What is electrical muscle stimulation, exactly?

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

You can find actually plenty of the pain-alleviating devices available non-prescription and online (also called TENS — transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation units), that may run you around $200. But, again, they're designed to work with a particular area, not your physique, and are normally used under professional supervision. Although they are often "safe and user friendly," using them throughout a workout is not advised and, if anything, should only be introduced "for pain-relief effects following a workout," recommends Fulop.

Okay, just how is that unique of an EMS workout?
As opposed to focusing on a specific body part as you'd do in physical therapy, during an EMS workout, electrical stimulation is normally delivered to larger areas 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 your muscles to contract, which may end 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 give you fatigued much faster. Just like with other training, you may be sore: Overall, how sore you are after EMS training depends upon multiple factors, including the "intensity of the task, the weight used, the 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 muscle tissue (and the fibers within them) to activate and engage to be able to perform each movement. As time passes, 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 ought to normally be recruited. (See: Just how to Activate Underused Glutes aka Dead Butt Syndrome for a typical example of how this can play out IRL.)

However, when Pulse performance EMS is included with the equation, you're in a position to call upon more muscle fibers (including the ones that 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 receive a muscle contraction from the stim, that's 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 finding a good workout in, which will be chock-full of health advantages," says Dircksen. Provided that you don't exaggerate, this upsurge in muscle engagement could lead to strength gains. (

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

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