slendetone?

JBoyle4eva

Ok, I just wanna know some facts on slendertone.
What are the toning systems like? Are they any good? Would you reccomend any of slendertones products?

Also, is the Upper Body Strength Trainer good? I'm thinking of buying it. (By the way, I'm male)

monkeyman

Absolute Rubbish.

Go for a run and some sit-ups and don't waste your money. I'll be in the hot-press after 2 weeks.

trotter_inc

monkeyman wrote:

Absolute Rubbish.

Go for a run and some sit-ups and don't waste your money. I'll be in the hot-press after 2 weeks.

Was just what I was going to say

Dont bother with those gimmics - get yourself out jogging, stop eating rubbish and the pounds will fall off you - seriously! If you want to tone up get yourself to the gym, even once a week would do if you're getting enough jogging/exercise in.

If you're not used to jogging just start off easy and build yourself up - you'll love it once you get used to it!

Boru.

Hi JBoyle4eva,

For my two cents I don't particularly like Slendertone or similar products and I'll go through the reasons why in a moment. Before that however I'd like to explain a little bit about the background and history of the product and how it actually works.

Originally products like the Slendertone were developed to aid in the maintanence of musscle tissue and prevent atrophy due to lack of use as in cases of paralysis, paraplegia etc. In fact the late Christopher Reeve had trousers that had the same funion as a slendertone and stimulated the muscles of his legs..he gave a fascinating talk on this and other technologies used to aid people with disability in front of Congress.

Canny marketing people realsied that many people may prefer this to doing repetive and boring exercises and as such created models for home use, Slendertone and Body-Tek being the most famous.

The product works on a simple principal, muscles contract in response to electrical stimulus, the medium of communication in the body.Thus with a small yet directed electrical pulse the slendertone belt, pads etc cause the muscles to relax and contract in rapid succession without any voluntary effort. This is important as it is the point of my primary objection to such products.

Does the slendertone work? Yes. To an extent. Muscle contraction to a sufficent extent coupled with a proper diet will lead to increase in toned muscle. The Slendertone comes with the ability to progress by giving you stronger impulses and a variety of time spans thus giving you a variety of workouts. Will the results be visable is an entirely different matter. The science is sound however.

So why do I object to a device that will workout your body for you?

My first point of concern is that such a product is counterproductive. The slendertone causes your muscles to tense in response to an electrical stimuls. An electrical stimulus that is not your bodies own! Your body transmits on a specific frequency to you and your muscles respond. Using a slendertone encourages your muscles to respond to a different freuquency. Essentially you train and develop your muscles not to respond to your own nerve stimulus!

The long term effects on muscle and skin tissue had not been conducted as this is a relatively new technology and therefore the extent of damage can not be predicte and determined. Although you may look slighty better you are making yourself weaker! (To what extent though?)

As such in a situation where you are required to use your muscles you will find yourself lacking and predisposed to injury. This is further compounded by my second point.

A Slendertone only works the specific muscles on the surface of the body. I'm going to take the abdominals my example to illustrate the problem witht his. A standard slendertone will work the rectus abdominus (6 pack) and the obliques (love handles). If you develop those muscles you will get a six pack however you will not be healthy! What you will get is a muscular belly! (If you've ever seen John Travolta in the General's Daughter or a E.Honda from Street fighter you'll get the idea).

In order to get the flat toned stomach, so desired in today's society you need to work the depper muscles underneath in particular the transverse abdonomis. The slendertone does not do this, and as such is not providing a strong foundation for the increased muscle tissue of the rectus. This is just one form of muscle balance that the Slendetone promotes.

Another is that the primary focus of such a product is to develop the "mirror muscles", those on the front that look good. As such the muscles of the rear are rarely worked and as such lead to muscular imbalance in the body. The shoulders round and come forward, the elbows bend up ward, and the abs pull the spine out of alignment, resulting in a muscle bound, ape-like apperance. (Worse case senario). Either way you will develop reduced range of movement and an increased risk of injury.

The final point I wish to raise, although there are many more, is that of the chest stimulators. Asaide form not balancing the muscles with back exercises, a more pressing worry concerns me. The heart, a muscle also work on the basis of electrical impluse. The electical impulse controling the hearbeat is called the synarthrodial rhythm, or pacemaker. A direct electrical impulse over the heart can have fatal consequences. Now I doubt that a Slendertone has the power to do that but it could contribute to irregular heart beats and other cardio conditions.

In summary the pros are

1. Minor increased tone.
2. Effortless

and the Cons

1. Weakens muscle and nervous system
2. Does not work all muscles needed
3. Promotes muscular imbalance, reduced range of motion and injury.
4. Electrocutes you.
5. Expensive.
6. Undermines mental strength.

A final note, shorcuts always lead to dead ends. On the other hand Bruce Lee used one.

I hope this has helped. Should you have anymore questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Seraphina

plus at the end of the day, something like slendertone does not help you lose weight. you need to get your heart pumping through running or cycling or whatever you chose to do to effectively burn fat.

OfflerCrocGod

Boru. wrote:

On the other hand Bruce Lee used one.

He used a Slendertone? Well I would have never imagined. From what you've just posted Boru you've put me off them for life! Not that I was consdiering getting one....but still in the very unlikely situation where I may have, I won't now

Quigs Snr

I have a BodyTek. I am into my sports in a big way specifically endurance sports. For many years I was a competitive rower, injury ended that. But I got my BodyTek for the sole purpose of working muscles on the leg whilst injured. I had suffered a recurrence of a knee proble which put me out for months. I couldn't do any weight bearing training at all on the leg so out of desperation (I had long term objectives for several months down the line), I decided to try the bodytek to try to minimise the amount of muscle loss in the leg. It was handy because I didn't put any weight on it and thus there was no pain.

Did it work ? Honestly I don't know. I do know that my legs were almost as strong when I came back as they were when I got injured. There was some loss of power (about 20%), but that came back quickly. Overall I'd like to think that it helped me and was thus worth the rather large sum of money paid for it. Either way, I won the races I had trained to win so it was mission accomplished. I don't know if the bodytek made a difference, but it didn't impede me.

If you are curious, I might sell my one for a song ! Or trade it for something small. I am getting on a bit now and if I get injured these days, I just sit it out !

Boru.

Hi,

Well, Bruce Lee didn't have a Slendertone, it's a relatively new company, but he had the same technology. One of the fascinating things about the man was his desire to test everything. He kept cutouts from all the papers, magazine's and comic books on all the latest fitness fads, the latest gimmicks and products. He also spent a fortune buying them all and testing them, recording the results, keeping what worked and discarding that which didn't. Mostly he lifted weights.

Glowing

The slendertone for me is just a lazy mans method of excercise. And what you're doing is loosing out on the best benefits that you can get from spending a few sessions in the gym every week/running etc.

Okay, you might feel a bit firmer in the stomach area, but you're still going to be unfit. You're not going to benefit from increased energy, better sleep, lower stress levels, better self esteem etc..

Go join a gym, or take up a sport - you'll feel and look miles better in the end.

Blisterman

I tried one. Not for long enough to get results, but after a while it really hurts your back.