What is electrical muscle stimulation, exactly?

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

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

Okay, just how is that different than 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 usually delivered to larger areas of the human body via a suit, vest, and/or shorts. As you exercise (which has already been engaging your muscles), the electrical impulses force muscle tissue to contract, that might lead to more muscle recruitment, says Dircksen.

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

So, does EMS workout training work?

When exercising normally, neurotransmitters in mental performance tell muscle tissue (and the fibers within them) to activate and engage to be able to perform each movement. As time passes, as a result 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 ought to normally be recruited. (See: Just how to Activate Underused Glutes aka Dead Butt Syndrome for a good example of how this can play out IRL.)

However, when pulseperformancestudio 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 — which means you don't overdo it and risk muscle, tendon, or ligament tears — go with "the minimal effective dose. Meaning, once you get a muscle contraction from the stim, that's enough," says Dircksen.

"By actively participating in a EMS workout class (rather than sitting and passively letting the e-stim activate your muscles), you're obtaining a good workout in, which will be chock-full of health advantages," says Dircksen. Provided that you don't go overboard, this upsurge in muscle engagement could lead to strength gains. (

The Biggest Mental and Physical Benefits of Working Out
If you utilize e-stim in tandem with movement and weight, your muscles should get stronger than if you did the moves alone, according with a research. In a 2016 study, those who did a six-week squat program with EMS had greater strength improvements in comparison to people who didn't use EMS.

So yes, the idea of EMS workouts seems to create 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 create any conclusions on EMS training's effects.