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How many times do we need to repackage the Abtronic before we realize that it really doesn’t do what it promises?
No effort, but still a six-pack?
It’s back again! Or actually, it never really left. The device that’s supposed to give you a beautiful six-pack without any effort, just like the models wearing it in the commercials. For convenience and recognition, let’s call it the Abtronic, even though it’s a cheaper imitation that I see a lot nowadays in Facebook ads. Every time with seemingly the same positive reactions, while the expected critical responses are missing.
But Dutch fitness fans have become a bit wiser over the last 20 years, I hope. I assume that any potentially critical responses are being deleted. After all, it would be a waste to invest a lot of money in a campaign only to be told you’re selling 70-year-old nonsense.
Electrostimulation: Old idea in a new package
Everything comes back into fashion, even nonsense. Lately, I’ve been seeing ads online for a device that’s supposed to easily sculpt a six-pack. Judging by the comments (which aren’t being removed), there’s a whole generation too young to remember the Abtronic.
But even the Abtronic from 2001 was a continuation of an idea that had been marketed half a century earlier. Electrostimulation as a way to burn (local) fat and strengthen muscles is actually an old idea. In the late 1940s, the
Relax-A-Cizor was introduced. Some may know this device from the TV series
Mad Men, but it actually existed.
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was not the only famous athlete to use electrodes on his body. Muhammad Ali was also photographed with such a device in the early 1960s.
The notorious Abtronic
In the 1990s, the Abtronic was one of the most popular fitness items sold mainly through TV shops. The device itself had been developed. No more loose cords and electrodes, no large control panel with buttons. Instead, a compact band with all the electronics integrated into it.
The sales process, however, followed the same principle as 40 years earlier, and it’s still the same recipe today. You invite a few people who live fitness as a lifestyle and have them demonstrate a device that supposedly is the reason for their great figure.
I was not susceptible to the idea behind those models. I was about 18 years old and had always had a six-pack. I was more fascinated by the principle of increasing muscle strength without training. Not that I was lazy; I played two sports and did a lot of strength training. But what if I could train my abs when I wasn’t exercising?
So around 2001, I bought one of those Abtronics and used it for about a month until I got pains in my balls. I conveniently attributed those to the fact that I was sending the necessary volts through my lower abdomen. I had no idea if that was justified; back then, I wasn’t so much into science-based approaches. However, the pains disappeared, and the Abtronic disappeared somewhere at the bottom of a closet.
From paralysis to nonsense?
I think only a few King’s or Queen’s Days have passed without seeing old Abtronics lying among the offered junk. As mentioned, there’s now a whole generation that has never heard of the Abtronic. A completely new audience to whom you can sell the old nonsense.
Another difference was that the old
Relax-A-Cizor was downright dangerous. Unfortunately, the device was sold for over twenty years before the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged owners to destroy it in 1971. Numerous complaints had been received, including paralysis, heart arrhythmias, miscarriages, and ruptured blood vessels. The following is just one of the 37 concerns/complaints mentioned in a lawsuit against the sellers in 1970, which prompted the FDA action [1].
Portions of malignant tumors may flake off and enter the lymphatic system or bloodstream due to the trauma which Relaxacizor produces. Cancer cells that are otherwise dormant may be activated and spread by the sudden, violent, rapid, repetitive, and unnatural movements of internal organs and skin surfaces caused by the Relaxacizor. There are 1200 such movements per 30 minute treatment resulting in pressure on affected areas and internal organs. These movements are dangerous to the health of people who have cancer or incipient cancer.
Things didn’t go that far with the Abtronic and similar devices, although they could also lead to long lists of complaints, from burns to hernias [2]. Moreover, it wasn’t the FDA that took action this time, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The sellers were making claims that were false and/or misleading. The main ones were:
- They would cause fat loss and a smaller waistline
- They would give you a nice six-pack
- The use is similar to traditional abdominal exercises
In addition, it was falsely claimed that you could lose weight, as well as cellulite. Furthermore, insufficient attention was paid to the dangers in certain risk groups.
Old nonsense in a new package
Now I see the six-pack shock therapy making a comeback. Or at least, that’s what some sellers hope, judging by the Facebook campaigns. This time, there’s no revolutionary improvement like the disappearance of the cords and easier operation.
The biggest change now is the shape. The Abtronix X8 and cheaper imitations now try to better conform to the anatomy of the abdominal muscles. Unlike in the past, where some people placed the device alternately at the top and bottom of the abdomen.
Abs are made in the kitchen, not with the abtronic and imitations
The Abtronic, imitations, and predecessors all operate on the principle of Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS). Electrical stimulation that causes the muscle fibers to contract instead of the brain doing this through the nervous system. There is a good theoretical basis that EMS can help develop muscle strength and muscle mass.
But does that give you a six-pack?
Of course not. This article is not about the workings of EMS. I will soon dedicate a second part to that with a ton of references to studies. This is about the use of a product that’s supposed to sculpt a six-pack. After all, all those athletic models are used as examples. But how long have we been shouting that you don’t build a six-pack in the gym, but in the kitchen?
Shortcut to the wrong destination
You get a six-pack by burning the fat covering it, not by making the abdominal muscles themselves stronger or bigger. But that’s precisely the supposed effect of the EMS devices you place on the abdomen. EMS is a form of strength training, not fat burning. If (and emphasis on ‘if’) your abdominal muscles become stronger and bigger without working on fat burning, you won’t see (visible) results.
Using an EMS device as a quick way to get a six-pack makes no sense. It’s like building a super-fast train connection that takes you from Amsterdam to Rotterdam in 5 minutes but only lets you get off when you’re in Paris. It’s like coming up with an easier way to bake bread when you actually want a pancake.
Conclusion
We write many articles here about the new scientific insights when it comes to muscle mass and fat burning. Developments that we hope will bring a future without overweight, even for people with less favorable genes than Ronaldo. Maybe even a future where everyone can have a six-pack.
Until then, however, Ronaldo and others will continue to convince you that you too can get a six-pack with little or no effort. Sitting on the couch with a beer watching the World Cup while getting ripped.
One of the annoying side effects of writing these kinds of articles is that the research will ensure that Google will pester me with ads for this kind of nonsense for the next few weeks.
References
- scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3239332033316792191&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
- ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2002/05/ftc-charges-three-top-selling-electronic-abdominal-exercise-belts
