What is Electrical Muscle Stimulation ?

If you've ever attended physical therapy, you might have experienced EMS or "e-stim" to simply help loosen your tight muscles for them to recover. When used therapeutically, they are made to stimulate nerves which make muscles contract, ultimately relaxing and loosening any tight spots.

You will find actually plenty of these pain-alleviating devices available over the counter and online (also called TENS — transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation units), that will run you around $200. But, again, they're designed to work with a specific area, not your entire body, and are normally used under professional supervision. Although they are generally "safe and user friendly," using them within a workout is not advised and, if anything, should only be introduced "for pain-relief effects after having a workout," recommends Fulop.

Okay, so just how is that different than an EMS workout?
Instead of concentrating on a particular body part as you'd do in physical therapy, during an EMS workout, electrical stimulation is typically sent to larger aspects of the human body using a suit, vest, and/or shorts. As you exercise (which is already engaging your muscles), the electrical impulses force your muscles to contract, that might lead to more muscle recruitment, says Dircksen.

It may sound simple enough, but it's no walk in the park. Because the pulse actually acts as resistance, the movements feel much harder and make you fatigued much faster. Just just as in other training, you could be sore: Overall, how sore you're after EMS training is dependent upon multiple factors, like the "intensity of the work, the weight used, the amount of time, how much eccentric load was done, and if some of the movements were done in new ranges," says Dircksen.

So, does EMS workout training work?

When exercising normally, neurotransmitters in the mind tell muscle tissue (and the fibers within them) to activate and engage in order to perform each movement. With time, as a result of factors such as injury, overtraining, and poor recovery, muscular imbalances can occur and limit your muscle fibers' activation during moves when they ought to normally be recruited. (See: How exactly to Activate Underused Glutes aka Dead Butt Syndrome for a typical example of how this may play out IRL.)

However, when Pulse performance EMS is put into the equation, you're in a position to call upon more muscle fibers (including those who have remained dormant). To be safe — so you don't overdo it and risk muscle, tendon, or ligament tears — opt for "the minimal effective dose. Meaning, once you obtain a muscle contraction from the stim, that's enough," says Dircksen.

"By actively participating within an EMS workout class (rather than sitting and passively letting the e-stim activate your muscles), you're getting a good workout in, that will be chock-full of health advantages," says Dircksen. So long as you don't go overboard, this upsurge in muscle engagement could bring about strength gains. (

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If you are using e-stim in tandem with movement and weight, parts of your muscles should get stronger than in the event that you did the moves alone, according with a research. In a 2016 study, individuals who did a six-week squat program with EMS had greater strength improvements compared to those who didn't use EMS.

So yes, the idea of EMS workouts seems to produce sense, and, yes, some studies do support claims of boosted strength. However, research (of which there's very little) ranges in sample size, demographics, and findings. Case in point: A 2019 review of e-stim research actually found it was impossible to make any conclusions on EMS training's effects.