Body Toners

I've seen a few of these advertised and they can be bought fairly cheaply nowadays. By body toners, I'm referring to those belts you place on your stomach that, supposedly, exercise your muscles. Currently, I get slight back pains when I try sit-ups crunches and the like and a machine like this would eliminate that for me. Most are mainly for abdominals but can also tone arms and legs.

Has anyone got one of these? Does it work? How well?
 
I'm around 10 and one 1/2 stone and about 5 foot 10 and my % body fat is at the level, it should be. I'm currently going cardio to eliminate a little more fat, but I think I'm at the stage where I need to start looking at strengthening and toning my muscles.

Can you give me any advice on whether these machines will be very useful?
 
I am not sure really.. I could go out on a limb and assume that they are not as effective as advertised because if it were easy to get muscles by sitting around, everyone would be jacked.. BUT, I really have done no research on the subject.
 
I actually tried one of those belts at a mall once, felt weird being shocked. If you think about it, it makes sense, the muscle tenses/contracts then relaxes but I don't see it being as effective as the real thing though.

I think that's where the 'no pain no gain' thing comes into play.

(btw what's a stone in pounds?)
 
One stone is equal to 14 pounds making me somewhere between 140 to 150 pounds.

Anyone have any feedback on those ab toners?
 
DON"T DO IT! These things are horrendous and have had several lawsuits against them for burns, shocks and a host of other things. This is a gadget that is marketed well, but realistically does not produce results.

Your absolute best bet would be to follow the 5 tips to fat loss. Save your money and buy a killer recipe book or a session with a personal trainer. Your goals will be better served!

Here are the 5 tips to fat loss in case you haven't seen them:

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.


2) Drink a cup of water at each meal.


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method. If you need more guidance or exercise ideas you can head over


All of the above things combined will result in fat loss.
 
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