Its all black, with straps and buckles everywhere.
A long wire is about to connect me to a computer.
I feel like Im suiting up to operate a spaceship or a giant robot.
So, is an EMS workout any better than the regular thing?
(Well get into the details in a minute.)
But after seeing myself in the mirror, I kind of get the appeal.
What is EMS?
If youve used a TENS machine for pain relief, you know one punch in.
TENS uses a mild current that feels like tingling, but it doesnt make your muscles twitch or contract.
The idea is that the tingling feeling interferes with pain signals.
When I was rehabbing after ACL surgery on my knee, rebuilding myquad musclewas a high priority.
Hed slowly turn a knob and my quad would start contracting.
EMS workouts are closer to the e-stim machine, but the experience is very different.
What happens in an EMS workout?
The area behind the desk was separated into two main rooms.
There was a small fitness studio with mirrors and black flooring, where the workouts happen.
It gave me flattering numbers, so I cant be too mad.)
Ill just note, for planning purposes, that the clothes you wear under the suit will get wet.
You might want to bring a change of dry undies for after.
They each have an absorbent pad, and this is what she was wetting down.
The water provides a conductor between the electrode and your skin.
Itdidsurprise me that the deltoids (your most obvious shoulder muscles) arent covered by electrodes, either.
The workout itself was pretty basic, and short.
The suit turns on, and you do a set of exercises, like lunges or squats.
Then it turns off and you get a short breakjust a few secondsbefore you begin again.
Body20 offers strength and cardio classes.
Those workouts you’re allowed to do more often.
What does an EMS workout feel like?
During the exercises, I could definitely feel the current making my muscle contractions stronger.
Once or twice, doing a tricep movement, I felt my tricep sort of lock up.
There were dumbbells in the room, but we didnt use these for my introductory workout.
Because of the current, these did feel like I was doingsomething.
That said, it wasnt a hard workout.
I kept hearing that I should expect to be sore afterward.
I was not sore the next day.
For somebody whodoesntfling barbells around on a daily basis, it sounds reasonable to expect some soreness.
But, based on my experience, it really doesnt feel that different from a normal strength workout.
If anything, it feels like less of a muscular stimulus than a strength day at the gym.
Youre just not doing that much.
Are EMS workouts effective?
So, of course, I asked about it.
I dug in, eager to crunch the numbers.
As promised, the study included an EMS workout similar to the ones offered by Body20 and other studios.
And it did find that both the EMS and non-EMS groups had similar increases in muscle mass and strength.
But the claim that you need hours in the gym to equal one EMS workout?
That was not backed up at all by this study.The non-EMS workouts were 30 minutes long.
(Or, to be more specific, 30.3 minutes plus or minus 2.3 minutes.)
And I do have my doubts about the applicability of the study, even aside from the time issue.
It might be just as good.
It might be worse.
We dont have evidence that it would be better.
(We all have our indulgences and our silly hobbies; maybe this is yours.)
