What is electrical muscle stimulation, exactly?

If you've ever attended physical therapy, you may have experienced EMS or "e-stim" to greatly help loosen your tight muscles to allow them to recover. When used therapeutically, they are designed to stimulate nerves that produce muscles contract, ultimately relaxing and loosening any tight spots.

There are actually plenty of those pain-alleviating devices available non-prescription and online (also called TENS — transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation units), that'll run you around $200. But, again, they're built to work on a certain area, not your physique, and are normally used under professional supervision. Although these units are generally "safe and easy to use," with them within a workout is not advised and, if anything, should only be presented "for pain-relief effects after a workout," recommends Fulop.

Okay, just how is that diverse from an EMS workout?
Rather than focusing on a specific body part as you'd do in physical therapy, during an EMS workout, electrical stimulation is normally brought to larger aspects of the human body using a suit, vest, and/or shorts. As you exercise (which has already been engaging your muscles), the electrical impulses force muscle tissue to contract, which can result in 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 as with other training, you may be sore: Overall, how sore you are after EMS training is dependent upon multiple factors, such as the "intensity of the task, the weight used, the total amount of time, just 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 brain tell parts of your muscles (and the fibers within them) to activate and engage to be able to perform each movement. With time, consequently of factors such as for example injury, overtraining, and poor recovery, muscular imbalances can occur and limit your muscle fibers' activation during moves when they should normally be recruited. (See: How exactly to Activate Underused Glutes aka Dead Butt Syndrome for a typical example of how this will play out IRL.)

However, when Pulse performance Studio EMS is added to the equation, you're able to call upon more muscle fibers (including the ones that have remained dormant). To be safe — which means you don't overdo it and risk muscle, tendon, or ligament tears — opt for "the minimal effective dose. Meaning, once you get a muscle contraction from the stim, that is enough," says Dircksen.

"By actively participating in an EMS workout class (rather than sitting and passively letting the e-stim activate your muscles), you're obtaining a good workout in, which is chock-full of health benefits," says Dircksen. Provided that you don't exaggerate, 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, muscle tissue should get stronger than if you did the moves alone, according for some 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 thought of EMS workouts seems to produce sense, and, yes, some studies do support claims of boosted strength. However, research (of which there is very little) ranges in sample size, demographics, and findings. Case in point: A 2019 report on e-stim research actually found it absolutely was impossible to produce any conclusions on EMS training's effects.