Slendertone Flex

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I bought my Slendertone Flex after reading about it in a women’s magazine. A woman in the magazine had tested it by wearing it under her clothes during her lunchbreak at work and no-one had even noticed she was wearing it. The tester was convinced that continuous use over a number of weeks had made a difference to her tummy. The cost was about the same as the ‘Bodi-Tek’ (about £100) so I bought one in my local Boots using vouchers I had obtained ...
...is except for the words Slendertone on the handle in quite small letters.

With the Unit on, the batteries in and the Pads fitted, all that remains for you to do is to peel off the covers from the adhesive Pads (I told you they were double sided, one side fits to the belt, the other side sticks to you!), put the Belt on using the velcro fasteners, switch on the Unit and away you go!! One word of advice, don’t throw away the plastic ... more

I am a great believer in electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) products after having discovered that Bruce Lee used them in the 1970s as part of his fitness program. I have used various products including the well known ‘Bodi-Tek’ but basically they all annoyed me because of all the pads and cables and the fact that it was fiddly to use. For example on the Bodi-Tek you had to wet all the pads before use and then leave them all somewhere to dry afterwards. And if anyone knocked on the door whilst you were using it you were placed in a rather embarrassing position!! So not something which would incline you to use it regularly.

I bought my Slendertone Flex after reading about it in a women’s magazine. A woman in the magazine had tested it by wearing it under her clothes during her lunchbreak at work and no-one had even noticed she was wearing it. The tester was convinced that continuous use over a number of weeks had made a difference to her tummy. The cost was about the same as the ‘Bodi-Tek’ (about £100) so I bought one in my local Boots using vouchers I had obtained as part of a credit card promotion. The Belts come in 2 varieties, one for men and one for women, to allow for biological differences in muscle type I suppose. They stick to your tummy using adhesive pads, so I hope the ones for men aren’t quite so sticky. My husband has a very hairy tummy, so I guess if he used one it might be quite painful!!

Ok, so what do you get for your money? Well firstly there’s the Flex Belt, which is black and green and made of a stretchy Lycra type material with velcro strips at the back to keep it in place. The men’s belt is blue. On the front of the Belt you then have fit the Flex Unit, which is a small plastic semi-circular display unit into which you put the batteries (which are included). Once you’ve fitted the Unit for the first time it stays on the Belt forever, you don’t have to keep taking it off and putting it back on each time you use it, even when you change the batteries. The Unit sends out the electrical impulses to the pads and also features a liquid crystal (LCD) display with information about the type and intensity of the exercise program you’re using. More of that later.

Next come 3 adhesive Pads which you have to fit to the belt. They are adhesive both sides and you peel off the label on one side (they tell you which side in the instructions) and attach them to the inside of the Belt at the places indicated by special markings on the inside of the Belt. There are 3 positions for placing the pads depending on how large you are, you can adjust the position of the pads as you begin to tone up. The Pads then remain on the Belt until they have to be changed. There are 3 Pads, one large one which goes over the front of your tummy and 2 smaller ones which go at the side of your waist where your ‘saddle bags’ are (on me, anyway!!). Because the Pads are already attached to the Belt when you put it on, they automatically come to rest at the right place, so no fiddling around!!

There is also a black Travel Pouch which I normally wouldn’t use except that it is very useful for keeping the Belt clean and out of reach of my toddler. Also it’s very useful if you take the Belt to work with you as the lady in the magazine I read did (and I have started doing this now). The Belt fits into the bag quite easily (it folds well even with the Unit and Pads on) and it really isn’t obvious what it is except for the words Slendertone on the handle in quite small letters.

With the Unit on, the batteries in and the Pads fitted, all that remains for you to do is to peel off the covers from the adhesive Pads (I told you they were double sided, one side fits to the belt, the other side sticks to you!), put the Belt on using the velcro fasteners, switch on the Unit and away you go!! One word of advice, don’t throw away the plastic covers for the Pads because you will need to replace them when you have finished your routine. The Pads stick to you but peel away quite easily when you take the Belt off (your body heat helps) and then you just replace the plastic covers on the Pads, switch the Unit off and put it back in the bag. The Unit will even switch itself off after a few minutes if you forget to do this!! So that’s all you do. No cleaning or maintenance or anything.

If you were wondering how it all works, there are tiny cables which run through the inside of the belt and they all run into a pin which connects to the back of the Flex Unit. The other end of the cables connect to little metal buttons which sit behind the Pads, and the Pads have little metal bits running through the back of them on the side that fits to the Belt. So there you have a conduit for the electrical impulses to travel along. Don’t worry, there is little danger of electrocution from a battery powered insulated belt running on 3 small batteries. The electrical impulses are tiny when compared to what would be needed to run most household appliances, for example.

One thing people often ask me when I tell them about the belt is how often the Pads need to be changed. Usually its about every month or so. The booklet that comes with the Belt recommends changing the Pads after very 30-40 sessions, but you will know yourself because over time the Pads become covered in skin debris and become less effective, so you will find occasions where the Belt starts ‘beeping’ for a bit when you first put it on, because the contacts on the Pads are not so good. Replacement Pads are available for about £10 a pair from Boots and also from the Slendertone web site. This will be your main expense really, apart from the batteries, but it’s cheaper than gym membership.

Tips for getting cheap pads. Sometimes the Slendertone web site does ‘2 for 1’ offers on Pads or discounts if you buy several spare packs at a time. Also you can use you ‘Advantage Card’ points at Boots to exchange for Pads if you have one. Sometimes you will find a survey in your product pack. Often if you take the time to fill it in you’ll find the incentive will be a packet of free Pads.

The batteries need to be changed less often and I buy mine in bulk from 7dayshop.com to reduce the outlay. There’s a battery level indicator on the Unit and I would recommend changing when it moves from 3 bars to 1. Also the Unit will beep to tell you when battery power is low. The Unit takes 3 ‘AAA’ size (not the pencil size, but smaller).

A bit more about the LCD display on the Unit and what it tells you. When you first switch it on you get a little smiley face which is nice. Then there are 4 exercise programs from 1 to 4 and you automatically start on 1 which is 20 minutes and then the Belt moves you on from there to the more advanced programs which last 30 minutes or so. If you look in the top right hand corner it displays a number to tell you what program you’re on. The Belt basically knows how many times you’ve used it and if you read the instruction booklet it tells you how to call up this information if you need it which might be useful if you’re wondering how long until you need to change the Pads etc. The display also shows you how much time is left on your session (it counts down) what level of intensity you are using on each side, and other such helpful items. There are two buttons on the Unit which you can use to adjust the intensity of the electrical pulses on each side of the Belt. I don’t know how high they go but I’ve gone up as far as 75 which is pretty intensive, you won’t be doing this when you first use it. I would suggest that you adjust for comfort initially, especially if you have never used an electronic muscle stimulation system before. It feels a bit funny at first but its not really a painful feeling, it’s just weird to feel your muscles contracting and relaxing without you actually doing any exercise!! So doing the equivalent of 200 sit-ups a day is not all that difficult even though most of us would probably struggle to do a fraction of that in reality!!

The real beauty of this belt is that you can do ANYTHING whilst wearing it. Take care of kids, watch TV, answer the front door (it fits under loose trousers no problem) and most times people won’t even notice you are wearing it. It’s the mobility factor which makes this product unique from its earlier ‘pads and cables’ predecessors.

Does it work? Well. I have to tell you that a few weeks after buying this product I fell pregnant and had to stop using it!! However, once you have given birth and had your six week check-up you can use it again (if you have had a Caesarean I would wait longer, take your Doctor’s advice on this, it depends how well your scar heals). I now use the Belt once a day as part of a program which includes healthy eating, walking and swimming. I would say that it does make a difference to tummy sag, whether or not due to childbirth or not. You will feel more toned and whilst it won’t help you lose weight if used on its own, it will help to pull in your tummy muscles and make you look and fit your clothes a bit better. The booklet recommends that you use it once every day for 4-8 weeks to see results, and then use it 2-3 times a week after that to maintain the results.

A few tips here. Don’t share your Belt with others. Its an individual device, so your friends really need to buy their own. Quite apart from the hygiene considerations, the Belt remembers how often you used it and what intensity you used it at and if someone else uses it and you’ve already moved to a more advanced program then they could end up with a session which is longer than recommended for first time users.

Secondly, don’t get wet whilst using the Belt. Obvious really, but I thought I would mention it. I said you could take care of kids whilst wearing it, but that doesn’t include bathtime. Really.

Thirdly. DON’T use the belt if you are or think you might be pregnant.

Fourthly. If you use it more than once a day, leave at least 6 hours between sessions to allow your muscles to recover.

And lastly – READ the instructions before you use it. It’s not a difficult product to use, but you’ll derive the maximum benefit if you know what you’re doing beforehand.

Happy toning…….and whilst I still have your attention I’d like you to know I actually wore my Belt whilst writing this, just to prove you can ANYTHING whilst wearing it!!

 

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