Traditional crunches vs. "Flex Belts" or the like

I recently got a question from a friend about my thoughts on the product - Flex Belt - that basically works like shock therapy.  Activating your abs through the use of electro pulses to activate your muscle without the individuals control.  Here are my thoughts on this:

Disclaimer: I have never used the flex belt - I'm not familiar with this particular line, but I am familiar with the concept. The downfall with this kind of thing is that often people report that after using things of this nature have problems with actually flexing the muscle properly without using the "shock". Additionally, the muscle may spasm. Basically it tries to flex without your control because it's used to do this through the shocking therapy.

My thought on anything like this is that if you don't put in the work and it's a "easy out" it's probably not a great option.

Gaining a great body - one to be proud of takes a lot of work. That's what makes you more proud of it. Accomplishment! I would work with the diet and put in some core exercises throughout your exercise plan. It's actually not much about crunches, it's more about eating healthy to lose the body fat on top of the muscle and working in the full range of motion for all exercises. Cardio is good, but is not seen as strength building exercise. The thing to remember is the more muscle that you have the easier and faster your body works to burn fat --> higher metabolism.  Double bonus!!! :)