Slendertone belt - End of the review.

Howdy y'all.
Long time no type.

I know I haven't blogged for aaaages but that is because I had nowt to write about. Well, that and I am just to damn lazy.

Anyway, to the point of this particular bloggy-woggy-woo - the Slendertone trial.

For anyone reading this tripe for the first time, I was approached by Slendertone to do a 28 day trial and review of their latest ab belt whilst I was taking part in the Janathon. Thanks again Janathon, if t'weren't for thee, I would never have been given one of these.

Right then, you want the short answer - THE SLENDERTONE X70 AB'S BELT WORKS!

I was as surprised as you, although I probably shouldn't have been from reading other reviews, but how often do read reviews of exercise equipment that praise it to the high heavens and you think "yeah right, what ever"? All the time I reckon.
Some of the claims made about this particular product are absolute toilet. One said (roughly), a half hour session on the Slendertone belt feels like you've done 100 sit ups. Well, it really doesn't, I tried to do 100 sit ups the other night, I got as far as 81 and had to stop, I am still very tight and sore!
However, the belt, as I said, does work. It may not be as effective as your actual exercises but it does do the trick albeit slowly, but, as long as you follow a proper routine you will see an improvement. I will post a picture or 2 on this page later on to prove it. Although I didn't measure my waist at the start of the trail, I was, I'm pretty sure just under a 35 inch waist, my work trousers fitted quite nicely. Now however, there is definite space around the waist band. I measured, just to be sure. With a thin t-shirt and normal white shirt over that, the measuring tape 34 1/4 inches. I have also been assured by wifey that there is much finer definition in my abs.
I do have to add also, that my diet was perhaps not as healthy as when I was taking part in the Janathon, so perhaps the results may not have been as good as they could have.

Before

 Before (profile)

 After

 After (Profile)

 

 

The advantage of the belt over traditional sit ups or crunches is that it takes up hardly any space. The only faff is having put the thing on in the first place, although this does only take a minute, where as you can just flump on the floor and get on with your sit ups.

The unit is quite expensive at around £140, and you will have to replace the conductive pads every 6-8 weeks (depending on the usage#).
The battery and ease of use of the belt though are excellent. From the initial charge of around 5 hours, I have still not needed to re-charge it. I have tried, but it will not let me! I don't know why, it just won't. You are supposed to wait until the little battery icon flashes, and it still hasn't. Wifey is using it now and while she may not have it turned up as high as I did, it is still going happily.
I would say that you can easily forget you're wearing the belt if that were true. If you have it on low, you may do, but once you get around the half-power mark there is no way you can. And don't try reading to your kids if you're wearing it at full power! Try it, you'll see what I mean.
I have tried at least 2 of the previous Slendertone abs products, and this is by far and away THE best one, there is no faffing around with gel, crappy little barely-conductive pads, wires, straps, switches and plugs. You basically just get your belly out, take the protective plastic sheets off the pads, strap the whole thing around your waist, plug in the little power unit, turn it on and turn it up. That is it, really very easy indeed.

Should I buy one or not?

If you don't like or physically can't do sit ups or crunches, or you're just to lazy and have £140 to spend, then yes, a great big definitely. BUT, do not expect massive results over night, using nothing but the Slendertone X70 will improve your abs, but it takes time, and then only if you eat healthily and follow a strict regime#. If you can't do either of these, then honestly, don't waste your money. If you really must get one, don't let my ramblings stop you, go for it and good luck to you.
But if like most people, you're a bit skint but still want to work your abs, there really is nothing like hard work and doing proper sit ups.

Overall I will give the Slendertone X70 9 out of 10. It is an excellent product, it does what it is supposed to do and it very is easy to use. The only reason it is not a 10 is simply the cost of the thing. If it could come down to below £100, it would get tops.

(# = 6 workouts per week - 5 workout days, 2 rest days. 1 of the 5 workout days included a double workout)

I would just like to say a quick thank you to Ryan at the MSL Group for asking me to take part in this and for sending me the Slendertone belt. Thank you matey.
Also, again I would like to thank Cathy for setting up the Janathon in the first place. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have got this funky freebie.

Cheers all.

Stu - PPP

The Slendertone test, mid-point.

I'm back again.

Not much exciting going on in my world. Foot still rubbish, slight chance of not being able to complete Reading half because of said rubbish hoof and I lost my first TT match of 2011 the other night, still a record of 8 ot of 9 though so far this year which I'm quite happy with.
Wifey is still going with her 10k training which is also kewl, although she found it tough going on Sat morning because of the wind and general horridness of the weather.

Anyway, to the point. The Slendertone review.

It's been 2 weeks now since I started this trial, well pretty much anyway, Monday is my second rest day of the program, which, by the way, follows thusly:
Tues, Wed - workout, Thurs - rest, Fri, Sat - workout, Sun - double workout, Mon - rest.

For anyone who has used the Slendertone products before, this is by far and away the best they have come up with. The pads are supremely conductive and water-based so there is no need for sticky messy gel as with previous products, and you don't (shouldn't) need to keep adjusting the belt position. The pads are damn cold when you put the belt on though so be prepared for that.
As I'm still only on level 4, I have no idea of the pattern of the workout. At the moment it is roughly 6 seconds of "pulse" folowed by 6 seconds of rest for 30 mins. When you start ramping up the intensity it takes a little longer to get used to it each time, but only around 4 or 5 pulses.
If you've never used a Slendertone system before, wait another couple of weeks until I've finished this little review to decide whether to get one or not. But at the moment, I'm around 60-40 on the "yes, go for it" side.

If you do decide to get one however, be warned, using the belt is very addictive. It is massively tempting to hit the go button again when your workout has finished. I decided to do a double workout on a Sunday because of this very reason, although I do one in the morning and one in the early evening.
I do have to big up the battery in the unit though, I used it for 10 sessions before recharging it, and it still had some juice left in it. That is roughly 5 hours. I wish my iphone battery was that good.
The control unit (which includes the battery) by the way is about two 2/3 the size of a computer mouse and 1.5-2cm thick.

As for results, it's hard to tell at the moment, my trousers don't fall down yet so I don't think my waistline has gone down at all, but I do think there is more definition to my abs, but that might just me thinking there is. I will take some more pics in 2 weeks time for the grand reveal.

See you then.

PPP