Dealing with an expanding midsection is a daunting task for men and women alike. Many fitness equipment companies know this and try to capitalize on the struggles of millions with devices like the ab belt, which stimulates your abdominal wall with mild electrical shocks. These companies claim that this stimulation helps to tone and reshape your midsection without need of a single crunch or sit-up.
False Weight Loss Claims
No matter how long you use an ab belt to stimulate your midsection, you will not lose any belly fat or trim your waist. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that electronic muscle stimulators, or EMS, can provide you with a temporary increase in abdominal strength, but have no effect on the amount of fat on your belly. These types of exercise devices strengthen your muscles through repetitive contractions, but do not have the significant calorie burning properties necessary for weight loss.
Avoiding the Hype
Companies market EMS ab belts by making tremendous claims and showing fitness models wearing their products. However, weight-loss claims from these companies have been proven false, and the Federal Trade Commission even pressed charges against three top ab belt companies in 2002 for making unsubstantiated claims about their products. When it came to weight loss, many of these companies would suggest the ab belt caused significant weight loss for users when the person would actually be on a diet or exercise program during their time using the ab belt.
Strengthening Results
A 2005 study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine found that 54 percent of test subjects using EMS for their abdominal muscles felt their posture had improved and their abdominals were more toned. University of Wisconsin researchers studied 24 subjects using ab belts over an eight-week period. At the end of the study, patients stimulated with the ab belt showed a 58 percent increase in abdominal strength, but did not have any significant changes in body mass index, weight or skinfold thickness.
Targeted Weight Loss
Unfortunately, it is not physically possible to lose fat only from a concentrated part of your body like your abdominals. The Harvard Medical School reports that spot exercising, like that achieved with an ab belt, will tighten your muscles, but will not result in weight loss. If you want to lose fat and reveal your six-pack, you will have to engage in a comprehensive diet and exercise program. By creating a daily caloric deficit through these modalities, your body will begin to consume stored fat as energy and your belly will shrink.
References
- University of Central Arkansas: Ab-erration or Ab-solute Workout?; Nanci Hellmich; March 2002
- "Journal of Sports Science and Medicine"; The Effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on Abdominal Strength, Endurance and Selected Anthropometric Measures; John P. Porcari et. al.; March 2005
- Federal Trade Commission: FTC Charges Three Top-selling Electronic Abdominal Exercise Belts with Making False Claims
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Electronic Muscle Stimulators
- Harvard Medical School: Abdominal Fat and What to Do about It
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