*** Updated *** Slendertone Start - the truth is under there. (Slendertone)

Member Name: LegendaryMrDude

Product:	Slendertone
Date:	21/03/02 (32092 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exercise whilst watching TV, Very little effort

Disadvantages: Exercise while watching TV, Costly consumables, Doesn't actually work (unless you already have near-perfect body tone)

=== Update Begins ===

Ok, it's been more than 8 weeks since I started on the Slendertone Plan. So what's the deal? Do I have a rippling six-pack? Has the extra inch of waistline vanished?

Alas no, but my wallet is several pounds lighter thanks to the constant supply of electrode-pads I had to keep buying.

It would seem that the Slendertone is intended for slender people. Hence it's name I suppose you could argue, if you were up in court for breach of the trade-description act. Indeed on a recent visit to boots I actually took the time to read the small print on the back of a slendertone box... If my memory serves me correctly, it said something along the lines of "fat people are less likely to notice results and may require dietary and exercise regimes to change for results to become noticeable".

So there you go. Slendertone will only really work if you already have a figure like the people on the box. In which case you're already doing the sort of thing you need to get a figure like that.

Is it worth it? Only if you like the feeling of having all the muscles in your abdomen contract involuntarily.

=== Update Ends ===

8 hours a day sat behind a desk. 2 Hours a day sat on a train. Maybe an hour a day walking is all I manage on a regular basis and my physique is starting to show it :-(

I needed something to help me along the road to recovery and my girlfriend agreed (but she didn't have to say so!!! Where are my feelings in all of this?). So anyway, she bought me one of the new Slendertone "Start" packs. Oh joy.

We've all seen the adverts, be they on TV or in the window of Boots The Chemist. Perfectly toned man & woman wearing a tight fitting lycra belt around their beautifully tanned waist, smiling as if they don't have a care in the world. This little contraption is supposed to give you a flatter, firmer, better defined stomach in 8 week
s. And all of this without you having to do anything other than change the batteries a few times. You could just as well sit there and watch TV, or type opinions up on your PC, the slendertone is supposed to quietly work away at your muscles without getting in the way of your busy lifestyle. Now I've never believed in gain without pain, so I was more than a little sceptical when the slendertone box was presented to me. Ta-Daaaa...

Sure enough, the box had a picture of a man with a 6-pack that takes more than 10 hours a day sitting down to develop. Hmmmmm. Maybe this could be me in 8 weeks (albeit somewhat paler). My hopes started to raise, just a tiny bit, but raise they did. I opened the box and took out the various bits. I was greeted by a large black belt that looked for all the world like a cummerbund made out of neoprene with velcro fasters at the back. Also in the box was a small white plastic 'gizmo' with an LCD screen which I took to be the 'brains' of the unit, and three pads which were coated both sides with a sticky jelly-like substance.

I unfurled the belt and laid it on the bed. On the front was a patch of velcro with a small electrical plug protruding. It turned out that the white plastic gizmo fitted neatly onto the velcro pad and plugged into the belt. On the back of the belt, the side that would face my skin, were three metal studs that looked like the button-side of a press-stud. Around each of these was a template which was remarkably similar in size to the sticky pads that had come out of the box. No prizes for guessing that the sticky pads were placed over the metal studs then.

So with gizmo attached (with the supplied batteries (3 x AAA) fitted) and sticky pads stuck I was ready to go. Reading the instructions it told me to place the belt so that the large square pad (situated right in the middle of the belt, and directly behind the 'gizmo') was over my belly-button and the two oval shaped
pads (evenly spaced either side of the square pad) over my hip-bones. The belt correctly attached, I powered up the gizmo.

The LCD screen fluttered into life and, reassuringly, told me that I was using the Mens version of the Slendertone. Other then the size of the belt, I have been unable to ascertain the difference between the Mens & Womens versions. My guess is that it's a marketing ploy so that you end up buying a his'n'hers. But back to my powered-up gizmo. As well as the LCD screen, it also has four buttons. A power button, a programme button and what can best be described as two 'volume' buttons, one on both the left and right sides. I left the programme on the default setting (programme 1 for beginners) and followed the instructions. Press the 'up' side of the left-side volume button until you begin to feel a slight tingling sensation. This was the bit that had me worried. Just what did the person who wrote these instructions consider to be 'tingling'???

Cautiously, I pressed the 'up' side of my volume button. The LCD screen showed an arrow to the left and a number started to increase. Starting from 01 it counted up, past 05 without even blinking and on to 09 and what was this? I was feeling a slight tingle in the left-side of my abdomen. In an attempt to keep things balanced, I increased the 'volume' on the right-side to 09 as well. Once they were even, I held down both buttons at the same time, increasing left and right sides simultaneously. Past 15 and well into double figures now, it really was a strange sensation but not unpleasant. Nor was it uncomfortable. Remembering "no pain, no gain", I carried on. Up through the 20s and on to the 30s. 34 and I started to notice a slight cramping sensation in my abdomen. 35 and I let slip an exclamation. 36 and I decided that this was enough for a beginner, so I settled back to wait out my 20 minutes of vigorous exercise.

20
minutes later, and with pins & needles beginning to set in, the slendertone stopped half way through inducing a muscular contraction. The relief was indescribable. And to think that the 'volume' could be turned up to 100, and I'd only had it on 36!!! Tearing apart the velcro fastners at the back of the belt I peeled it off (the sticky pads really do stick). Putting the heavy-duty plastic covers over the pads I folded the belt and put it away ready for it's next visit. The next morning I was surprised to find that I was actually sore around the abdomen, so the ol' six-pack must have been doing something after all.

4 weeks later and I have worked up to the second programme (for 'advanced' users) and increased the volume up to 60. The advanced programme not only lasts longer (30 minutes compared to the beginners 20 minutes), it also changes the way the muscles contract. Contractions tend to be longer and with shorter breaks in between (no special breathing required though, and hold the towels and hot water!). Both programmes take you through a warm-up/exercise/warm-down routine to ensure that you don't do yourself an injury but be warned, if you whack the volume up too high, even the warm-up may be enough to hurt.

Before I get to my verdict, a bit of blurb about the thing. The Slendertone Start is the entry-level device (for want of a better word). It has two programme settings, as mentioned above. There are separate versions for men and women, although when I looked at the womans version in the shop, the only difference I could find was in the size of the belt. It needs 3 AAA batteries, a set of which are supplied and have lasted me about a month, but I imagine the higher you set the volume, the shorter the life of the batteries. The sticky pads are also consumable items. It is recommended that you change the pads after 28 sessions (which coincides nicely with the battery life then). A new set of pads will set you bac
k a tenner. Higher up the range is the Slendertone Flex which has a LOAD more functions, heaps more exercise programmes and costs a whopping £150, still requiring batteries & pads and also available in his'n'hers. Beyond the Flex is the Flex-Max which gives you the same bit of kit as the Flex, but also provides you with internet based diet and exercise advice (for an additional lump of cash).

So let's cut to the chase. Have I got a flatter, firmer, better defined stomach? "Hopefully" is the best answer I can give to that one. Unfortunately, I have yet to shed my 'winter padding' and so there is no visible improvement to my 6-pack. But I can feel that it has got much better definition, underneath. Honest. When I am back to my svelte summer-self the world will be amazed (fingers crossed). But the thing to note is that the Slendertone, despite having the word "slender" in it's title is NOT something that will has helped me get thinner. Oh no. If anything, I would say that it is less efficient the more 'insulation' you have. Perhaps slendertone means that it's only for toning slender people? Never-the-less, I shall carry on using it. If only to see if I can ever survive turning the thing up to 100. I shall update this op when the summer comes and let you know how I get on at the beach ;)

Summary: