more on electronic ab belts ...
Can these machines really help you get a perfect body without a lot of sweat and strain?
The makers of devices such as AB Energizer, Fast Abs and Ab Tronic say yes and insist there is scientific evidence to prove it. Many researchers say no and insist you won't look like the models in the advertisements unless you really work at it. And in the middle are consumers who are snapping up the devices by the millions, hoping to get the results they see advertised on television.
Now there is a fourth party involved: the Food and Drug Administration, which has sent letters to 13 companies saying these products are medical devices that needed the government's OK before they went on the market. Only one, Slendertone Flex, has received approval so far.
Dan Schultz of the FDA's Office of Device Evaluation says the government has concerns about "the way the devices are designed, the way the electrodes are configured and the labeling of the devices — all of which we think contributes to a safe product or an unsafe product."
"Clearly these are medical devices," says Harold Pellerite in the FDA's Office of Compliance. The next step is another letter from the agency. If the companies don't comply, the FDA could then take regulatory action, such as seizing the devices at stores or warehouses, getting a court order to stop the firms from distributing the products or imposing fines, he says.
Tom Nelson, president of the company that makes the AB Energizer, says his product is not a medical device, but rather an exercise device that is legal.
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission won't say whether it's investigating the advertising of these products. But Walter Gross, a senior FTC attorney, says, "Anything that makes specific claims that you will lose weight or change your body configuration needs to be substantiated by scientific evidence."
A shock to the system
All this hoopla is centered on a battery-operated device that can be worn around the stomach, buttocks, thighs or other areas of the body. The theory is that the device strengthens and tones a targeted trouble spot by causing the muscles to contract with electrical impulses.
How much of an improvement you get in strength depends on how long you use the AB Energizer and how high you set the current, says Michael Skyhar, an orthopedic surgeon in San Diego and a spokesman for the product.
People who wear the AB Energizer properly for 10 to 15 minutes may get the equivalent of 600 to 700 muscle contractions (which is not the same as doing 600 sit-ups), according to Electronic Products Distribution, the product's maker.
The AB Energizer commercial suggests that the product promotes weight loss. The device comes with a low-calorie diet plan and is part of an entire system, the maker says.
No device alone will make you look like the people in the commercials, Skyhar says. "In order to look like the models, you have a combination of genetics, very low body fat, a vigorous exercise program, proper diet and a good lifestyle."
The makers of these devices base their products' claims for strengthening muscles on research done on electrical muscle stimulation, or EMS.
EMS has been used for years by physical therapists and athletic trainers as a means of rehabilitating muscles after injury or surgery. That work is mostly done in clinical settings using machines that plug into wall outlets.
Anthony Delitto, chairman of the department of physical therapy at the University of Pittsburgh, has researched EMS and is skeptical of the benefits of the battery-operated devices on the market.
He says the commercials for the products are misleading. The idea that people could sit around with these stimulators on to get those kind of bodies is "absolute nonsense," Delitto says.
But he does believe the equipment used by health professionals can make a difference. In one study using such equipment, Delitto found that EMS increased muscle function in people after knee surgery. "We showed it made a difference in how well people walked immediately afterward and up to a year later," he says.
Delitto says many people "have an aversion" to electrical stimulation, so medical professionals in clinical settings work through patients' angst.
When he recently tested three different battery-operated products, only one (Ab Tronic) came close to producing a muscle contraction that was high enough to be considered in the muscle-strengthening range, he says. "With the other two (Fast Abs and AB Energizer), we couldn't get the current high enough to experience much of a muscle contraction."
But Nelson with AB Energizer disputes those results. He says his product provides "more than enough power to give you a really good workout, and you can see your muscle contractions." The company has sold almost 2 million AB Energizers (suggested retail: $59.95) since the product went on the market in October. Nelson says the product is safe and effective.
Studies are inconclusive
Others have studied the use of this kind of product to strengthen muscles. John Porcari and colleagues in the department of exercise and sports science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse recruited 29 college-age adults and divided them into two groups.
One group received the electrical muscle stimulation three times a week for eight weeks. Adults in the other group thought they were getting the treatment, but the wires were altered and didn't deliver current. The type of EMS used for the study involved patches, not belts. Biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings and abdominals were among muscles targeted.
The participants' weight, body-fat percentage and strength were measured before and after the eight weeks. Photographs of each subject were taken from the front, side and back to determine whether they looked different after the stimulation.
Those who actually had the EMS treatments didn't show improvements in their strength, body-fat percentage or weight. And they were not judged to look any different after the study.
Porcari says that although he didn't specifically test the abdominal belt machines on the market, the technology is basically the same, and the results would probably be similar. His study has been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Some participants in his study found EMS painful. To achieve the stimulus necessary to get benefits, the intensity has to be increased to a level higher than most people can tolerate, Porcari says.
"If you have ever had a muscle cramp in your calf, that's what it feels like."
Skyhar says he uses the AB Energizer for 10 to 20 minutes a day, and it doesn't feel painful to him, but he says other people may find it uncomfortable
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I've never been an exerciser but I think I can manage the 30 crunches... and hopefully when my energy levels rise from the diet, i'll be able to do more.
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