We asked weightlifter and health and fitness blogger Protein Chef to review Slendertone Connect. Here is what she had to say after 6 weeks of toning.
Setting up the belt
Like supplements and superfoods, Slendertone ab belts are an aid to old fashioned hard work. Never one to turn my nose up at anything until I’ve tried it myself, I accepted Slendertone’s offer to try the Connect belt.
The Connect arrived in a nicely packaged box with all the various bits and bobs I needed, including a travel bag to store the belt, which I thought was a nice touch. I’ve got the attention span of a flea, so I didn’t read the booklet that it comes with, but I did follow the quick set-up guide which was indeed just as the name suggests – very quick and painless!
The belt syncs to an app which you download and it begins by asking you about your toning goal and various other personal info. Again, this was quick and in-depth without having to tell it my inside leg measurements and what I ate for dinner 3 weeks ago.
Now I was all set up I decided to try out my first session on a rest day while I made my breakfast – talk about multitasking! I placed the belt on and found that it was quite long. I have a small waist, so I found that the activation pads were stuck further around by body than they should have been. The guys at Slendertone suggested I moved the pads a little, which did help slightly.
If I had any feedback on the belt I would suggest also offering sizes for those of us blessed with dinky waists (don’t be too jealous, all my fat makes its way to my thighs instead).
Toning with the belt
When I was ready to start, I clicked on the easy-to-use app. I started with the intensity low because I’m a complete wimp and I was nervous it might feel like I was being electrocuted. Instead, I felt a dull tinging begin in my upper abs and obliques, which was bizarre to start with but I soon got used to it. Changing the intensity is really easy to do and can be changed at any point during your session.
Each of my toning sessions were 30 minutes, which is just the right amount of time for me as I wouldn’t usually spend any longer than 30 minutes training my abs.
I got used to the sensation after a few sessions and felt that I could increase the intensity every time I used the belt (which was about 3 times per week over a 6-week period). I don’t think I reached my ‘target’ toning intensity and I am still unsure about the sensation, but my abs have certainly become stronger. During my usual abs sessions in the gym, I felt as though my core was stronger and I could add more weight to my weighted abdominal exercises.
The results
Having only used the belt for 6 weeks I can’t say I’ve had an incredible ‘transformation’, but I do feel I benefited from using the Connect belt and I will continue to use it.
As always with abs training: you won’t see any results in the mirror unless your body fat is low enough, but if you neglect your abs training (like I did!) or you’d like something you can do outside the gym, I’d definitely recommend it.
Shop abs belts
You can read the full abs belt review by Heather (a.k.a., Protein Chef) on her amazing blog.
