How to build stomach muscles and burn fat

After my amazing walking spurt during lockdowns when I lost 5kg, I have spent most of the last year sitting at my desk being very immobile. All the weight has come back on, but it’s really affected my stomach muscles – as in, I don’t seem to have any! I am now apple-shaped and need to burn fat cells and build muscles.

That’s why I was happy to go along to try out The Belle Clinic’s BodyLab Slim & Fit Program, which is a combination treatment of HIFEM, as used in Emsculpt, muscle firming and radiofrequency (RF) for slimming and contouring.

Founded and led by Dr Maybelle Tan, The Belle Clinic helped pioneer the concept of personalised and tailored treatment programs, winning multiple awards in the process.

This treatment combines High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic technology with radiofrequency to stimulate the muscles and burn fat. And it can also get to those parts that are more difficult to fix with exercise, like the bra strap area and upper arms. It’s especially good on improving the shape of the buttocks and the tops of legs as well as stomach muscles like mine!

How to build stomach muscles

Many slimming devices on the market focus on fat and not muscles. The HIFEM technology is internationally certified by the FDA and CE. It uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic waves to create electrical currents that cause the muscles to contract. This kind of contraction isn’t achieved by normal exercise – well, not the kind I would do! Apparently, a 30-minute treatment can stimulate 20,000 strong muscle contractions that cause the muscles to respond with a deep remodelling – the growth of myofibrils and creation of new protein strands and muscle fibres. Muscles also increase your metabolic rate, so the more muscle you have the greater energy or calorie consumption, which in turn means you’re burning more energy even when you’re sleeping.

How to burn fat…

Normally if we lose weight, the fat cells are just smaller but the number of fat cells in our body is the same. With the RF body contouring, the fat cell is heated without affecting other types of cells in the skin and decomposes, you will lose fat cells and they can’t grow back.

…and look smoother

The RF element also stimulates the body’s own collagen production, which provides support to the underlying skin structure and gives skin a smoother appearance. The RF technology is also combined with vacuum therapy, which is particularly beneficial in treating dimpling of the skin and cellulite. The deep tissue is heated to stimulate additional lipolysis or fat reduction, with the vacuum therapy encouraging lymphatic drainage to enhance the overall results of the procedure.

My Review

The best thing is there’s no pain. The contractions of the muscles do feel a bit odd and I found it better to breathe into them rather than hold my breath. It’s a half-hour session, which makes it perfect for fitting into a lunch break if you’re working in the CBD. It has helped my bloating too for some reason, so that’s great, and the whole area is definitely feeling smaller.

Start to build muscle!

I’m just thinking how many sessions I can squeeze in before Christmas when I have to be on an Australian beach! I may not be bikini-ready but it would be good to feel more comfortable in full swimmers.

Apparently, for four treatments with two 60-minute combined treatments per week over two to four consecutive weeks, it can produce a 16% average increase in muscle mass and 19% fat reduction, with a firmer, more toned and contoured silhouette and restored skin elasticity and tightening. So they suggest four to eight treatments for me.

#03-02 SBF Medical Center, 160 Robinson Road
6444 8108 | thebelleclinic.com