"You quickly shape up by doing nothing at all!" That's one of the milder pitches for the electronic abdominal muscle stimulation belts with names like Fast Abs, Ab Tronic and Ab Energizer. No doubt you've seen them advertised like crazy on TV -- the eye-popping infomercials feature the contraptions strapped to sexy models with ridiculously chiseled midsections.

According to the ads, these devices send electrical impulses to your muscles, causing them to expand and contract repetitively, as they would in a normal workout. "No crunches," the ads trumpet. "No sweat."

Sadly, no dice. While electronic stimulation machines have some legitimate uses (physical therapists use similar devices to ease muscle spasms), flattening and toning your midsection is not among them. While it's true that these gadgets do make abdominal muscles contract, in order for your muscles to grow stronger and firmer, they also need to work against a force, such as a weight, a rubber band or gravity. That's why exercises like crunches are so effective.

Even though these products aren't de-flabbing our abs, we're still buying them at $40 to $120 a pop -- in fact, Americans are spending $100 million dollars on them each year. These products have become such a popular infomercial item that the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization known as "America's Workout Watchdog," commissioned the University of Wisconsin to test one model. After eight weeks, the subjects who underwent electrical stimulation three times a week on several muscle groups experienced no changes in weight, body-fat percentage or strength. What's more, they reported that using the gizmo was painful and time-consuming. Each session took about 45 minutes, even after weeks of practice. Hmmm, isn't that about the same amount of time it would have taken to do an effective workout?



The outrageous promises of "washboard abs at the touch of a button" have finally caught the eye of the government as well. In a move they've dubbed "Project Absurd," Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officials recently announced that they have sued the marketers of three popular abdominal belts for advertising "false and misleading" claims. Although the FTC did no studies of their own, they say none are needed -- they maintain that it's well documented that electrical stimulation devices don't change the size or shape of the muscle or burn fat. Some brands have already been removed from the market.

So for now, it looks like you still have to put a little muscle into your abdominal workouts. Two to three days a week of focused abdominal training coupled with plenty of calorie burning aerobic exercise and a careful eating plan is the best route to a flatter, tighter, stronger middle. Check out my No Crunch Ab Workout. It's not only effective, it's free.