Want rock hard abs? Tighter tush? New Emsculpt procedure builds muscle while burning fat

HOUSTON, Texas -- A new machine is leaving patients with stunning results and leaving doctors baffled.

The sights and sounds might make you squirm, but to patients, the new machine known as Emsculpt is a thing of beauty.

"It almost feels like you're doing a squat when you're just laying here," said patient Allie Fisher.

"At first I thought it felt like a vacuum, kind of tying everything together," said another patient Robert Mondragon.

Mondragon visits the gym four times a week, but there's one area he struggles with.

"I've plateaued, especially in my stomach, and I had that lower region of my stomach," Mondragon said. "I couldn't really get caught up."

His abs are finally seeing results.

"It just feels like I'm, I'm putting together a little bit more in the area," Mondragon said.

It doesn't just improve abs, but the backside as well.

Six months ago, Fisher strapped herself in.

"It's like going to the gym, doing your squats, but not having to do anything," Fisher said.

After two hours of use, Fisher couldn't believe the results.

"About a week and a half after my first treatment, I could tell that my clothes were just the way that my buttocks to look in jeans, Fisher said. "It just, it didn't look as flat. It look more fitted, more bubbly."

How did these patients get these results? Each used something called the Emsculpt. It's a machine introduced to Dr. Suneel Chilukuri two years ago at his Refresh Dermatology practice.

"It's like the iPhone 4, going from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 7," Chilukuri said. "What are we seeing now? It's a whole new category. It's pre-iPhone where we're talking about, 'hey, we don't even know that we needed this.'"

Chilukuri tested the Emsculpt on 250 patients. Now, trial runs are over, and he's ready to welcome patients.

"I still think it's amazing," Chilukuri said. "It's, it's just such a different technology and a lot of these things that we're doing. It's an evolutionary process."

Here's how it works: Patients place the device over their abs, or buttock for two hours over a two-week period. The paddle uses electromagnets to build muscle and burn fat.

The device causes no pain, but generates serious force. Chilukuri said a 30-minute session is the equivalent to 20,000 sit-ups, or 20,000 squats.

Its use doesn't mean you can avoid the gym, however.

"This is not a license to eat," Chilukuri said. "You want to make sure that your metabolism stays up. This is one additional benefit to what we're doing at the gym."

It's a life-changing device for patients, especially with summer around the corner.

"I feel really comfortable now getting into swimsuit before it's just kind of like, but now it's definitely a more comfortable feeling," Fisher said.

Doctors say the device can be used on any person from 20 to 70 years old.

And it's not just for thin people. It can help eliminate fat and build muscle on nearly anyone.

Doing so isn't cheap. A four-session visit will run you upwards of $3,000.