Slim faster: The 'vacuum suit' that takes inches off your waist

Love-handles, beer-bellies and muffin-tops may sound like terms of affection, but few people are fond of the fat that settles around the midriff and refuses to shift. It's not just because a jelly-belly doesn't look very nice. Research shows that people with abdominal obesity - those who carry most of their excess weight in the stomach - are at greater risk of heart disease, type-two diabetes, and even some cancers. It's because of these scare stories - plus the fact that I can't fit into last summer's jeans - that I find myself wearing what looks a wetsuit while trotting on a treadmill.

Doing stomach-crunches and cutting out fat are the usual methods of deflating a spare tyre, but I've just signed up for an innovative treatment that promises to reduce the flesh-belt radically in just four weeks. The Vacunaut is fast becoming the hip way to slim, thanks to claims that women can expect to lose one to two dress sizes from around their middle and that men can drop one to two trouser sizes in a month.

Now available in selected gyms in the UK - and the homes of celebrities such as Robbie Williams - the Vacunaut sounds like every well-padded person's dream. It involves low-impact exercise, so is ideal for anyone who isn't very fit but wants to reduce their abdomen. I've signed up for the required 12 sessions, which means I have to Vacunaut three time a week for a month at a gym in central London.

The Vacunaut was invented by Austrian sports scientist Dr Norbert Egger and is the result of 20 years of research into why people have the body-shapes they do. Apparently it is down to a genetic predisposition and also due to our blood circulation. If someone is pear-shaped then they have powerful blood circulation in the upper body but weaker circulation in the lower body. Dr Egger decided to see if he could manipulate the blood circulation in the weaker areas. He thought that if he could do that it would metabolise the fat in that area but didn't know how it could be burnt off. He also decided that vacuum therapy was the best way to increase blood circulation in specific areas. However, without exercise, his theory went, the blood would simply disperse and not start to metabolise the fat from that area. He needed to invent a system that gave the simultaneous action of vacuum therapy plus exercise. In 2002, the Vacunaut was born.

I ask Professor Craig Williams, of the School of Sport and Health Sciences at University of Exeter, what he thinks of it. "It is correct to say that if blood flow is poor then the utilisation of fat deposits can be poor," he says. Great, so the science stands up.

On the morning of my first session, the top button of my jeans pops off. I arrive at the gym and meet Lucy, my Vacunaut trainer. She immediately asks me to get undressed. She explains that in order to be able to monitor my forthcoming inch loss, she has to take my measurements in detail, while I stand in my vest and pants. She then gives me a Lycra suit that fits me snugly from elbows to knees, gives me a heart monitor to strap to my chest, and reaches for the suit, a bright red and black ensemble with three big valves down the front and what looks like a thick belt of giant bubble wrap.

Like a wetsuit, the vacunaut suit is tricky to get into and I have to kneel down to let Lucy zip me in. We then head to the gym, where I am plugged into the vacuum machine. Lucy squeezes my suit until all the air has been sucked out and I feel the bubble wrap suction chamber start to contract and relax rhythmically around my belly. The feeling is strange but not unpleasant and I'm now ready to start exercising. What happens on the treadmill is determined by age, height and weight - in my case, my heart rate shouldn't exceed 144 beats per minute because that will take me out of the fat-burning zone and into the "cardio" zone. Each session lasts 40 minutes and, although I sweat like I've never sweated before, at no point am I out of breath.

Afterwards, I learn that it's not as simple as just pulling on the suit and taking a gentle stroll. In order for it to work, I have to sort my carbohydrates from my proteins - I'm allowed the former before my sessions and the latter afterwards. I shouldn't eat after 7pm and am told I need to cut down on alcohol. It's beginning to seem like Vacunaut is just a stealth diet. I wonder if going for a run three times a week and doing some sit-ups might be just as effective. Professor Williams thinks so, too. "It does sound like it's a very complicated and user-unfriendly system. There are potentially more benefits to just getting out the running trainers or walking shoes and exercising in the fresh air."

At my sixth session - the halfway point - it's time to be measured for the first time since I started with the Vacunaut. To my amazement - and delight - I discover I've lost two inches from my waist, just two weeks in. It's great news. I then blot my copybook by going away for a week and so can't train. I also hit the white wine. What's the worst that could happen? I ask Zeenat Shah, the woman who brought Vacunaut to the UK. "You have to have discipline - this is what we tell everyone who does it," she warns. "If you can't stick to coming three times a week, please don't come." I daren't tell Zeenat about my week off. She might ban me from Vacunauting altogether. To get back into the right frame of mind, I speak to Rich Hikins, 31, who used Vacunaut last year. "I used to wear 28-30in-waist jeans and before Vacunaut I'd gone up to 32, feeling a bit snug. After the 12 sessions I was back in my old jeans again. I was really chuffed." He too tells me the importance of being strict with my sessions.

One colleague is convinced that the Vacunaut is little more than snake oil. "We in the UK are quite sceptical people," counters Zeenat. "Initially, it was very difficult to convince people, simply because we don't have any medical journals backing us up. What we do have are results from thousands of people who've done it and changed shape." But does it really offer anything more than a regular exercise regime? "My advice to anybody would be never to stop exercising - and if you want to be slim, do not overeat. If you can do these two things then Vacunaut becomes something that's just about vanity - it's like a beauty treatment." Even so, she says that the Vacunaut is unique. "A pear-shaped woman can lose a lot of weight exercising and dieting, but she cannot change her shape, and this is where Vacunaut comes in."

Five weeks of early morning and evening sessions later and it's time for my final measurements. I've tried to be regimented about the sessions - other than that week off - but I was often confused in my juggling of carbohydrates and proteins and a month without wine is something I haven't managed in years. So it is with some trepidation that I read the figures on the tape measure. I've lost just over three inches. I rush home and try on my 2006 jeans, which fit for the first time in months. I'm still not totally sold on whether the Vacunaut works better than the same amount of regular exercise but I'm thrilled.

Hi-tech fatbusters

HYPOXI S120

What is it? A form of vacuum therapy developed by the Vacunaut sports scientists. It involves riding a specially designed exercise bike inside a vacuum pod during supervised sessions.

What is it meant to do? Reduce the appearance of cellulite and reduce hips, thighs and buttocks.

How is it meant to work? By drawing blood into fatty tissues to encourage the fat to be used as fuel for exercise.

How long/how much? A £450 course lasts four weeks, with three 30-minute sessions each week. www.hypoxitraining.com

POWER PLATE

What is it? A vibrating platform that is used as a surface to exercise on, either in a gym class or at home.

What is it meant to do? Cut a one-hour workout to 15 minutes by raising the metabolism; the exercise helps to improve bone density and muscle tone, and reduces cellulite.

How is it meant to work? By transferring vibrations to the muscles in the body causing them to contract in a reflex action. Different parts of the body are put into contact with the platform in various exercise positions.

How long/how much? Sessions cost £20 (they recommend three sessions a week), and the My 5 home version costs £3,499. uk.power-plate.us

X-BIKE

What is it? A home exercise bike that mimics the experience of riding a mountain bike. A virtual instructor takes X-Bikers through their workouts via an iPod or PSP.

What is it meant to do? Burn 500 calories in 30 minutes.

How is it meant to work? The handles move from side to side in the same way they would if you were riding the bike on a mountain trail. The stomach and back are also used during X-Bike training, which increases core stability and improves posture.

How long/how much? Each session is 30 minutes. X-Bike costs £749. www.x-biking.com

FIGURE FIT

What is it? A Pilates workout that takes place in a heated pod.

What is it meant to do? Improve core strength, encourage inch loss and reduce cellulite.

How is it meant to work? Doing a resistance-based workout in a heated environment is said to be more effective than regular workouts. For 15 minutes after a session, users sit in a "highly oxygenated body case" that is designed to reduce cellulite.

How long/how much? £34-£53, the number of sessions required varies. www.figurefit.co.uk

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