Customer Reviews

Slendertone Flex Pro Abdominal Muscle Toner

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As a lifetime athlete who in recent years has gotten too busy for doing sports every day as I have in the past, this is a good addition to my various methods of dealing with the change in lifestyle.

I used to go cycling every day and do other outdoor sports on occassion, but my move to NYC five years ago and into corporate America has turned me into your typical weekend warrior. Just as the atrophy of office life was what first turned me into a serious athlete when I was 20, I am inspired at 41 to once again try new things to keep myself in shape--and enjoying it. Most recently these new things include an indoor trainer that I can use with my roadbike to pedal out the miles on weekday evenings, and this belt to work those muscles that cycling does not.

No real CON, but a few points I want to make:

I'm actually taking a star away for the instructions; you pretty much have to figure out how you want to incorporate this thing into your physical training on your own. For the price, they could include an adaquate training guide written by an expert. Perhaps someone at Amazon could suggest a relevant book.

The lack of adaquate instructions caused me to do the couch potato mistake of using the belt while slouched on the sofa in front of the TV and the uneven training gave me a bit of back pain for a week. It wasn't a big deal though.

Perhaps coincidental, but I started pooping like a newborn when I started using this belt.

You should be careful not to overdue it at first unless you already are used to working your abdominal muscles on a regular basis. The suggested levels and use times are a pretty good guide--just don't exceed them.

I was blown away by how much power three AA batteries were able to put out, but maybe it really doesn't take that much power. In any case, the power is more than adaquate.

DO NOT attempt to move the belt while it's turned on because you will literally be in for a shock. It's amazingly strong when the current goes through your fingertips.

BOTTOM LINE: This belt is very effective. My only caviat is that you should look for some kind of guide as to how to use it for maximum effectiveness and without causing yourself undue discomfort or pain.

Before I bought this item, I kept seeing people complain that the pads wore out so quickly. I saw some people that said that they drenched the pads in rubbing alcohol to make them last longer. Others online recommended using window cleaner after each use. And still others said to use water based lubricant. I tried the rubbing alcohol and window cleaner and that didn't really work well because if you were using a towel to apply the stuff to the pads, the towel would stick and leave residue on the pads. The water based lubricants would probably be too messy. After thinking about it some more, I came up with the perfect solution. I found something that combines all the things everyone else had recommended (or elements of each) in a nice, none messy solution... so if you want to keep your slendertone pads working for a very, very long time, just use PURELL (OR ANY ALCOHOL BASED HAND SANITIZER) after each use. Put a couple drops on there, rub it on the pad to cover the surface and then wipe off the excess or just let it dry. No dripping mess, no towels sticking to the pads and no mess on you either. Works like a charm and the pads become sticky and work like new each time. I haven't had to replace any of my pads in months and months.

Getting my abs to look like a chiseled model has always been one the hardest things for me to achieve. After years of work, I know the only true way to make that happen is exercise and a GOOD DIET... you have to remove the weight/fat to get the abs to show. Otherwise, you are just wasting your time exercising your abs.

That being said,after a month of use, I truly feel that this product has helped improve the look of my abs. I have kept the same diet and continued my same workout routines, and simply added use of the Slendertone to about 40 mins every other day. A really difficult spot for me is the obliques. I truly believe the use of the Slendertone has helped tighten up my obliques to help accentuate more of a V-shape through my midsection.

I should also state that this is the third elctro-stimulation ab product I have used. Compared to the other two this is much better. The main thing that sets this apart is the use of Gel pads. Both of the other two devices required a liquid Gel that you put on the electrodes. With both of those products I found myself getting tiny little abrasions where the electrodes touch my skin... not good! With the slender tone, the fit is great and the gel pads stay snug against your body, which eliminates the abrasions.

In summary, if you are pretty avid athlete that has trouble getting those abs to show, give this a try it will probably help. But make sure you aren't ruinging all of your effort by eating to much fatty foods. If you are trying to lose weight, don't waste your time with this. Get yourself to the gym and work hard, eat well, and you'll see results on your own.

I am actually pleasantly surprised by how well this works. I still think a conventional ab workout should be accompanied with this to really maximize results, but by using the Slendortone after an ab workout, you can really get that extra push to see results much quicker.

The reason I'm only giving it four stars is just because I wish the gel pads lasted a little longer, something which may be out of Slendertone's control, I don't know.

As far anyone who claims this doesn't work (a certain so-called "physician"), I can only assume they didn't actually use or left it on such low settings that it was of no benefit. I almost didn't buy this product (with my own money, not given too me for free) because of one of the negative reviews, but I said, "Screw it! Let's me see for myself!" I'm glad I did.

After using this product for a few weeks, I am very satisfied and would recommend this to anyone, though I would note the issue with the gel pads, which for some may be a deal breaker.

The slendertone flex pro abdominal muscle toner, will give your muscles tone, i have been using for about three months now. There is a serious amount of muscle where there wasn't before, however, I still need to keep a clean diet in order for you to see the muscle. I did not stop my other exercise routine. I set the Slendertone to level 99 and usually for the 45 minute toning. I continued to walk, ski and lift which have been part of my regular exercise routine for 3 years. I did increase the size of the muscles in both my upper and lower abdominals, I lost one inch off my waist, but I still have a little pudge on the surface of those muscles I need to get off with more cardio and clean up my diet a bit.

As a tool to develop more tone, yes, I do think it worked. As an effective tool to develop a six pack alone - not so much.

I'm a skeptic by nature, so the Slendertone FlexPro Abdominal Muscle Toner seemed like a 'joke' to me when I received it as part of the Amazon Vine Program. My husband, a guy who works out daily and has for over 30 years, spotted this item and decided he wanted to be my 'guinea pig' for the test drive of this item. For the record he is 'fit' = 165 pounds, 5'10", 32" waist, 10% bodyfat and does abdominal exercises daily. He's also 74 years old.

Despite being fit for any age, he still has 'problem' areas (love handles) he doesn't like and can't seem to get rid of thus the desire to try the belt. I was a bit stunned by his offer, but let him go for it.

The following are his comments from the past 4 weeks of daily use (mid-intensity #3-4, 30 minutes 1x a day). He did not lose weight or change his diet of beer and pizza during this time. He continued his daily 1 hour work-out routine, simply adding time with the belt at the end while he was cooling off before his shower.

Comments made regarding the belt and its use 30 day trial are as follows.

Week 1:
"The belt when turned on feels 'tingly'. If turned up too high, it actually hurts!"
"As much as I work out, I can't imagine this thing is going to do any good."
"The gooey pads (3 of them) seem weird, but if they are covered up with the plastic wrap they came in, the belt doesn't work."
"The pads are expensive... I wonder how long they'll last before I have to buy more?"
"I'm having trouble finding just the right setting."

Week 2:
"I can't tell if it's doing any good or not?"
"It actually hurt when I wore it while I went walking this morning..."

Week 3:
"I don't know... give me a few more days."
"How much are those extra pads anyway?" (About $25 on Amazon for 3 sets of 3.)
"I'm not going to turn it up too much. It seems to work the muscles when I put it in the mid-range."

Week 4:
"I'm not sure if it's the device or not, but my Levi's fresh out of the dryer are fitting better around the waist. All my pants are going on a lot easier and buttoning easily."
"I want to keep using it because damn-it... it seems to work."

Our 'Non-Skeptical' Conclusion:
This belt is a good supplement to further tone already fit abdominal muscles by waking up the muscles in the abdominal area with low-level electrical currents. It's similar to very expensive machines used by physical therapist and should be used as directed for maximum benefits.

Got this through the vine program for review. I am a physician and have experience and am well read on the subject of electrotherapy and also an avid gym rat. I thought this might be fun to try out for free. If you think for even one minute that this device will give you a six pack then you, my friend, are a sucker. Just like every late-night infomercial touting 6-minute abs, ab lounge, ab swing, etc, this device will not trim your midsection, destroy your love handles, obliterate your beer gut or baby fat, or even improve your strength. Let me explain how this works. You can not see your abdominal muscles because there is too much fat on top of them, not because they are not big enough. You can train and hypertrophy your abs all you want, but unless you get your body fat below about 8% you will not see them. As the old adage goes, abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym. However, as opposed to all the other late-night sucker products that actually make you exercise (to varying extents), this is even worse. Similar to TENS units used by physical therapists for rehab, this device simply causes the muscle to contract artificially by passing a small current through the skin and muscle, triggering a depolarization. When you train a certain exercise naturally, you improve the neural connections to those muscles in that range of motion. Therefore, if you don't build and strengthen the neuromuscular connections to the desired muscles and their stabilizers, you do not get strength gains. Hence, this does not even make you stronger in real-world applications, such as, say, doing a sit up. So if it doesn't give you a 6-pack, and it doesn't make you stronger, then does it do anything? Well it may cause you to consume some extra calories. Muscle does have to use energy when it is depolarized and contracts, but that's about it - and a very small amount of calories at that. It's designed for lazy people with poor judgement and too much spare cash. Get on the floor and do some crunches...it's not that hard.

Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) or electromyostimulation, is the elicitation of muscle contraction using electric impulses, and is not a new idea,and has been used by physiotherapists, and medically for many years.
The belt comes in one size, otherwise you will need the extension velcro attachment. I will start by saying that supplying a belt that almost everyone who uses it will need the extension for is a little dumb. If you're trying to work out you should be encouraged, not made to feel huge? I personally get sick of products targeted at people who are already in great shape, but that's another story.
You can use the slender tone on pretty much any muscle group or body area you want, just follow the enclosed instructions, but for the purposes of this review I will talk only about the stomach, as I feel that is why most people will buy it.
The idea here is simple, you strap this thing to your waist and set it's automatic cycle to send pulses to your stomach muscles which will feel like anything from a tickle to a painful contraction.
And be careful! READ THE MANUAL FIRST If you set the device too high initially, it will contract your muscles to the point of causing pain - not a good idea.

What can you expect?
Well if you use this for 30 mins every night for about a week, your tummy will "feel" tighter as the usually dormant muscles have had the equivalent of about 200 sit ups each night, and chances are you may look a little slimmer, and your jeans may fit better.

But, and there's always a but

This is a supplemental device designed to help tone you abs (or any other muscle group you choose to target) and is better than risking injury if you are unable to do sit ups, or regular exercise techniques. But if you sit on the couch all day munching chips, and think you can use this to get "thin" forget it.
The idea is to have a healthy diet and exercise program already in place that works your cardiovascular system to help you stay healthy, and then use this to "tone" instead of doing heavy reps or workouts with weights and gym equipment.
Now, having said all that, lets talk about the product itself. I gave 4 stars because of the excellent build quality, this is not cheap and tacky and looks like it will stand up to a lot of use. Also I like the different settings and multiple programs, and the easy to follow instruction guide. I would have like a second or "spare" belt but that's just me. This is the best device of it's kind I have seen, and early tests are very promising. The included gel pads are good, but will certainly wear out in time, replacements will undoubtedly be pricey. I still used a water based gel between the pads and the bare skin to aid conductivity and prevent "burn". Over the counter stuff works fine by the way, you don't need to order specialist stuff, and it will help increase the life of the pads. It's best to lay on a towel when using it to, believe it or not, you get sweaty!
Overall, highly recommended to help tone flabby areas, NOT the answer to weight loss and fitness on it's own, but helps when used correctly. 4 Stars

When I first received the Slendertone, I was very skeptical of its claims. Clearly, it looked like another quack item from the QVC or Home Shopping Network, with big promises but little results. The people pictured on the front of the box were clearly already muscular to begin with, leaving me highly doubtful of any potential Slendertone device efficacy. Another ShamWow like product.

When I opened the box, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Slendertone came well equipped; it came with its own batteries (big plus! 3 x AAA), 3 electrode-gel pads, a nice little carrying bag, assorted other items, and a pretty solid looking Slendertone. The device itself looks a bit like a girdle with an electronics module and mini-display; the module has a few buttons on the sides to control the programming, and the mini-display is cleverly positioned to facilitate operation. It would've been nice if they included a memory option to have the device recall the last used strength setting, so I wouldn't have to re-program each time upon use.

I do appreciate the independent left/right control settings; that's a thoughtful touch. My abs are better developed on my right hand side, so I can set the workout on my left to be stronger.

A word about my body type before we begin; I'm thin, good shape, but not great shape. I workout and run 3 times a week; my stomach area is thin, and somewhat but not really defined, and after doing many crunches, was open to another tactic for better defining the abdominal area. Note, this probably won't work very well if you have folds of fat covering your abdomen, because obviously you'll have to do some cardio to rid yourself of those extra fat cells.

FIRST WEEK; I set the device on level 25, and used it for 20 minutes at a time. The first time I used it, it felt ticklish, possibly because it was on a low setting. I also used it after eating a meal (bad idea), and felt stomach pains afterwards. So I decided to take a break from using the machine.

SECOND WEEK; I set the device to level 30, and used it after my gym workouts (but before any meals). In all of my gym workouts, I do regular crunches, as well as crunches on medicine balls, and reverse decline crunches. Using the Slendertone was like getting a nice "massage" after a hard workout, further working the abdominal area.

THIRD WEEK; Kept up the same routine of using the Slendertone after my gym workouts, and moved the device to level 35. I think I'm starting to see some better definition around my abs! Could it be the Slendertone, or just my imagination? Hmm, better keep using it.

Slight setback between 3rd and 4th weeks when I decided to splurge and eat at a buffet restaurant.

FOURTH WEEK; After recovering from the buffet restaurant, increased to level 40. During Slendertone usage, I also tensed my stomach area to increase effectiveness.

After 4 weeks of continuous usage, I'd say the Slendertone has helped me to get a better defined stomach area. I wouldn't say it's a perfect six-pack like the Spartans in the movie 300, but it seems to be more effective than just doing crunches on my own. And that, is pretty helpful. 5 stars for actually being effective, and not gimmicky.

Been using this Slendertone for more than 3 years now. Loving it everyday and every week! This product really works. I was skeptical at first before buying this so I did some research on it. I'm glad that I decided to buy and gave it a try. For those people who said this doesn't work isn't true. I'm sorry to say that if you're overweight like I was, you need to put this thing on EVERYDAY and set it for at least 40 mins. That was what I did for half a year. I dropped almost 10 lbs. Amazing! The better thing is that it contracts your muscles in a way that you don't even feel like eating a lot any more. I continued to use this every week after that. Recently, I just gave birth and now I'm back to this thing again. The result is still amazing! People asked me how I dropped weight so fast and achieve a great body shape, I told them "Slendertone" it's the fastest, laziest and most convenient way to lose weight! (haha)