ABGymnic 2002 : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Durability	Satisfactory
Comfort	Good
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Its cheap and easy to use
Disadvantages:	Don't expect great things .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Like 99% of the British population, I made a complete pig of myself during the Christmas hols. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate - thinking that come January it would be dead easy to get rid of the extra podge. I know that exercise is good for you, but in my books it’s a rather vulgar swear word. I don’t mind eating rabbit food (as long as I can have the odd chocolate or two), but I just can’t build up the enthusiasm to do any exercise. So having read a couple of reviews on this very site, I thought I would give the AB Gymnic 2002 a try – its incredibly cheap (£6.99 +p&p on eBay) so I had nothing to lose.

What do you get?

It comes in a cardboard box about 5”x8” that has pictures of muscle bound body builders’ bulging abs emblazoned across the front – not getting my hopes up then! ;)

Inside was a black and turquoise-blue neoprene conductive pad which has a control unit on the front. It also comes with 2 different lengths of elastic strapping (one short one for around your legs and arms and one longer one for putting around your waist) which are attached to the pad and can be adjusted to fit with Velcro. I’m not too optimistic about the quality of these and I’m not sure how long they will last before getting baggy. You also get 2 CR2032 batteries (one for use and one for spare) and 100ml of Application Gel which is doesn’t smell of anything and is a strange turquoise-blue colour and a 4 page information leaflet.

What is it supposed to do?

It is described as an electronic-exercise system that is “designed to support body toning, athletic enhancement and body building” – I think that support is the operative word, as in, it won’t get you thin all by itself and you will have to do some exercise too! Shame! The pulses result in muscle contractions that mimic exercise. It is “designed to define sagging muscles”. Well, I’m not sure if its muscle (I very much doubt it) but I have got my fair share of “sagging”.

How does it work?

You slap a liberal amount of the Application Gel or water onto the silver coloured areas on the reverse of the neoprene pad. You then slap the pad onto the area of the body that you want to “work” on, attaching the pad to your body with one of the elasticated straps, making sure that the silver areas are flat against the skin. The elastic strap may slip during use, so you might have to hold the pad in place.

The control unit has three buttons. One for switching on and increasing the impulse strength. One for decreasing the impulse strength and switching off and a mode button which if pressed changes the programme of impulses (you can choose from 6 different programmes with a different variety of impulse lengthens). So all you do is switch on and adjust the control unit until you feel a comfortable pulse. The pulse strength can be increased. The first couple of settings are bearable, but I wouldn’t advise going overboard too quickly because it can get painful. The unit is silent and can be used whilst slobbing in front of the telly or doing your housework (another swear word!) and switches itself off after a 10 minute session so if you do loose track of time you won’t overcook it. You can then restart the unit in the same place or slap it onto another part of your anatomy. It can be used on most parts of the body – waist, tummy, thighs, bum, calves and biceps. The information leaflet warns that you should not use the unit for more than 30 minutes in one day as they don’t know what the effects of long exposure will be.

The contra-indications of use are given (not too noticeably) at the back of the information leaflet. Amongst them include the points that you should not use the unit if you have been diagnosed with epilepsy or any heart problems and you shouldn’t use it during pregnancy or menstruation.

The verdict so far?

I’ve only been using it for a couple of days, so its too early to decide whether it does tone your “sagging muscles”. What I have found is that after use the skin on the area treated is very smooth. I also think that one pad is not enough as you can only do a couple of areas for a short period of time per day. Also, the application gel does get a bit messy and needs to be wiped off after use.

On the whole, I would recommend the curious giving this device a try - it is so much cheaper than any other make. But don’t have any great expectations! And you never know I could be entering Miss Universe in about 6004! Ha!