The Beauty Works Lean Machine
I have recently been testing a toning device called The Lean Machine, which is one of several products available from The Beauty Works Limited company. The Lean Machine is designed to firm and tone your muscles by electronically stimulating them to contract, which over a period of time, will lead to a leaner appearance. The makers also suggest that the device can be used to relieve tension in aching muscles and aid recovery after muscular sports injury.
The device is essentially comprised of a battery-operated pack and four pads to deliver the electronic stimulation. I initially found the device a little daunting to look at, with the leads and pads being more reminiscent of a torture device than a beauty must-have! But it is actually quite simple to use and not painful in the slightest. Each pad needs to be coated in a conductive gel before being placed on the muscle you want to tone and secured using an elastic strap. An intermittent electronic stimulation is delivered by the pad to the muscle, which causes the muscle to contract and then relax. I found that this felt a bit like pins and needles – not painful, or necessarily uncomfortable, but a sensation that is tingling in nature. The best bit is actually seeing the muscle contract and relax! I tried it out on my biceps first and became quite mesmerised watching it! After about 5 minutes, this tingling sensation began to fade. According to the instructions, this means you are ready to turn it up a notch! A word of warning – don’t turn the dial up to the next setting until you are comfortable and accustomed to the setting you are on, otherwise the increased stimulation comes as a bit of a shock. I found out the hard way when a family member interfered!.
Ideally, your muscular “work-out” should last 30 to 40 minutes and you should repeat this several times a week. This is easier to achieve then you think, because the great thing about this device is that it is portable and so you can be toning up whilst going about your normal house-hold activities. For example, you could be toning your quadriceps (leg) muscles while stretched out on the sofa and watching TV or your abdominal (stomach) muscles while working away at the computer. Us women are well known for our multi-tasking skills after all! One down side is that, although the actual device is simple and straight forward to use, you do have to be quite precise about where you place the pads. I sometimes found that I could feel the tingling sensation, yet the targeted muscle wasn’t discernibly contracting and relaxing.
Overall, I would definitely recommend The Lean Machine to anyone who wants to tone up without setting foot outside their house. It is far easier to fit a session with The Lean Machine into your day then a visit to the gym, and without the costly price of membership too!
Guest Post from Paula Robinson
As I’m now over 7 months pregnant and getting a lot bigger I’ve started using 




I’m now starting to get to that point in my pregnancy where my normal clothes are a bit tight, so I’m considering making a few new purchases! I’m stuck with the dilemma of whether to give in and buy the maternity jeans with those awful elasticated panels, or whether to try and find some low waisted, slightly larger jeans that would hopefully last me all the way through my pregnancy.