We all want to look our best, but when looking trim and feeling fit comes at such a timely cost - from working out in the gym to cooking up something healthy in the kitchen - it can feel like a flat tummy and or a set of toned arms are off the table.
That's where the EmSculpt Neo - a machine that allows your body to do the equivalent of 20,000 crunches in 30 minutes - supposedly comes in.
Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, Denise Richards and Drew Barrymore are just some of the celebs that have given it their stamp of approval, but what exactly does this treatment do and does it really work?
Well, that's what we wanted to find out. To see the results first hand, we here at RTÉ LifeStyle accepted an invitation to trial the treatment over four weeks in order to post an honest review.
The treatment
The EmSculpt Neo was created by BTL Aesthetics, a 25-year-old company with its roots in physiotherapy. The machine uses radio frequency and HIFEM – high intensity focused electromagnetic energy – to "liquify" fat cells, according to Aesthetic Consultant Dee Mac Mahon.
"It's a synchronised radio frequency where the angle of the radio frequency is travelling through the fat tissues and liquefying them, essentially. It's kind of interrupting the fat metabolism", she explains.
"The fat cell has interrupted its ability to work and function because its environment has been changed. And so your brain is deeming it as broken. Your macrophage come in and they basically say, 'oh, broken cells, take it away'. We literally are excreting it through the Lymph, and our livers then are excreting it out."
At the same time, the device causes your muscles to contract to such an intensity that it's the same as doing 20,000 crunches in 30 minutes - but without the pain of a workout.
"If you could go to the gym and you could do 20,000 sit ups in half an hour, would you do it? You would, but you can't because it's not humanly possible. Is it humanly possible now? Yes."
As well as simulating thousands of crunches on the abs, the machine can be used on various parts of the body, the most popular so far being "tummy, bums and bingo wings".
How it feels
And what does doing thousands of sit-ups in a row feel like? With the EmSculpt Neo, a bit like being tickled under a hot blanket.
There is no pain at all, and no discomfort unless you're not a fan of being tickled. Once the device – a flat paddle snugly strapped to your body – is switched on, the muscles start involuntarily contracting.
Rather than the device pulling the muscles, it feels like they flex in waves toward it creating a feeling of tautness – like you're holding the deepest ab crunch of your life.
The first couple of minutes leave you breathless and giggling, with movements then alternating between pronounced pulsing bumps to what feel like deep ripples through your core.
After a few minutes your core starts to heat up, due to the radio frequency lighting up those fat cells. When the 30 minutes are up, you'll likely find a sheen of sweat and a red flush across the area.
Charlotte's review
As a frequent gym-goer with a lot of muscle and a cute, soft, Botticelli belly, I was especially intrigued by the EmSculpt Neo's promise to improve muscle gain, as well as liquify fat. I personally don't exercise to get lean but to get stronger – that said, in my three years of resistance training I'd found it harder and harder to shift fat from some areas.
Not only that, but I usually found myself skipping core exercises in the gym, typically too tired and hungry to do three rounds of whatever variation of sit-up was on the cards that day.
Over the course of four treatments I stuck to my three gym sessions a week with long walks added in. I also didn't change my diet.
After the first session, my core felt delightfully taut and worked, like I'd spent the day doing Russian twists or a challenging Pilates class. It's the kind of feeling that makes you feel fitter even without a discernible difference, but fades after a few days, like the feeling after any workout.
After my second session. I saw positive changes: my stomach seemed flatter, smoother and more taut.
About three sessions in, I started to notice my core strength visibly improving. Certain exercises – lat pulldowns, bent-over rows – were suddenly easier. I could feel each muscle contract and relax, and my posture seemed to have improved.
After the final session, I felt my stomach looked flatter, especially from the side. The area around my ribcage – a tricky area to tighten up – looked lean, while the area around my belly button and lower stomach started to look like I'd been professionally contoured for a photoshoot.
Three months later, the area around my ribcage still feels slimmer and more lean. My stomach started to look a bit more contoured and slightly flatter, though my Botticelli belly is more or less the same – happily so!
The verdict
As an aid to fitness, the treatment is worthwhile and I can see why athletes use it to augment their training – if I had access to this on the regular, you wouldn't be catching me in plank position.
However, looking back on the before and after photos, I'd reckon my body stayed the same size. What changed was the shapeliness of my muscles, creating a tummy that definitely looked like it put more effort into ab work than it did in reality.
Seeing some subtle changes to my body was exciting, however, considering the hefty price tag, I don't think it's something I would shell out for first if I was looking to dip into the world of tweakments. Though if I had a big life event on the horizon – a wedding, for example – I would be tempted to save up for a course.
Sínann's review
The most important thing to remember about the EmSculpt Neo is that your start point will determine your end point, so if you're training in the gym and enjoying a healthy diet, you're more likely to see definitive results.
Before I experienced the celebrity-loved machine for myself, I was working out two or three times a week and getting out for my half-hour-COVID-working-from-home-lunch-walks almost every day (it really was all we had at the time).
I was eating a fairy healthy diet, but I'll be the first to admit that my arm turns to rubber if a glass of red wine or slice of carrot cake is put in front of me (life is too short to be counting calories when there are freshly baked goods in the room).
All this is to say, I was in decent nick going into the treatments but my rubber arms, hollow legs, and persistent lower back issues were stopping me from reaching my full potential in the gym alone.
The only time I've ever seen my trainer come close to tears is when he tries to find me an ab exercise that won't kill my back. Standing workouts, Pilates, yoga, swimming, planking, spinning, bootcamps - I've done them all. No matter how engaged I became with my core, my back refused to comply.
So, when the offer of a fat-melting, muscle-building machine was offered to me, I was all too eager to give it a whirl.
Unsurprisingly, a 30-minute pain-free work out comes at a cost, and really should be treated as an investment of time and money.
To be perfectly honest, I didn't notice any difference following my first session, but by the second week I was beginning to see some positive changes, with my abs were feeling noticeably more taut and toned.
By the third session, I was hooked. I had no bloating, I felt taut and toned, and my once mythical abs were beginning to appear. Even my waist was becoming smaller, which was particularly impressive considering my Halloween weekend of sugar and margaritas fell between treatments.
By the time my forth and final session rolled around, my once fitted leggings were feeling a little roomy around the hips, and I was standing a little taller thanks to the potent combination of a newly discovered waist and the subsequent confidence boost.
It's hard to say if the treatments continued to work past the four week mark as my sessions ended right before a food-filled festive season and multiple close-contact lockdowns (there was not a home workout to be seen), but I do think my figure held up a little better than it would have without them.
The verdict
Honestly, this isn't a treatment I'll ever be able to afford. Prices vary depending on where you go but at an average of €2,500-€3,500 for four sessions, it's a hefty price tag that would undoubtedly give you pause.
With that said, if I suddenly found myself with a winning lotto ticket or had an event coming up whereby my abs became a top priority (wedding, Ibiza pool party, unlikely date with Keanu Reeves), this is the treatment I would turn to.
To read more about the facts and figures behind the EmSculpt Neo and to read our full interview with Dee McMahon, click here.
