As an average built guy who has always struggled with his weight, the promise of getting six-pack abs has always eluded me some.
Mind you, this is not me complaining here.
I have to take responsibility for whether or not I’m fully committed to the cause.
Do I work out regularly? Yep.
Eat reasonably well? Uh, huh.
But even with a reasonably healthy overall regimen, the 6-pack abs have never quite found their way to this man’s mid-section.
Though in being honest, I’m probably not 100% committed to it.
If I were, I could easily improve my eating habits, cut out on the alcohol completely, and work out even more than I currently do.
But, I don’t.
So, while the lack of having a more well sculpted midsection troubles me on a regular basis, I also take responsibility for it.
This reader wrote in with a similar situation, and posed some questions about EMS devices, like the Flex Belt:
I was reading your review on slim away belt.
Have you tried those battery operated belts [like the Flex Belt] or something that will give you the elusive 6 pack?
Two years ago I spent all summer trying to get that 6 pack, 5 days a week every week at the gym.
I just can’t loose about 1 centimeter = (0.39 inches) of fat around the waist.
What I found was that my stomach looked bigger the muscle was growing underneath yet the fat wouldn’t leave.
I then tried the “survivor” diet (nothing but rice for a month).
Felt too weak to go work out, but that darn centimeter of fat just won’t leave.
So now I trying to convince myself to give it another go, and in the mean time buy the Spanx for Men Zoned Performance.
So not sure, gym then wear battery muscle contractor until bed?
I have no idea, also don’t know if those battery things even work, do you?
Six-Pack Abs & The Flex Belt
heya tj,
good to hear from you buddy and thanks for your question.
i’m going to bcc one of my colleagues (alpha m) and see if he has any advice for you.
he did a video review on the flex belt (below) a little while ago, and had some interesting things to say:
such as:
1. best time to loose fat is if you work out first thing in the morning — so you might want to try that if you haven’t been working out in the morning
2. most any product like the flex belt (with electronic muscle stimulation, ems) such as slendertone, flex enerviv, and contour ab belt will work your muscles and help tone them, but they won’t get rid of the fat above them. so diet and exercise are the key.
i, like you, have a physique where it’s been incredibly difficult for me to loose my lower belly fat, and some of my love handles.
in being honest with myself, i could probably make a better effort to get rid of those problem areas if i was stricter with my diet and more aggressive with my workout, but that would probably take my life a little too much out of balance for me to be fully committed to it.
coincidentally, i am getting ems at the chiro’s right now (for another area) — so my guess is that they wouldn’t use it if it didn’t help in some medical form.
i tried some early ems units out when i was a kid — when they first came out.
i liked it because it made me feel better mentally about strengthening my abs, but i was a bit of a rollie pollie and had a ton of fat on my stomach — so i could never see the actual results.
while i am not endorsing this idea for anyone else, i’ve personally thought about checking out coolsculpting (freezing fat) to see if a procedure like that could help accelerate loosing fat in my problem areas.
then it would be my responsibility moving forward to ensure it doesn’t come back.
as for wearing a slimming/shaping undershirt in the meantime, i think it’s a good idea if it makes you feel better and more confident in your clothes.
anyway, i’ll see if my buddy aaron over at alpha m has anything more to add — and if he does, i’ll forward it over to you.
Slimming Undershirt Recommendation?
From TJ
Well, thank you very much very informative.
Never heard of coolsculpting — will have to look into it.
I also tried those first stimulating things and I found that it hurt, if it wasn’t on arms or legs.
Everywhere else it just hurt. Needless to say, didn’t use it often.
But thank you very much for the info, I guess it is time to drop $86.00 that will cost $94.60 for a spanx zoned performance shirt.
I don’t remember paying basically a hundred dollars for a shirt.
Crazy.
Other Shaping Undershirt Suggestions:
heya tj,
you should also take a look at equmen — they’re having a clearance sale and are very close to zoned performance from spanx.
you should also check out underworks.com — in my mind, they’re a grand poobah of slimming undershirts for men, since they’ve been doing it the longest
Any Advice for TJ? Tried the Flex Belt or Something Similar?
If so, tell us about in the comments section below.
