each program has a built-in warm-up and cool-down phase. (Program 1 is set the first time you put on the belt. The programs will then progress with each additional session. You can override the program at any time by simply upping or lowering the intensity on the controller, which, by the way, is rechargeable.)
Can’t wait to check this thing out …
I charged the battery on the controller, applied the gel pads to their appropriate spots on the Slendertone Abs7 belt and attached the belt snugly with the Velcro closure so that the center gel pad was over my belly button and the other two go were over my obliques. And then I let it rip. Oh, by the way, the manual has a suggested program that begins with an intensity of 40 on each side (you can control the intensity on each side but I’m not sure why you’d want an intensity of, say, 40 on the right and 50 on the left. Who’d want to work out unevenly? But there must be a reason for this variability. I just am unsure of what that is.) I turned the intensity up slowly and the feeling was not unpleasant, kind of a tingling vibration. But is it working my abs? I turned the intensity up to 45 on each side and, aha, there it was. I felt it working. I felt the familiar contraction and release of my abs. Totes cool! I turned the intensity up, one tick at a time, to 50 and, uh, too much. (The manual says to aim for an intensity of 15 or higher for your first session.) I turned it back down to 45. The sensation was not unpleasant at all. I wore the belt for 30 minutes while doing an easy walk. No problem. “Next time I’m going to kick my abs’ ass,” I vowed.
The manual suggests a couple of rest days in a 7-day period and I used the following day for that. On Day 3, I began at an intensity of 45. It was easier than it had been the first time. Hm, maybe there’s something to this. I kept the intensity at 45 for ten minutes and then ticked it up to 50. Yowza! My abs were contracting and releasing, and the feeling, while not painful, was, um, a bit of a challenge. Screw it! I kicked it up to 60 – yikes! – and back down to 55. By the end of two weeks, I was using the belt at an intensity of 80 towards the end of my session.
The results …
The manual says to expect toned, firmer abs in 6-8 weeks if you use the belt 5 times a week so it’s premature for me to expect that at this point. What I do notice so far is that Slendertone Abs7 got me back in touch with my abs. It reminded me where they are – it is like your body forgets if you don’t use muscles properly, at least in my case – and to remember to engage them. My belly seems a little flatter and my obliques are most definitely carving a slimmer waist. (But please note that I’m also taking this opportunity to clean up my diet and to get more rest.) I will continue to use Slendertone Abs 7 and I do expect to see firmer abs and a slimmer waist in the coming weeks. I will remind you of my trainer’s words from my days as a gym rat, “You might have a six-pack but if it’s under a layer of fat, no one will know.” Slendertone Abs7 is not a weight loss tool. It won’t help you lose fat, but it’s been scientifically proven to engage your abs in a way that tightens and tones them.
Note: the gel pads have a certain shelf-life. I read in many of the reviews that, depending on how you care for them, they can last up to a year. Replacements are readily available. Tip: Keep the plastic covers that come with the pads and replace them carefully after each use. Also, note that there are contraindications for use, for example, do not use Slendertone Abs7 if you’re pregnant or have an electronic implant. There are other contraindications so check the manual for those.
If you’d like to try Slendertone Abs7, visit their website.
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