The Belly Burner Gets a Do Not Buy Recommendation
October 14, 2009 by Sal Marinello
Filed under The Healthy Skeptic
The calendar says 2009, but the people who have brought the Belly Burner to market must think it’s 1979.
Thirty years ago the concept of “spot reducing” was in the mainstream of fitness. The thought was that you could target and get rid of fat in certain areas of the body with exercise. An extension of this misguided philosophy was that wearing certain kinds of garments while exercising – such as a plastic sweat suit – was an effective way to lose weight and get in shape.
The Belly Burner is a current generation fitness accessory gimmick being hawked on television commercials that is an attempt to turn back the clock to the days when people thought this kind of nonsense worked. The ad copy has been updated a bit to reflect the fact that all but the dimmest know that spot reduction is a myth. At least the plastic sweat suit affects your entire body instead of making the lame claim of ab sculpting.
We’re told that the Belly Burner – which looks to be a large neoprene belt that is Velcro-ed around the waist – “Increases your thermal core temperature to shed away unwanted inches.” As “proof” of this, the Belly Burner people provide us with thermal images of a mid-section with and without the Belly Burner. There’s no proof or evidence that this marketing statement has any basis in fact. Really lame stuff.
There is the mention that the Belly Burner was designed by a celebrity personal trainer who uses his “secret weapon for fat-fighting and ab sculpting.” Anytime anybody tries to sell you on “fat-fighting secrets” or “ab sculpting” should be ignored. This is the worst kind of fitness folderol and anyone who peddles this tripe is just a huckster to be avoided.
The classic sign of a fitness gimmick is the absence of any real proof of efficacy, and the Belly Burner fits this description to a “T.” Aside from the thermal images there’s no evidence that the Belly Burner does anything, and that’s because there isn’t any evidence.
The old saying goes, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” The Belly Burner hucksters surely subscribe to this point of view. Do yourself a favor and stay away, as the Belly Burner gets a “Do Not Buy” recommendation.
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I just placed a trial order for the Belly Burner just to try it out and see if there is any truth to what they say and if I see any results faster than I expect, I’ll pay the $39.95. I know that anything you see on TV on online is mostly trash but maybe there is some truth to this one. I workout 3 times at week at the gym and inbetween sometimes at home, I have some equipment of my own. I know that heat does increase the bloodflow and makes the heart pump faster which causes sweat and a loss in calories which is the stuff that we all eat. Now I have no PhD in weight loss, I just made it through High School…LOL. If you have an ok diet and excersize a few days a week, off course you will loose weight and we all are a bit impatient to see any progress. I have read some reviews and I do know for a fact that the “Love Handles” so thier called but I don’t cause we all need love are colder that the rest of the body after a workout, so the bloodflow is not as great there but if there is a constant pressure like the Belly Burner makes on the “Spare Tire” causing more heat which in turn burns off more calories I would say that there just might be some truth to it but it is all up to you, if you think it’s another scam so be it and if you do try it and don’t see any results well then you’ll know, just be $7.95 less in your account if you go for the trial. It’s up to you.
I’m a male nursing student at the moment. I’ve owned a treadmill, a pair of 30 lb dumbells, perfect pushups, jumprope and I do a variety of crunches exercises general home workout – and I’ve done this for probably 4 years now. My routine is 2 days on or 3 days on, 1 day off. In the winter I get a little more belly bulge because I don’t have the vitamine D and cannot run outside as I usually do in the warmer seasons.
I know my usual routine takes me 3 hours of working out, I usually watch TV, jump on the treadmill knock out a few miles then switch up the exercises a little. I bought this product for $19.95 US. I thought it was a scam from the beginning, because my sister owned a similar product in the 90s that used batteries and heated the core and I can’t remember if it vibrated the muscles – but it worked for the most part.
So I thought I would buy this. Products like these that generally say-use while working out – and ones that come with diet plans generally are a hoax. I figured I was in modest shape to try this product for a workout, something I could maybe tell patients about – I thought why not – I invest well, and I spend very little – so I bought it.
I wondered why it didn’t have scientific information on it, I wondered why it didn’t have any real proof this product worked. Now the back brace idea is real – if your posture is increased, your muscles will become tighter, and thus do what it needs too. I figured if it would do anything it would do it when I was sitting here at my computer typing things out – I figured it should do something. I didn’t notice anything – until the last few minutes when I took it off, my stomach felt a little tighter, and when I took it off, I noticed I my core was sweaty. It was not dripping with sweat but thermodynamics – I guess would kick in with a general workout routine – but I would not recommend this product. I think the key is to workout every day possible and make sure you get plenty of exercise outside whenever possible.
The best workout is one you can stick too – that is plus 30 minutes a day, and you eat a modest diet and you know that the models on TV with the ripped bodies take pills, they have producers and people who buy personal trainers and people who work with them every minute of the day – who live at the gym or hospital getting everything from enemas to pass the donuts faster and they get lots of liposuction.
I was one step from purchasing this product, the belly burner, these comments has saved me $$$ that I didn’t have, I’m just desperate to lose 40lbs, for reasons such as health, have NICE clothes that doesn’t fit, and people are saying rude things to my face!
Thanks for this great advise, I sure appreciate it!!
Rachel Curry
Thank you Rachel!
I just would like to say that I have a belly burner belt and love it! It really does work IF you use it!! In the statement above it says “we’re told” and “it looks” which leads me to believe someone didn’t really use it but just glanced at it, how misleading is that!
Misleading is when someone makes a claim that a product is backed by scientific evidence, and then does not produce this evidence. I point this out in the article and know from my own experience and research that no such valid, reliable scientific evidence exists.
Feel free to point us in the proper direction of this research. Thanks!
I have been using a belly burner for a couple of weeks, after I saw the design I realized it might be exactly what I need in a back brace. I have some back issues after my pregnancies, which were made much worse because of a pretty severe case of abdominal separation. I had a rock hard tummy and a visible 4 pack (I was never a fitness fanatic, but I always did crunches). After my pregnancies, even after I shed most of the weight, my abs were so weak I couldn’t support myself properly and my back got worse. It was a catch 22, because exercising caused nerve compression which further weakened my left glutes and leg. I don’t believe much in the thermal properties of this thing, I have, however, noticed that the amount of core support it gives is amazing. Just wearing it around the house to clean, I notice that I am actually working my abs, and can feel the slight soreness of a good muscle workout the day after. My theory is that it forces me to remain upright and support myself with my abs, giving them a workout while supporting my back so it doesn’t get sore. I’d recommend it for anyone who has issues with core weakness and difficulty exercising. I’ve actually been able to do crunches again. I have been building up from 10 per night and now I’m at 30 twice a day. Doesn’t seem like much, but before getting this thing, I could barely do 2 or 3 without wrecking my back.
i jsut want someones most educated opinion, i know this may not burn of the pounds, but will it give me any advantage to getting my abs tighter? cuz any help is good! ??
I had the thing for a week & the neoprene tore. So I’m out twenty bucks,what does the better bussiness buruedooing? Is there anyone that we can contact that would do Something on our behalf or are we screwed?At least thhey should get hit for false advertising.
You do have to work out people! Its not intended for you to just sit down strap on the belt and melt inches away while typing on the computer!lmao!…Anyway I purchased a similar product from walmart (gold gym brand) some months ago. I have always had a issue with my midsection and after i used the gold gym belt while working out i have seen some pretty good results and it cost like 10 bucks..eventually the belt began to wear and tear and I noticed a similar product (the Belly Burner) as seen on tv at the store so i was definately interested.It was 19.95 and it came up a little higher than the walmart brand to cover my full stomach so i thought well worth it..once i got it home i noticed that although it came up higher, it did not fit my stomache snuggly even when fastened tight. It was a lot of gaps at the top part of the belt.. I also noticed that it took longer for me to sweat with this belt compared to the walmart brand..My opinion is just stick with the gold gym brand!
Anecdotal evidence is worthless. The Belly Burner, and all of its relatives from every generation of exercise equipment, is based on a fallacious premise. Genuine research over years has shown this kind of gimmick to be ineffective.
Not only that, as subscribers to my newsletter know, research has shown that traditional abdominal crunches and all varieties, performed in the manner prescribed by fitness professionals, do not build abdominal strength and do not reduce abdominal circumference.
I totally agree with Mrs.Devers, I am not one to spend money on items such as this I am stricktly into “Just working out and eating right” but I did purchase it and the belt DOES NOT fit snug. No matter how I strapped or adjusted it, it never stayed in one position(it did make my stomache sweat a lil but I think I coulda had the same results with a plastic trash bag)seriously!